By Lukmon Oloyede.
Luxury cars are not just prized possessions. They also represent a significant investment in time and money as most of them cost millions of Naira. Statics shows a significant rise in the theft of luxury cars between September and December each year.
According to Forbes, luxury car thieves prefer to steal luxury Mercedes Benz cars. In early September, a Lagos socialite lost a luxury Mercedes Benz to car thieves as he returned to the parking lot where the car was packed after attending an event on the island. Even with the advanced security technology of the car, the thief was able to whisk the car away without a trace. It was later discovered that the thieves hacked the dash board computer remotely and disabled the security. The car which was worth about N176 million was never recovered.
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Carmudi Nigeria, in a chat, revealed that car theft is most often a targeted form of theft. Unsuspecting persons give information specifying the make of the luxury car they want to buy and the thief targets and tracks the car by placing a GPS tracker on it and steals it when the chance presents itself. This form of theft can be quite daring as the thieves invade owners’ homes, garages, parking lots and other public places to steal these cars. While all thieves can’t be thwarted, there are ways to protect your Luxury cars from thieves.
The online car market platform says a multi-tiered approach combining common sense, theft prevention devices and track/recovery systems is the best route. The first important step is prevention. Never leave your keys in the car as automated key signals can be cloned. Do not leave your engine running. Close all windows and lock all doors when leaving your vehicle. The next step is to have an effective theft prevention device that is visible and audible like a lock key or an alarm warning device. Thieves are less likely to steal cars with such visible security devices, it added.
Other security measures include mechanisms which prevent the car’s starter from turning, shutting off the engine after 10 second if security code is not keyed in.
Since thieves are often professionals who can deactivate anti-theft devices such as alarms and kill switches, the use of a device that does not draw energy from the vehicles battery and does not need to be connected to the vehicles electric system is advised. The device can be hidden in a variety of locations specified by the car owner so its location remains a secret.
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