[Titanium Dragon]

In recent light of birdy's experience, it concerns me that a thief was able to bypass the immobilizer system on the Mazda 3.

I was wondering what kind of aftermarket security ideas and stories you guys had to share that has helped you save a car from a would be thief.

What about the following?

LoJack: I heard that this rather expensive tracking system has helped a lot of people get their stolen cars back. I think I could justify the cost because if you only have one car (your Mazda 3) and you lose it to a thief, the emotional and financial efforts you will spend can end up costing you more than you might think.

Steering wheel locks aka "The Club": Useless to actually deter thieves if placed on your steering wheel. I think most thieves have already seen the new variation, the Pedal-Lock known as the "AutoLock Pro" (and it's info-mercial showing the weaknesses of the Club). The steering wheel can be cut to remove the Club. The lock can be drilled out or picked by a pro. This only makes me feel like the Club gives the car owner a false sense of security. The only time I ever heard of a Club actually detering a thief from stealing a car was when some would be car-jacker tried to jack a lady's car while she was at stoplight. She reached for the club in the passenger side and gave him a good whack on the noggin' for his troubles. :twisted: The things are heavy so I hope the thief got his just desserts.

Pedal-locking device aka "AutoLock Pro": They proved how worthless a steering wheel lock is when it comes to detering a thief from stealing your car. But how good are they really compared to that? So it's more strongly built (can't hack through it nor drill out the lock) and it's locking your clutch or brake pedal to keep it from depressed. But how easy is it for thieves to really break or bypass these locks? I thought the pedal pads are easily removable so wouldn't that make it easy for a thief to slide the lock off once he got rid of the pedal?

Aftermarket alarms: There are just an overwhelming number of aftermarket alarm systems, that I don't know which ones are good and which ones are bad. I've heard of ones that provide 2-way communication where the owner gets a pager like device that can tell them when the car has been turned on, a door opened, trunk opened, car being towed/moved, etc. And the pager like device can also lock doors, deactivate the motor (up to a 1000ft, but your car might be out of range by then), etc. Loud siren alarms hardly do much good now a days especially if you live or park your car in a neighborhood where people might have gotten used to the noise and don't bother with checking or reporting it.

Wheel immobilizers: You know those clamps that they put on a wheel. Some are just like claws while others are ramps that connect together to lock together over a wheel. But the inconvience of having to get down on the ground to do this probably deters the owner from having to do this everytime they feel they need to lock their car down.

Any determined thief or group of thieves will steal your car. But like any other sticky-fingers, they'll go after easier targets if they are available. So maybe if we all locked our cars down with a steering, a pedal, and a wheel lock, advertise that our car has Lo-jack and some threatening sounding aftermarket alarm system, then the would be thieves would go look for something else Even though it would takes us 15 minutes to just get in and out of our cars. :lol:

What say everyone else?

 

[Titanium Dragon]

I did a search on google.com with "car flame thrower" I've heard about. This is the result I got from CNN.com

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- Crime-obsessed South Africans have a powerful new weapon with which to stop likely criminals: the car flamethrower.

Casting a man-high fireball, reportedly with no damage to the paint, the Blaster has been placed on 25 South African vehicles since its introduction last month.

At 3,900 rand ($655), it offers a cheap, dramatic defense against carjackers. It has yet to be deemed illegal.

South African courts allow killing if convinced that it's in self-defense. The defense is not unheard of. In last year's 13,000 carjackings, criminals often brandished weapons or used them with little provocation.

The Blaster squirts liquefied gas from a bottle in the automobile's trunk through two nozzles, located under the front doors. The gas is then ignited by an electric spark, with fiery consequences.

Both sides flame at the same time, regardless of whether the attack is coming from just one side of the vehicle, or whether passersby are on the other side. But the breadth and depth of blast can be modified according to individual preference.

Fire blinds, not kills, maker assures
Blaster inventor Charl Fourie, 33, disputed concerns that the flamethrower could burn someone to death.

"My personal feeling is that it would definitely blind a person. He will never see again," he said

Firefighters, medical personnel and the police agree 100 percent "that it will never kill a person," Fourie asserted. "This is definitely non-lethal.... A person is not going to stand there for a minute while you roast him. It will fend off the attacker, and that's the end of it."

Fourie has filed an international patent application. He anticipates thousands of orders nationally and from abroad. "The demand is huge," he said.

First customer a Johannesburg police official
The first buyer, Police Superintendent David Walkley of Johannesburg's crime intelligence unit, is satisfied the Blaster is legal, provided it is used correctly.

"It depends entirely on the circumstances and whether you can justify self-defense," he said.

"Yes, there are certain risks in using it, but there are also risks in not having anything at all."

:shock: :shock: :shock: :twisted:

Sure...riiight...not kill the attacker...then why do I smell BBQ?

 

[Titanium Dragon]

I also heard of another extreme South African car anti-theft device that consisted of a spring-loaded metal bar located underneath the car.

The spring release was triggered manually from a hidden button on the inside of the driver seat. The spring is high tension so it would launch this metal bar into a swinging motion which was capable of breaking a thief's legs/ankles. I can imagine that some wicked person would change that metal bar into a sword blade :shock: :twisted: .

South Africa has a really bad problem with armed car jackings. I guess their populace decided to take drastic measures against drastic criminals.

Personally, I'd like to see the James Bond electric shocking car anti-theft device made legal here. Let that sucker of a car thief try to touch your car with live current running through it. :twisted: Just warn the dumb people out there with labels on the car so they don't try to do something really stupid like taking a piss on your car :shock: Bzzzt! :shock: