Anti-theft Measures?

[BlioKart]

Interesting that nobody mentioned LoJack. Their website claims 90% recovery rate.

Insurance is good but clever deterrents are great I like the battery kill switch, well hidden.

I will be getting the built in anti theft system a manual transmission.

Like your username. Butters

 

[ClubJoe]

Being how the Elio is small and cute you will be surprised at how many people will try to open it up to get a better look. Just keep the door locked.

 

[HHH]

Put a little toggle switch under the dash on my 1955 Buick Roadmaster. Starter would engage but never start if the switch was off. It went to the hot side of the coil The doors would not lock, and the switch had the key broken off in it.

Saw a gizmo in Popular Science magazine in the mid 70's that also wired to the coil. You installed a hidden momentary contact switch with the same result - engaged starter but no spark. Bought it for my first car, and pulled it before selling. Still have it. Don't know with modern coils if it still is effective. But my car never disappeared.

 

[Kewaneh]

A number of years ago when I lived in a relatively sketchy neighborhood, I habitually removed the distributor cable from my truck every time I parked it. It literally took about 12 seconds to remove and another 12 seconds to reinstall. My truck was broken into many times, and the thieves tried to take it once (I found the ignition jacked up), but it never got taken, or even started by someone other than me.

 

[HHH]

Honda usually spearheads the list of most stolen vehicles from the National Insurance Crime Bureau – but all that is about to change. Honda plans to address would-be criminals and nervous consumers in one fell swoop. In 2013, Honda vehicles will feature a new security technology which attempts to prevent theft with negotiations and psychoanalysis. Say hello to TERII, and what is perhaps the best April Fools’ joke in recent memory.

Wondeful as Terii is, you pointed out the heart of the problem; the most popular cars sold are also the most popular cars stolen. If Elios become as ubiquitous as Paul Elio is hoping, that's when we will confront the problem of theft. My initial concern would be some idiot with a knife who thinks it great fun to cut a brake line (if they are exposed).

 

[Kewaneh]

...My initial concern would be some idiot with a knife who thinks it great fun to cut a brake line (if they are exposed).

Agreed, but if you add "Brake Line inspection" to your pre-flight checklist, you should be ok.

 

[outsydthebox]

[QUOTE="HHH, post: 32719, member: 1684".... the most popular cars sold are also the most popular cars stolen.[/QUOTE]

You bring up a good point. 20 years ago, I read that a "late model" stolen car, is worth around 3X retail value, when it is "parted out." I think the Elio will not be as much temptation (for thieves) because, relative to other cars, replacement parts are (supposed to be) cheap. The demand for parts should also be low for the first few years.
Another deterrent I have heard about, is to have your VIN number "acid etched" on all of the window glass.

 

[Lil4X]

My Dad traveled in Argentina for several years on business and noted there was a huge enterprise in smuggled American cars. In the 60's and 70's a fill-size top of the line Ford or Chevy would easily top 3X the US wholesale price. They'd be shipped in large wooden crates stenciled "Farm Machinery" to avoid any close scrutiny. You know that a few officials were being paid to look the other way. . .

Of course nobody ever asked about those shiny new cars parked in front of Buenos Aires' Presidential Palace . . . When then-current import taxes had even wealthy Argentines driving 8-10 year old American cars
. .

By the time I graduated high school, I wanted to be a smuggler. It looked like it would pay a lot better than being a poor college student.

 

[goofyone]

My Dad traveled in Argentina for several years on business and noted there was a huge enterprise in smuggled American cars. In the 60's and 70's a fill-size top of the line Ford or Chevy would easily top 3X the US wholesale price. They'd be shipped in large wooden crates stenciled "Farm Machinery" to avoid any close scrutiny. You know that a few officials were being paid to look the other way. . .

Of course nobody ever asked about those shiny new cars parked in front of Buenos Aires' Presidential Palace . . . When then-current import taxes had even wealthy Argentines driving 8-10 year old American cars
. .

By the time I graduated high school, I wanted to be a smuggler. It looked like it would pay a lot better than being a poor college student.

In 2012 I made several business trips to Buenos Aires and can tell you things have not changed much but of course the smugglers now hide things in standard shipping containers. Due to very high import duties on most items smuggling continues to be a very lucrative trade there. Whole cars and car parts are routinely smuggled. I am fluent in Spanish which made it even easier for me to make a few friends who would tell me about how expensive things were and about people they knew who, after paying way too much for a car, could not afford to have it fixed as the parts were hard to find and/or too expensive. The issue was not just cars but many other items as well such as smartphones which cost 2x as much there even though they are paid much less.

The funny thing is that I know all about smuggling first hand because what I was doing there was installing shipping container scanning systems at the seaports. The container scanning system are amazing as they contain sensors which allow operators to visually see what is in the container and also scan it for potentially dangerous items such as explosives and radioactive material. The only problem with all this great technology is that it is operated by the same overworked and poorly paid customs guys who always work these jobs. They are easily paid to look the other way or make sure the container never passes through the scanners which I pretty much witnessed all over the world while I was still working on those systems.

 

[HHH]

.... the most popular cars sold are also the most popular cars stolen.

You bring up a good point. 20 years ago, I read that a "late model" stolen car, is worth around 3X retail value, when it is "parted out." I think the Elio will not be as much temptation (for thieves) because, relative to other cars, replacement parts are (supposed to be) cheap. The demand for parts should also be low for the first few years.
Another deterrent I have heard about, is to have your VIN number "acid etched" on all of the window glass.

We must have read both of the same articles. I even bought the acid etch kit. The theory was that it would prevent someone from reselling the window glass. These days, I'm not so sure it would be an effective deterrent. The excuse the fence could use would be that the car was totalled. If someone needed the glass, how much would they care about an etched number in the corner?

We need the modern day equivalent of pulling a coil wire - simple and effective - once the cars become plentiful.