We got a call today from a Toyota factory technician at a dealer in Northern California who was trying to remove a Ravelco from a trade in. Effectively he was trying to defeat the Ravelco. He had been working since the afternoon of the prior day trying to remove a Ravelco we installed in a Toyota FJ Cruiser, but it could have been a Corolla, Tundra, Tacoma, Prius, or any car that Toyota makes. We’ve gotten similar calls from Honda dealers who call regarding an Accord, Civic, Odyssey, or Ridgeline who are trying to defeat the Ravelco. The Toyota tech couldn’t figure out where our connections were, and how to get to them.

We appreciate getting these calls from factory trained technicians. People who work on these cars 8 or more hours a day, for 5 days a week and can’t figure out how we did the installation. They have a legitimate reason to remove the Ravelco, and they can’t figure out how, or it is taking so much time, they call us for guidance. What they are experiencing is exactly what a thief would have to go through in order to defeat a Ravelco.

A thief has 5 minutes, limited time, limited resources and is under pressure to do what factory techs can’t do in hours. In their shop, with all their tools, and all the time, and without the pressure of being thrown in jail if they’re caught, it takes factory technicians hours to try to undo what our trained technicians do in two hours. Often times they’re stumped. The smart ones call us, and after a series of questioning we help them understand what we did.

These guys have an appreciation for what it is that we do. Our business is to prevent auto theft, not slap in a car alarm and separate the customer from their money. Our business is to give people a real sense of security that their car will not be stolen if they have a Ravelco installed. Alarm and tracking companies have invested heavily and bet their farm on convincing people they will be victims of car theft. We disagree. You don’t need to be a victim of car theft.

So when our competitors try to discredit the Ravelco by saying, “Yah, all you need to do is find the connections and reconnect the factory wires. Done!” We smile and say “Yep. That’s ALL you need to do.”

How low can some low-life’s get? President Obama’s truck containing his teleprompter, sound system, podium and presidential seals was stolen a couple days ago. It’s just being reported today by NCBC12 in Virginia.

This raises the question: Why would they steal this truck? Thieves typically don’t steal commercial vehicles for parts (although they do for fuel and tires when diesel fuel prices go up). Mostly they steal trucks for their contents. Commercial vehicles typically have no factory immobilizer and are very easy to start. So rather than try to empty the cargo, it’s much faster and easier to start the truck and drive off with it.

If President Obama had his truck protected with a Ravelco Anti Theft Device, we would have no worries about the logistics of his equipment. He’d be able to sleep at night knowing that he’ll be able to deliver that flawless speech the next day. Nothing is worse than worrying about the loss of a vehicle and its important contents. Now in all seriousness, of course the President doesn’t worry about a truck being stolen. But for thousands of business owners the loss of a vehicle loaded with equipment can have a dramatic effect on our business.

So here are some tips to help avoid the theft of a vehicle:

• Remove the keys. This sounds silly, but most stolen vehicle are because the owner left the key in the vehicle.  Make sure the drivers turn the keys in at the end of their shift.
• Park it in a highly visible area, preferably in a locked yard. If the truck is out of view, the thief has more time to hotwire the vehicle.
• Get a Ravelco Anti Theft Device or similar immobilizer. Get one that’s been around a long time and has a proven track record. Make sure it is designed to work against the way thieves steal trucks, but hiding under the dash and reconnecting the OEM wires. If the immobilizer you’re considering is connected to the truck’s wires under the dash, they are just separating you from your money. Make sure the connections are made in the engine compartment. That way, a thief would need to work out in the open to try to get by the system.

As a business owner, your job is to ‘target harden’ your fleet. Make your vehicles so hard to take, the thieves give up and target someone else’s.

For the average consumer, when they want to protect their car, a car alarm installation is their immediate solution.

However, the important question to ask yourself is: What do I want to do? Do I want to protect my car from theft? Do I want to protect my car’s contents from theft? Do I want to get back something thieves have stolen? These are all different goals and understanding what your objective is will dictate which direction to go.

“I want to protect my car from theft!”

Get an immobilizer like the Ravelco Anti Theft Device, not a car alarm. Car alarm installations are wired to the car right under the dash, right where the thieves expect and want them. Thieves are hidden from view when they’re under the dash, so they know they have time. Anyone bold enough to break in and steal your car is not only expecting an alarm to go off, they know if they silence it quickly no one is going to look. We’ve documented a number of simple ways thieves use to defeated car alarms.

