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Home » Auto And Trucks Articles » Think Your Car Is Safe From Thieves Think Again

Think Your Car is Safe from Thieves? Think Again

(ARA) - Every time you park your car, you're taking a risk.

Just ask David J. of Stanford, Conn., whose 1998 high-performance Acura Integra Type R was stolen right under his nose just one month after he installed a top-of-the-line security system for $1,500.

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car was tire tracks in the newly fallen snow.

"They found it three weeks later, stripped clean," he added.

David's experience is not unusual, says James Cooper, CEO of Ultimate Security Systems Corporation of Irvine, Calif. Despite manufacturers' claims to the contrary, most security systems are easy to overpower and hardly even slow down a professional thief, said Cooper, whose firm created and markets the PowerLock anti-theft system.

Every 25 seconds

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (www.nicb.org) reports that 1.1 million vehicles are stolen nationwide each year. That's one vehicle every 25 seconds in what has become a $7.5 billion-a-year-industry, according to the Insurance Information Institute (www.iii.org), a trade organization. It's an industry, moreover, dominated by organized auto-theft rings that steal cars to fill contract orders. And no wonder: A $20,000 stolen vehicle can be stripped and sold into $30,000 worth of parts, insurers say.

Your car doesn't have to be a high-performance vehicle like David J's to be an attractive target for a thief with a list of parts, or with orders for a particular make and model of a car. Different models of the popular Toyota Camry and Honda Accord swept eight of the top 10 list of cars reported stolen in 2000, according to an annual study conducted by CCC Information Services Inc., a Chicago-based supplier of software and communications systems to auto insurers. Chevrolet and Ford pickups captured the other two slots.

Brett Ploumen didn't have a security system on his 1992 Chevrolet Astrovan. But he thought he was taking appropriate precautions by parking in well-lighted, high-traffic areas and locking his vehicle's doors and windows.

Ploumen found out differently when he went to dinner with friends at a busy neighborhood strip mall in Santa Ana, Calif. "When we returned, the Astrovan wasn't there. There was broken glass on the ground and another vehicle in the parking place," Ploumen recalled.

"Three days later they found it, wrapped in a tarp on a side street," he said. The entire front end of the car was gone - it had essentially been turned into a trailer, and a beat-up trailer at that. When he saw it, "I was sick to my stomach instantly," Ploumen said.

Some popular devices

Cooper describes some of the most popular auto security devices, and the drawbacks that allow thieves to get around them:

1. Bar or wheel locks: Steering wheel bars lock up the steering wheel; wheel locks prevent the theft of wheels and tires.

How to get around them: All it takes is a pair of bolt cutters or a hacksaw. "They saw through the steering wheel, slide off the bar lock and hot-wire the car. It takes anywhere from 15-30 seconds," Cooper said.

2. Audible alarms: Known in the industry as "nuisance alarms," these alerts are intended to scare thieves away.

How to get around them: Audible alarms are almost universally ignored. Additionally, a professional thief can cut a wire and silence the alarm in seconds.

3. Pedal locks: This device locks the brakes.

How to get around them: They can be bridged or cut in 15-60 seconds.

4. Electronic immobilizing devices: These devices are designed to disconnect all power from the starter, preventing thieves from bypassing the ignition and hot-wiring the vehicle. They can be installed at the factory or purchased as an aftermarket item.

How to get around them: Seasoned thieves dismantle these systems or wire around them in seconds, usually by cutting two wires. Additionally, thieves easily find override or valet switches used by owners to disarm the systems.

5. Tracking systems: These devices transmit a radio signal to locate the car.

How to get around them: Tracking devices can be removed at a chop shop before a theft is reported. Or the car can be stripped and dumped before the owner finds out it's been stolen.

6. Solenoid immobilizer systems: Although categorized as an immobilizer, this kind of system is based on a different principle than most electronic security systems. PowerLock is one example. It attaches permanently to the vehicle's starter motor, where it effectively prevents hot-wiring. Once installed, such a system is impossible to remove, bypass or disable.

