How do you protect your Hot Rod when traveling and staying overnight in a motel?

mustangsix, the Ritz-Carlton Valet will probably bring the thieves coffee while their loading up your car.
I used to think I was somewhat anal when leaving my cars parked overnight at motels wanting to see them from my room and worrying they may be stolen. Now its not being anal, cars are now routinely being stolen and the concern is real.

 

No valet parking for my truck, ever!

 

I had a freind that was all bent out of Shape worring about His Car at Nite he would
Chane it to a Pole
and Had a Sign saying "This Car is wired with 2 Sticks of Dynamite"
so if you Open it the wrong way "BOOM"
and it realy was wired with the Dynamite of course he was a Nut!

Just my 3.5 cents

 

Uhh.... ok

 

Obviously, the Wiley Coyote approach to security.......

 

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that he would have been held accountable for murder or manslaughter if it had actually gone off. The better deal (without liability) would have been to wire it with a countdown clock and a loud boom...just to scare the $&!t out a would be thief.

 

I put thousands of miles on my car every year. I've driven to SoCal and back. Stayed at many hotels. I've never worried about it and likely never will. And I have no alarm system and NO WINDOWS!
And yes, I did have a 64 Impala stolen from me years ago. I let my insurance adjuster look after these things. That's what he gets paid for.
I've got more important things to worry about than some tweaker stealing my car.

 

I look at it this way. If they really want it they're gonna get it no matter what I do aside from sleeping in it, and even that's not 100%.

Sent via Western Union Express

 

Time to move on.

 

If the thief wants my car that badly, he/she can take it. My insurance covers me, and then some. Life is too short to fret over material things. That's my attitude, anyway.

 

I lost an OT muscle car to a thief about 20 years ago and I'm still not completely over it. I had a ton of time and money in it - like every one else in HAMB land - and I got it back totaled. I saved the 400 Pontiac and the Muncie, and that was about it.

 

Here is a response from a guy that really is not connected to his car and doesn't get it...
Jay

 

I just laugh when I read or hear someone say something like that because it's usually bullshit.

 

Back on topic... My thought is this; the guys who aren't all that concerned about their cars being stolen and have the attitude "if it happens it happens" must fall into one of five categories:

1) They are truly not concerned with material possessions at all, if their house burnt down they would feel just as unconcerned (or apathetic).

2) Their cars are way over-insured and they could think of other things to do with the insurance money, including other cars they would prefer to own if they had the cash.

3) Their income level is so high that a $20K, $30K, $50K, $100K loss wouldn't affect them one bit.

4) They have very little personal time, blood, sweat, ingenuity invested in their cars. For them it's an object they traded for greenbacks, not an expression of them as a person or a passion they agonized over and spent too many sleepless hours working on.

5) They don't like the car all that much.

I could be wrong, but probably not...

 

drive the PRIUS on that trip..

 

I'm making popcorn.

 

About 20 years ago, I had y OT vehicles broken into and some minor stuff stolen. What really ticked me off was that they pryed under the door handles and damaged the door skins doing it. (I'd rather they had just broken a side window as it would be a lot easier to fix). I ended up making my own "silent" alarms.

I went to the local electronics place and bought a child locator... It had an alarm that you would put on your kid and a remote control, if you were in a store and lost your kid, you would press the button on the remote and the alarm would go off on the kid. I simply made a small bracket that held the remote and a solenoid that would push the button if the door was opened or the hood was opened, and the alarm would go off in my house. The "silent" part was that the crook wouldn't hear the alarm in the house and I could come out and "take care of the situation". I never had to do that though as I never got broke into again.
At the time the range was very limited (around 100 ft) and the other thing was it worked off a radio frequency and I got woke up a couple times with false alarms. Still though they were cheap piece of mind.

 

I always keep a blow up doll ,pillow and blanket in the trunk if I stay overnite in a Motel I just inflate it cover it and stick it on the front seat then I just insert an old 8-track tape that I gutted out and respilced with 5 minutes of my wife snoring it just keeps on repeating itself over and over and leave the drivers window cracked about 2". It has worked so far

 

i pull the truck into the parking spot then turn the wheels hard to the right or left then run a 1/4" steel cable from the steering wheel around the brake pedal with a lock.

 

Has anyone tried one of the 2-Way LCD Motorcycle Alarm Pager with Remote Engine Start & Proximity Sensor or some other wireless motion alarm? Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Remote-Engine-Proximity-universal/dp/B005NDODAW/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_10

 

If you care that much about it, sleep in it. Better yet, keep it in storage and just show people pictures of it. It might get worn out, or in an accident, or rusty.

Put an alarm on it and forget it. If somebody really wants it they're gonna get it. A stolen car is better than getting cancer.

 

american ingenuity at its best right thar

 

My budget, taste, and skills are the biggest deterrent to anyone stealing my truck! :/
A much bigger worry for me is being vandalized because someone knows it is mine ( I'm not exactly Dale Carnegie).

 

There is one more: I will build another one bigger, better, stronger, faster!

 

100 yards is perfect range


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When I am traveling I try to stay in places that have parking outside my door and I get a first floor room. If that is not possible I park as close to the front door as possible in the most brightly lit spot available. The old Studebaker is far from being a show car and maybe that is a deterrent as well.

 

Sorry but your cable trick is over to a thief that takes a hack saw to your steering wheel to release your cable. That's why The Club doesn't work out in the long run.

 

Just have the wife sleep in the car. That way, she won't argue with the girlfriend.

 

years ago someone tried to steal my galaxie, little did they know that you cant hotwire a car with a dead battery, so they took a knife to the seats and pushed it down the street in front of the neighbors house. seeing the destroyed original seats were bad, but it made me always have a hidden ignition, loud exhaust and be a light sleeper. doesnt do much for a towtruck coming up on it, but at least ill wake up

 

If you cant steer it. If you don't have power to start it and if it want roll because the brakes are locked down it doesn't mean it cant be stolen but it want be stolen by the young joy rider.
Add to that good insurance a well lighted hotel with others hot rodders staying there. Pick a hotel that has a security guard walking the lot at night offer a nice tip to keep an eye on your car and enjoy the trip.

Remember the best security devices are the ones that would normally be in the car. My mom had a bad habit of driving her suburban with the parking brake partially set. It burned rear shoes so my dad made a switch attached it to the emergency brake pull handle, you had to pull that to start it, no more rear shoes and a security lock that no one would think about.