The Ravelco is not connected under the dash. It is wired under the hood, buried in your car’s electrical system. Why is this type the best? Thieves are limited by time and resources. Your job is to ‘target harden’ your car, making it take too long, and require to many resources (tools, smarts, etc.) to get away with your car.

Most car thefts are drive-aways.

If you have a Lambo or a Ferrari, they most likely will come after the car with a tow truck. If you don’t drive a Lambo or Ferrari they’re going to drive it away. They know how to start it, and they’re not going to go through the additional hassle of a tow truck. So, a solid immobilizer that has been around a long time with a proven track record is your best bet.

“I want to protect the contents of my car!”

If it’s not bolted down, take it out. The best way to protect the contents of a car is to not have any. Take that leather jacket out. The $5 bill in the cup holder will disappear in 3 seconds. A briefcase will be grabbed and gone before the alarm goes off, or even if one does, they’ve got their loot before anyone has time to care. An alarm will not stop this. A stereo can be yanked out fairly quickly. Get a head unit with a removable face plate so they can’t see the brand, and they know it’s useless without the face.

Unfortunately a car alarm will NOT prevent your contents from being stolen. Anyone bold enough to break in is going to be ready for a car alarm. A quick clip of the red/black wire disables most alarms. But most people don’t look twice when a car alarm goes off. That’s their biggest weakness. If you’re the person that calls the police when you hear a car alarm, then get one. If you don’t call the police, don’t waste your money on an alarm. If you do get one, please get one that pages, and doesn’t make noise.

“I want to get back what the thieves don’t want!”

An alarm isn’t going to help you here either. If you want to get back the thieves’ leftovers, then you want a tracking device. GPS or radio tracking systems have nothing that prevents the vehicle starting, and you have to pay a monthly service. If not, ask if there’s a lifetime warranty. Some of the most popular ones require you ‘renew the batteries’ after 5 years.

Also, keep in mind, that if your car is stolen, it’s going to be worth less when you sell it or trade it in. CarFax gets that information from the DMV, who is alerted by police when you call to report the theft. You get the car back along with a 5 to 15% reduction in value. The cost of a tracking system just went up.

The Bottom Line on Car Alarms

There are several reasons why people don’t buy car alarms these days.

1) The sound is a nuisance. No one pays attention, no one bothers to look. Thieves know this.

2) They are wired right under the dash, where the thieves know and expect them. They can work without being seen to quickly silence them.

3) They are not an effective deterrent.

So our advice is this: protect the car from being stolen in the first place. Get a Ravelco.

What’s worse is company logos on vehicles give thieves clues as to what’s inside. Plumbing equipment, welding equipment, contractor tools are all valuable cargo that are easily sold on Craigslist or eBay. If they steal one truck, and find it profitable, they’ll target others from the same company. We had one customer with vans worth about $40,000 in tools and equipment, not to mention the van itself. They had one van stolen, then another, then they almost lost a third. We got the call to protect the fleet shortly after that. One week after we were done they had another attempt on a van and we stopped it. They would have paid more to replace that one van than it cost to protect the whole fleet. This fleet security case provided instant ROI.

The moral to the story, and so many others we’ve heard just like it, is the thieves don’t want to grab what they can and run, they want to take the whole vehicle, get it to someplace more secure, and remove all the equipment, not just a couple pieces.

Why steal the vehicle? Why not just empty the contents?
It’s less conspicuous, less risky and more profitable to drive away with the whole vehicle than it is to take just a few parts out of the van or truck. From the thieves’ point of view, he can get in the vehicle, close the doors and duck under the dash and connect the wires he needs to start the vehicle. Unless someone is right next to or above the vehicle, no one can see them below the window line.

The drawback with 99% of car alarms and immobilizers is that their wire connections are right under the dash. Under the dash is the first place thieves go. It’s their office. Any thief capable of starting a car without a key will see the obvious non-OEM wires and reconnect the factory wires. Done and gone.

And what good is a tracking system once the vehicle is stolen? They take the van or truck, clean it out, and you get back what the thieves don’t want.

You don’t want to worry about vehicle theft. Your fleet should be protected with something proven over time to prevent theft. Something reliable that won’t leave your vehicle stranded. From someone with reputable companies like AAA, the NICB and others, partnering with them. The best anti theft device is the best way to protect your fleet from cargo theft. If the van or truck can’t move, they won’t get away with the equipment inside or on the bed.

The best anti theft device is the Ravelco.

