Use a visible anti-theft device (about $30-50). Popular devices in this category are similar to the steering lock device pictured above. They are effective because they lock the steering wheel in a fixed position so the vehicle cannot be driven. You may have seen the television news program last year that did a story on how these devices can be defeated. The program demonstrated how the device can be defeated by either punching out the lock or cutting the steering wheel to remove it. You can prevent this from happening by putting the steering lock device on backwards. Place the device on the inside of the steering wheel with the lock facing the dashboard. This way the lock cannot be defeated. You will have to reach around the steering wheel to unlock the device but this is easy after you do it a few times.

To prevent your steering wheel from being cut, use a shield attachment which is an add-on to the steering wheel locking device. One final note, 95% of our auto theft victims did not have a theft prevention device in or attached to the vehicle. Thieves want the path of least resistance and two or three of those cars have one or more doors unlocked and the perhaps the keys were left in the vehicle. Those are the cars that will be stolen. These devices can be purchased at most automotive and retail stores.

Glass Etching provides an affordable means for discouraging thieves from stealing your vehicle. Glass etching involves engraving all the windows of a vehicle with that vehicles VIN number. The idea here is that thieves won't steal a vehicle that has been etched because all of the etched glass must be replaced with new glass, which is expensive and time consuming. This is especially true in cases where thieves seek to re-plate (the replacement of a stolen vehicles correct VIN number with fraudulent VIN numbers in order to re-title and sell the vehicle) the car or send it to a chop shop. A chop shop won't buy marked vehicles stolen by an amateur or careless "pro". Vehicle theft is a business to them and an etched vehicle is just not worth the risk.

In a three year study, Kentucky State Police etched over 125,000 vehicles. Only three of the vehicles were stolen. The Hanover Insurance Company etching program went from a 50% recovery rate before implementation, to over a 90% recovery rate. A Connecticut company etched over 225,000 vehicles over a 5 year period and only 57 vehicles were declared a total loss due to theft. This is a passive security device that won't malfunction and is an effective, inexpensive way to stop the professional thief.