Posted on 02/26/2024 2:15:12 PM PST by grundle
Whenever Dennis Wilson wants to take a drive in his new SUV, he has to set aside an extra 15 minutes. That’s about how long it takes to remove the car’s steering wheel club, undo four tire locks and lower a yellow bollard before backing out of his driveway.
His Honda CR-V is also fitted with two alarm systems, a vehicle tracking device and, for good measure, four Apple AirTags. Its remote-access key fob rests in a Faraday bag, to jam illicit unlocking signals.
As a final touch, he mounted two motion-sensitive floodlights on his house and aimed them at the driveway in his modest neighborhood in Toronto.
But all of these security gadgets, Mr. Wilson is convinced, will do no more than delay what seems inevitable: Toronto’s seasoned auto thieves won’t be deterred by the defensive gear, and they’ll make off with this Honda SUV just as they did with its predecessor — and its insurance replacement, which they returned to steal.
While there has been a surge in car thefts across Canada — up 24 percent in 2022, the most recent year nationwide statistics were available — the scourge has hit the Toronto area particularly hard, creating a mix of paranoia, vigilance and resentment.
So pervasive are car thefts in Canada’s largest city, up 150 percent in the past six years, that the issue has become something of a common bond among vehicle owners. If not a victim themselves of a theft, or thefts, many people seem to know someone whose car was swiped, and just about everyone can instantly recall one of the car theft headlines that news outlets have had plenty of opportunity to publish.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Find out what they refuse to steal and buy that ,LOL
Beat-up old junkers.
Car thieves have exquisite taste, you know.
Patrick Swayze’s character had it right in Roadhouse......drive a hoopty and keep your sweet ride hid!
Import the 3rd world, become the 3rd world.
I can see a market develop for a serious locking device for those who don’t have a garage... something like where you come into the driveway and position the car over four Denver boots that automatically clamp it down.
Canada is a progressive-woke dystopia. Toronto is ground-zero
(Import the 3rd world, become the 3rd world.)
All according to plan.
It certainly is Manchurian Candidate Barack Hussein Obama’s plan for the United States.
Probably Justin Trudeau’s plan for Canada as well.
Pay automobile owners $250 per thief shot. $500/each one shot and killed.
I bet thieves would be a bit discouraged. Or bleeding. Or dead.
What do they do with all these cars? Sell them for parts? Or load them onto containers and send them to eastern Europe or Asia or someplace?
Take a $25,000 car, costs you nothing, 2 or 3 in a container will cost maybe $2500 to ship, or say $900 a car. Easy money.
When I owned my very nice Toyota Supra I would pop the hood and remove the fuel injection fuse.
Would only take a few seconds
I have used the “club” on steering wheel since my days in Chicago in mid-1960’s and never had any car stolen. But I only buy bottom of line GM cars, which car thieves do not relish.
Good idea!
You mean ones with a gun rack on the back? Never mind. It’s Canada.
Hang the horse thieves.
Mr Wilson, just a warning. Do not post pictures of car thieves on line. You are violating their right to privacy. (Yes, I know that Toronto is not in Quebec, but I’m sure the same attitude prevails).
How about a hydraulic lift in the driveway?
Just a single piston that puts the car 8’ off the pavement.
Steering wheels are easy to cut. For a similar device that is a bit more secure there is one that locks the brake pedal. I think it’s made by the same manufacturer that makes the club.
Of course with thieves the main idea is to make it just difficult enough to steal your car that they’ll move on to easier targets.
My condolences for having to drive GM vehicles.
I suggest rooftop surveillance. Korean style.
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