How to get around them: It can't be hot-wired, says Cooper. "A system like this is virtually impossible to circumvent," he says. The only way to steal a car protected by such a system is to tow it away.

Personal Security

Cooper also warns consumers to be aware of the capacity of their security system. "A lot of so-called security systems consist of remote entry and flashing lights. A lot of people think of that as automobile security, and it really isn't: It's a convenience feature. Some manufacturers are beginning to recognize that, and label it as 'personal security.'"

After his nightmare experience, Ploumen is an evangelist for adding a security system to your car. "Look into some kind of aftermarket security system," he advises consumers. "Find something you feel comfortable with - and that's proven."

Ploumen has researched the security field thoroughly since his van was stolen. He briefly considered a brake lock, but decided it wasn't practical. He chose Ultimate Security Systems' Powerlock after a friend told him about it.

David J. also purchased a Powerlock system after replacing his Acura Integra Type R. "I came across it on the Internet. It was not expensive, so I thought, 'Why not give it a try?'" He added three additional layers of security with brake and pedal locks, plus a tracking system.

David became a would-be victim again a few months later. This time, though, his story has a happy ending. The thieves pried the door open with a "Slim Jim," bent the clutch pedal sideways to circumvent the AutoLock, then broke the ignition switch in an attempt to hot wire the car. When PowerLock circumvented that effort, they tried rolling the car down a nearby hill to pop the clutch. That didn't work, either, so they abandoned the car. The tracking system helped authorities recover the car a short time later.

For more information, contact USSC, 17173 Gillette Avenue, Suite 5, Irvine, Calif. 92614; (800) 231-7131, or visit www.powerlock.com.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

7 Tips for Product Enhancement to Increase your Sales

Everyone needs to know what business they're in and they need to be able to express that purpose in a few sentences in their USA.

Using product enhancement towards helping with your current mission statement, should help determine your business as a leading provider. For ex; if you're a plumber, you're not in the business of plumbing. If you're a carpet cleaner, you're not in the business of carpet cleaning. You're in the business of marketing plumbing or marketing carpet cleaning services.

Your mission statement is what is best for you. You can constantly measure all of your activities then to the mission of your company. You can further measure the success by the success of your clients or customers. The more successful your customers are in getting the benefits from you, the more successful you will be in growing your business.

If you're currently not generating the volume of business you want, your customers aren't purchasing as much as you want them to.

Here's an exercise that you should go through periodically to evaluate ways you can make your product or service better, and thereby either increase sales or extend your product or service life cycle.

Get out a piece of paper and answer the following questions.

1. Write down not what your product or service is, but the need or desire of your target market that you have perceived.

2. Brainstorm other ways to fulfill that need in ways other than through the use of your current product or service.

3. List all the obvious and not so-obvious features of your product or service.

4. Enhance your product or service with alternative ways to fulfill your customer's needs based on the ways you Brainstormed in #2.

5. Identify your USA versus your competitor's and any other alternative products or services.

6. Create five different front and back-end up sell scenarios for each product and service you intend to offer. You can encompass one of these attributes in each sale scenario that you come up with.

7. Determine how best to incorporate incentives for getting your prospects to buy. You want them to buy, buy now, and buy from you.

Don't limit yourself to the list below, but here are some additional ways you can begin. These are reasons customers typically patronize a certain business. Identify major sales advantages that you have over your competition.

Low price Top quality convenient location Friendly employees Knowledgeable employees Nice business surroundings Fair credit or return policy Good selection Convenient hours

The important thing about running a small business is to know the direction in which you're heading; to know on a day-to-day basis your progress in that very direction; to be aware of what your competitors are doing and to practice good money management at all times. All this will prepare you to recognize potential problems before they arise.

In order to survive with a small business, regardless of the economic climate, it is essential to surround yourself with smart people, and practice sound business management at all times.

By Abe Cherian

Copyright © 2005

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