Mark is a big Jeep fan (you have to be to buy a third one after the first two losses!) and puts a lot of time and money into them.  He got sick and tired of some low life making off with something he put his money and time into. Alarms did nothing and were easily defeated. He needed something effective, something the would provide his Jeep with theft protection that worked.

After reading about the Ravelco, how it’s been around since 1976, sold over 4 million units without ever having a vehicle stolen, he decided to give it a try. We haven’t heard from Mark for the last three years, as the Ravelco has been working fine and he, like all our customers, didn’t have any problems. Until now.

It turns out that over the last three plus years there have been four, yes FOUR theft attempts on Marks’ Jeep. The first three were the normal attempts. They get in, break what they need to in order to start the Jeep, strip whatever wires and connect them together and try to start the car. Each time the Ravelco worked, he got the minor damage repaired and went on with life.

Well, the fourth one, they decided to try to cut the wires on the Ravelco, doing a little more damage in the process. So, the insurance company will replace the Ravelco and the other damage done to the Jeep, but there are two great things about this. 1- Mark kept his Jeep. Again, again, and again. The Ravelco foiled each attempt. And 2- Mark stuck it to the thief. The jerk did some damage to the Jeep, but Mark has the satisfaction of knowing he pulled on over on that guy (not being sexist, just playing the statistics- they’re mostly guys. Come on now, we all know that.).

The Long Beach Police sent a finger printing crew out. The result: no fingerprints. This guy was a pro. He knew what he was doing and he wanted the Jeep. However, because he had a properly installed Ravelco, the thief moved on to another Jeep. That old adage “If they want your car, they’ll get it” just isn’t true if you have a Ravelco installed. Thieves are limited by time, resources and overinflated egos. The Ravelco works against all three of these things.

And when we can do that little bit to remind them their ego isn’t in line with reality, we get a huge sense of satisfaction. Thanks for the call Mark!

For more stories like this, click here.

But first, why is there a need for an aftermarket Escalade theft Deterrent?’

The manufacturer’s security comes with a big hole that thieves exploit. When you manually unlock the door, the GM security (which is the same for all GM trucks and SUVs- this includes the Silverado, 1500, 2500, 3500, Denali, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, Avalanche and of course, the Escalade) says, “Oh, the battery is dead on the key, I’ll disable the ignition security so the owner can drive home!”

Without providing instructions as to how it’s done, all the thieves do is pop the door lock and get the ignition switch to turn over. Something a trained thief can do in about 45 seconds.

Thieves target Escalades for many different reasons.

1. Low risk…. They are very easy to steal. Less than 45 seconds is well within the 3 to 5 minutes most thieves will spend trying to get a vehicle started.
2. High reward… The owners spend a lot of money on audio/visual, accessories and wheels.
3. Did you know… Their body parts are interchangeable with less expensive Suburbans. We’ve heard of some thieves stealing Escalades and putting the body parts on their Suburbans! They’d drive around their neighborhood fooling the admirers.

The need for an effective Escalade theft deterrent is clear. Once a thief knows how to beat the factory system, they can steal any of them. Alarms aren’t much help because they are all connected right underneath the dash- the thieves’ office. He knows where everything is, and when he (okay, typically it’s a “he”!) sees non factory wires with 3M crimps connected to the OEM wiring, they just undo it and reconnect the factory wires. He’s hidden under the dash and can do it relatively quickly.

“But I can just track it.” Do you want to get back what the thieves don’t want?

If you have a tracking system like OnStar, don’t think your worries are over. Most of these systems do nothing to prevent the theft. They’ll take it just as easily with OnStar as without it. And once the thieves clip the GPS antenna wire, your car disappears from the satellite. Anyone going to steal an Escalade knows this.

When you call the police to report a stolen vehicle, they alert the DMV (who tags your vehicle’s record), who alerts CarFax, who alerts the next person you try to sell your recovered vehicle to, and you’ve just lowered your SUV’s resale value. Preventing the theft in the first place avoids this unnecessary depreciation. (When buying a used car, would you pay a premium for a car that’s been stolen? Would a dealer on trade in? No.)

