Protecting a Honda Civic in Las Vegas?

Question

So I'm deciding to get a new Honda Civic as a new car. (Chose it over the Scion tC because of gas mileage and overall nicer interior) I realize that the #1 most stolen car is the '95 Civic, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips, besides getting an alarm, on how to protect it from either being stripped or stolen. Could someone help me out? thank you!

Answer 1

The club, its a metal pole that locks on your steering wheel

Answer 2

If you use the club, they will cut your steering wheel to get it off

If you have an alarm, it take about 10-15 seconds for them to pop the hood and disconnect the battery, or they will find the brain of the system under the dash and rip it out.

There are only 2 good options:

Have a kill switch installed to disconnect the fuel pump and make sure the switch is in a hard to find place.

Have lojack installed. Most of the time when theives steal ur car they will bring it to their "safe spot" and leave it for a day or two to make sure lojack isisnt in it. If it is, the cops can track the car with gps. They do this cause they dont want the location of their chop shop to be found. So if you use lojack, if you car gets stolen, it is possible to get it back in one piece.

If you plan on souping up ur car, whatever you do, dont put the logo stickers of the parts you have installed on the outside of the car. It basically tells theives all the good stuff you have for them to jack...

Answer 3

Inexpensive method is to buy a lock for your clutch pedal.  A steering wheel lock can be good but I lost confidence after someone managed to get it off without a single scratch on it (pros must have their own keys these days).

You also might want to consider a hidden kill switch that disables the fuel pump or distributor components.  Thieves don't enjoy troubleshooting (attempting to repair) your car.

Keeping your rims from getting stripped can be difficult especially after they've disable your alarm (speakers).  Pros can mold the key lock for your rims and come back another day to lift your car and unlock the key to your rims.  What does help is to park your car in an area where security actively guard and patrol the parking lots.

Good luck!

Answer 4

sorry to say but the" club" does not work, its only a decoy.

the "brake lock" works 75% of the time.

Kill swicthes work very good. fuel pump,ignition, main relays... u can add them to almost anything and very easy to hide.

an alarm installed correctly!

Hide the brain, not under dash like every other alarm, but some where creative... like under the arm rest by the E-brake.

Install 2 Sirens, 1 inside the car, the other in the engine bay.

Battery back up!!!!!!!  thats where everyone goes wrong!

they dont have a battery back up, VERY IMPORTANT!

Hood swicth, tilt sensors,glass sensors...

park where its crowded, under light if possible, thieves wont come aroung if theres people around.

Lo Jack works very good.

But remember, if a thieve wants your car, they will get your car no matter wat!

Answer 5

if you're getting the a *NEW* civic like you said. just get a clifford 2 way pager alarm and use a club or something...only the old civics are prone to get stolen since they're so easily to get money off of...if you have a new one the worse i would say is a broken window....so leave your valuables out of sight.

Answer 6

Pull out the starter fuse, no starter fuse no start. A release hub for the wheel. Keep it looking stock all around. And one of those locks for the clutch or brakes if its mot a manual car.

Answer 7

leave stock rims on it, tint the window, and remove your steering wheel every time, take off your alternator wire when you stop some place,  

put a low jack on it (it is registrated with the local police so, the police can trace your vechicle with  in like a 500 mile radius.

and make sure it is fully covered with insurance just in case it is stolen

Answer 8

1. Look up The Autolock or something like that, it's much more secure than a steering wheel lock. Steering wheel locks can be easily cut off the wheel. The lock I'm talking about doesn't lock to the steering wheel, it locks the brake pedal up off the floor and keeps the car from being shifted out of park.

2. Make sure to park your car in good lighting and/or where other people can see it.

3. I would suggest garaging your car, but I don't know if you're able to do that.

4. Don't keep expensive things visible inside the car.

5. Other than that, I guess you'll just have to keep an eye on it.

Answer 9

Like some other people said, "The Club" doesn't work. A simple sawing of your steering wheel, and its gone and out of the way. The slip over one that goes on the brake works often times, but that's no protection against a skilled thief or one with a flat bed tow truck. (Yes car thieves sometimes use tow trucks to steal cars)

An alarm is actually one of the least effective ways unless its done properly. Most car alarms can be disabled by simply cutting a wire going into the firewall, or opening the hood and quickly cutting the batteries power lines. It is important to have a back up battery alarm and siren inside and outside like someone else said, but also consider adding a paging alarm, which will basically send you notification when your alarm has been triggered. A really good alarm will come with a glass break sensor, tilt sensor (alarm goes off if car is tilted - like when a thief tries to tow it), automatic window roll up, starter disable, and code hopping.

A kill switch IS a great idea, if you hide it properly, a thief wont be able to find it and won't get very far when it comes to stealing your car. Just be sure its actually hidden well, otherwise a kill switch won't have any effect.

VIN etching - you can look into this with a quick google search. Basically it involves getting a VIN etching kit, on places like the glass on all your doors, so that if they stripped for sale, your VIN will be etched in it, making the part almost worthless for sale. (If the thief tries to cover the VIN up or scratch it out, it will at least create suspicion for the buyer)

Lojack i would skip over, only works once your car is stolen. Chop shops work SUPER fast now. And if you car is stolen while you are sleeping, before you wake up and realize its stolen it can be in parts ready for sale and the shell of it already dumped somewhere. So as far as Lojack, its not really worth the $600 or so they charge you for it. You can use that money to put into securities that will stop the car from being stolen in the first place.

Make sure you have theft insurance on your car. You never know if your gonna need it or not, but having one of the most stolen cars in the USA, it would be a good idea. At least then if you car is stolen and you can't recover it, you'll get it covered under insurance. A really good way to prevent your car from being stolen? Garage it! Garages are a lot safer way to store your car overnight, so if you have one, use it!

Never advertise what kind of car alarm you have (i.e. DONT put stickers with your car alarm brand on your car) putting these stickers is like telling a car thief "here's the brand, look up how to disable it and its yours" because all the thief has to know if they know the brand is how to find it and disable it.