How thieves select a car to either steal or break into.
First the thief picks a location. A busy shopping centre is not a good place. A deserted parking place outside town with lots of escape routes is. When in a large car park, try to park the car on the side. A thief is still protected by cars on either side of your vehicle so try to make at least one side visible to the public. Pick a path were many people walk by, for example to the exit.
Cars are picked by price and model. If you have a Mercedes you certainly have money for a good stereo. If you have a Fiat Uno you probably also have a budget radio. If you drive an average car but it has light alloy wheels, extra spoilers, a shiny exhaust or even worse stickers with the make of your audio system you are an excellent target. Small average looking cheap cars are not even looked at.
After the thief looks at the possible targets, he/she will take a look inside the cars.
Professional burglars know what they are doing. They see the difference between a fake alarm and a real one. They also know that big subwoofers in the rear of your car mean that there's got to be an amplifier in the car somewhere. Most of them can even tell the exact make and model of your head unit by the part that's still left after removing the detachable face plate.
Less experienced thieves break in once or twice because they need the money or because the see an easy target. They don't know the difference between a Pine and Alpine unit.
Statistics show that detachable faceplates are the safest option. Number two is the removable unit followed closely by the key card system. As many people hide the detachable faceplate in the glove compartment or the entire head unit in the boot, cars will still get broken into. If possible leave the glove compartment open when parking so everyone can see there's nothing there.
How thieves break into your car
Breaking the window is the way to go in 50% of all cases, the other way is forcing the lock. Sun roofs or hatches are not a popular place to enter a car.
After taking out the head unit, the space under the seats and the glove compartment will be entered. Then all possible buttons and leavers will be tried to see if the boot will open.
Alarm systems
An alarm system will shorten the time a thief takes to grab your belongings. But the alarm has to be installed well. If a kick on the dash or pulling some loose wires is enough to shut up the system, it is a waste of money and effort.
First thing is to get a good alarm system, Eurolock is highly recommended.
Hide the central unit of the alarm system, preferably not under the dash. Pick a strange place: under the back seat, in the boot or under a front seat. It has to be impossible to destroy the unit in a single hit for a panicking thief. Better yet it has to be impossible to find the unit for someone who stole the entire car. Therefore make sure you hide the wiring as well. Run wires through the car's standard harness.
Most VESA approved alarm systems only use black wiring so a thief cannot hack the alarm by cutting the right wire. The same goes for the siren don't make them easily accessible.
Finally do not put stickers on the car showing the make of the alarm, this will help experienced thieves to disarm your alarm.
In these days with lots of break ins and many false alarms, the system is mostly a signal for you. An alternative is installing a siren inside the car. A 130-dB siren is so loud in a little car interior that the thief can choose: harm the ears for life or leave now.
To avoid false alarm make sure you can tap with your hands on all windows without triggering the alarm.
Summary
· Park your car in a crowded place
· Park your car where everyone can see it (or rather: see the thief)
· Park your car next to nicer looking car hoping that it will be the victim instead
· Take your detachable faceplate with you!
· Install an alarm system, it will make your car less attractive than cars without one
· Stickers showing the make of your alarm makes it easy for thieves to eliminate the system
· Insure the car and the audio system
