Why we can't have nice things

DanDietrich said:

yahooyahoo said:

This happened to me twice. Once my car was moved to another street and the second time it was towed to the impound lot on the west side of Manhattan.  I'm not sure it if still exists.

Oh, It does.....

It's an adventure I wouldn't wish on anyone.


ml1 said:

mechanical key ignitions were ridiculously easy to steal. 

As much as people are complaining about keyless ignitions, they do make it almost impossible for non-pros to steal a car, as long as the fob isn't left in the vehicle. 

Anyone who doubts this should look at car theft trends in our county over the past 20 years. When we moved here in the 90s cars were being stolen right out of people's driveways all the time. Any dope with a screwdriver could steal your car back then. 

Amateur car thieves have moved on to car jacking as a result. 


If there’s a kill switch that prevents power from the battery getting to the starter, how does that make it easier? It’s hidden. Doesn’t matter which technology sends power to the starter. 


yahooyahoo said:

the18thletter said:

Your FOB should be attached to your home keyset so that you can't leave it in the car or you can't get in the house. I've accidentally left a car door unlocked before but I've never left the key in the car. 

Hang up the home keyset away from the car on the far side of the house.  Car thieves can use a device to scan for the fob signal and then transmit the signal to the vehicle.  "The more walls between your key fob and your car the better protected you are."

Or get a faraday box to keep your fobs in


sac said:

ml1 said:

Anyone who doubts this should look at car theft trends in our county over the past 20 years. When we moved here in the 90s cars were being stolen right out of people's driveways all the time. Any dope with a screwdriver could steal your car back then. 

It seems that cars are still being stolen out of people's driveways all the time since they leave keys/fobs in the cars.

that's why I wrote "as long as the fob isn't left in the car" grin


the18thletter said:

ml1 said:

mechanical key ignitions were ridiculously easy to steal. 

As much as people are complaining about keyless ignitions, they do make it almost impossible for non-pros to steal a car, as long as the fob isn't left in the vehicle. 

Anyone who doubts this should look at car theft trends in our county over the past 20 years. When we moved here in the 90s cars were being stolen right out of people's driveways all the time. Any dope with a screwdriver could steal your car back then. 

Amateur car thieves have moved on to car jacking as a result. 

those aren't the same as a dude with a screwdriver. Carjacking with a firearm is a serious crime. Those aren't joyriding teens.


That's the point I've been trying to make for years.  There are professional thieves whom like certain brands that are popular in these towns.  Those guys will have the technology to get what they want.  But most of the thefts are purely opportunistic.  Those are the ones we can prevent with a little thought.  If it wasn't so damned easy here those thieves would move on.



max_weisenfeld said:

yahooyahoo said:

the18thletter said:

Your FOB should be attached to your home keyset so that you can't leave it in the car or you can't get in the house. I've accidentally left a car door unlocked before but I've never left the key in the car. 

Hang up the home keyset away from the car on the far side of the house.  Car thieves can use a device to scan for the fob signal and then transmit the signal to the vehicle.  "The more walls between your key fob and your car the better protected you are."

Or get a faraday box to keep your fobs in

That looks like a fancy suitcase for fobs.


ridski said:

Would putting it in one of those RFID wallets work?

Aluminum foil? 


DanDietrich said:

Oh, It does.....

My car got bagged once. Thing is, I'm a scofflaw. It's one thing to pay $5 or 10 for an overdue meter. But $95? I guess over the years, I got maybe six or seven hundred bucks of unpaid tickets, Ya get a few letters from them and they forget about it.  The tickets were from maybe the 70's and 80's.

Then I get towed. When I went pay the fine, they run stuff through the computer and the old license plate didn't show up. 

So I paid the towing fee and drove the car out.


DanDietrich said:

Quoted from Village Green:

February 11, 2023: Motor Vehicle Theft: An unsecured/unlocked Mercedes Benz with the keys left inside was stolen from a driveway of a resident on Fairview Terrace. Owner reports the vehicle was parked at 9 p.m. on Friday, February 10, 2023 and when she went out to the vehicle on Saturday at 9 a.m. February 11, 2023 the vehicle was missing. Vehicle was recovered in Newark several days later.

End quote.

You know, we wonder why people target our towns for auto theft.  This is why.  Just the basics folks, try just the basics.

in other words, she asked for it?


ml1 said:

those aren't the same as a dude with a screwdriver. Carjacking with a firearm is a serious crime. Those aren't joyriding teens.

Car jacking can occur without a weapon and joy riding teens are definitely involved with it. 


the18thletter said:

ml1 said:

those aren't the same as a dude with a screwdriver. Carjacking with a firearm is a serious crime. Those aren't joyriding teens.

Car jacking can occur without a weapon and joy riding teens are definitely involved with it. 

if it was as easy as taking a car with a screwdriver, we wouldn't have seen the drastic drop in car thefts that we've seen over the past 20-30 years.

I'm not naive enough to say those kinds of crimes NEVER happen. But it's many multiples of difficulty higher to confront someone directly and take their car than it is to break in when there's no one around in the middle of the night. And technically speaking, a carjacking by definition isn't just a "joy ride."


car·jack·ing/ˈkärˌjakiNG/

Learn to pronounce

noun

  1. the action of violently stealing an occupied car.   "carjacking is a big worry"

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