ok so the thread about Mal's pistol's being stolen got me thinking. someone mentioned, "valuables and guns left in a car are not secure"

SOOOO......how do you make a car secure?  in my jeep I have a Tuffy center console with one of the rounded keys on it.  it's make out of 16g (?) metal with a reinforced "pry proof" lip on it.  this is a requirement for jeeps since the tops can just be cut back.  is that secure?

in another car of mine I have a locked trunk, the seats are locked shut so you can't pull them down, and the trunk release is also locked so it doesn't work.  the only way to open it is with the key fob, the valet key doesn't even work. so is that secure?

I don't have one of these yet but what about those little lock boxes that are secured to the seat bracket with a lock. is that secure?

any suggestions on how to make a car "secure"?

the vehicle itself can be stolen.  therefore there is no real way to secure it.

barring Auto Theft, the only security is a heavy gauge steel container that is bolted to the frame, preferably something that has a rating for time it takes to break into it with tools.

trunks are great for keeping valuables out of sight, but their locks have been getting punched for longer than most on here have been alive.

any way you cut it, vehicles are not secure.  you can only lower your probability of victimization.

Which is why it is criminal to ask someone to remove a weapon and leave it in a car...

Amen.

i would rather people carry than have to pull a stolen pistol off a perp on the skreet.

btw, i had a good conversation about GCO at breakfast with my colleagues the other day.  

this is what I have in the jeep:
http://www.tuffyproducts.com/p-84-012-series-ii-security-console-8-wide.aspx

but to be honest not counting a GHB I keep nothing in my car worth anything.

The last two cars I had before I bought the truck I have now, I spliced a switch into the fuel pump wiring and expoxied the switch to the back side of the brake pedal.  It was a push on/push off switch, slide foot under brake pedal and pull foot back to operate switch.  No fuel pump/ car no go.  I also use to have switch to kill the taillights on my Mustang, but that's a different thread.  As far a preventing a smash and grab, that's a little tougher.  I have wanted to get some of that window film that prevents glass from shattering with impact to thwart that route.  As soon as a I can figure out how to put some magnetic locks on the doors without spending a buch of dough I'm going to try it.  

In the past I've also put in master battery switches to completly kill all the power to the car but having to fix presets all the time is a bummer, and I'm not sure how the computers in cars today would react the losing all power on a regular basis.

bad idea.

you want to also be able to get OUT of your vehicle's window if you need to.

You could put a boot on the tire...like the re-po people do.

Other than that......vehicles just aren't secure, period. I don't leave squat in the car but the vehicle emergency kit and some rags and tools.

No way to really secure unless no wheels/tires/no gas/no spark plugs and so on..............

They will always find a way.

I learned at a young age if you want to keep it, never leave in in a vechile.

Are far as car theft, transponder keys on newer models work good, right?

MedicOC, put a small 14 gauge wire around the master switch with an inline fuse. It will keep all your presets intact and when they try to start it. The fuse will blow.

Do these (or similar) work?
Reinforcement plates

This is similar to the tuffy console, but it's more of a retrofit inside the factory console.  I don't like how you would then have two console lids to open.
Console Vault


i don't leave anything valuable in my vehicle.  It's very rare occasions.  On those rare occasions though, I would like addt'l protection.

I don't even leave my registration/ insurance or anything w/ my name and address in my car.  I guess once you've had a car stolen, you quit doing that.