The logical conclusion is to prevent the theft in the first place

The Ravelco Anti Theft Device was designed and is installed to work against the way thieves steal cars. The Ravelco is an immobilizer that prevents the engine from starting. Remove the keyed plug (there are no masters) and the Escalade won’t start. None of the connections are made under the dash, so a thief would have to get out of the SUV, and work out in the open, taking apart your car’s electrical system, trying to figure out where we’ve made the connections. And even then, there is no guarantee they’ll reconnect the OEM wires properly. It’s dark, they’re panicked, and they’re running out of time. The smart thieves quit fast and go take your neighbor’s Escalade. The dumb ones keep trying until you see them and call the cops.

With over 4,000,000 units sold in the last 35 years, the Ravelco is the best kept secret in the auto security business. For more information on the Ravelco, go to http://NoHotWire.com

To understand heavy equipment theft prevention, the first thing to know is how thieves prefer to steal vehicles and equipment. Over 95% of stolen vehicles are driven away. Nearly all heavy equipment is towed away, but needs to be driven onto a trailer before towing.

For tow vehicles, thieves prefer to break in and hide under the dash, often working below the level of the window sill, so they can not be spotted easily. They want to get in and away inside 3 to 5 minutes. Hidden under the dash, thieves have time to defeat any alarm or security device that is connected there- they just trace the wires back, and off they go.

The same holds true for heavy equipment. However, many manufacturer’s make it very easy to start by taking a one-key-starts-all approach to their products. This makes it easier to manage a fleet and drive onto a trailer and conversely, makes heavy equipment theft prevention harder.

An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure

In 2009 13,452 pieces of heavy equipment were stolen in 2009 according to NCIC. 18% of those thefts were recovered.

Even though recover rates are higher for vehicles, your first choice when it comes to security should be to render the vehicle or equipment immovable so thieves can’t take it in the first place. When your property is taken, it impacts you, your customers, your employees and your bottom line. And once recovered, there’s still time repurchasing tools, scrambling to support your customers and dealing with insurance filings. Keep it from being stolen and you won’t have to deal with any of it.

What can be done to prevent vehicle theft?

Remove the key. Sure it’s obvious, but the most common reason thieves get away with vehicles is that the vehicle had the keys left in it. Instill in your team the impact to the business and ramifications to them if keys are not turned back in or remove from the vehicle.

Protect your fleet with a proven immobilizer. An immobilizer that prevents the engine from running will prevent heavy equipment from being driven onto a trailer, or a work truck from leaving its parking spot. Get one that has partnerships with organizations such as the National Insurance Crime Bureau or AAA. One such device is the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device. Most fleets can be protected at less than the cost of 1 theft.

Most company vehicles are stolen for their cargo, or their ability to tow cargo. If a thief finds that your company has valuable tools or equipment inside the truck or van, they’ll start to target your vehicles so they can get the tools. Thieves are less likely to break in a grab a few things. They’re more likely to start the vehicle up and drive off with it. It’s faster, easier, and they can remove everything out of it without worry of the driver coming out to confront them.

Big rigs are stolen for two reasons. Sometimes it’s to drain the fuel tanks or to remove the wheels, other times it’s to use the tractor to steal a trailer. Big rigs are easy targets as they often don’t have any security and are very easy to steal by prying open the panel with the ignition switch, and jumping a couple wires across. If your security system is wired under the dash, it’s no problem for the thief as they are hidden from view in the cab. A security system that forces them into the open to bypass will discourage them from attempting the theft and they’ll target another one.

What can be done to prevent heavy equipment theft?

David Arebalos worked for 30 years in law enforcement and is now the Executive Director of the Construction Industry Crime Prevention Program and has quite a bit of experience with theft of construction equipment. As most heavy equipment is towed away, making your equipment less desirable in a thieves’ eyes is critical. David recommended a few things:

Paint your equipment with easily identifiable markings or bright colors that people associate with your company. When a thief looks at generator or skid steer, they’re look at how easy it will be to get rid of it (for money, drugs, etc.). If people in your area know you have lime green equipment, or logos are painted on the sides, it will reduce the chances of a thief being able to sell it to someone else, or use it plain sight.

Mark your equipment so that if it is stolen, it can be traced back to you if found. The National Equipment Register (www.nerusa.com) can provide you with kits to mark your vehicle and register it. If thieves know it can be traced, they’re less likely to take it.

If you leave the equipment at a site for a period of time, remove the wheels. Making it hard to tow away is critical. They’ll look for an easier target. Most will not spend the money to buy wheels for it, when they can go somewhere else and get the same thing.

Do not leave equipment on a trailer unattended. You’ve cut a thief’s time significantly if all they need to do is hook up a truck and drive off.

If you have heavy equipment that are motor driven such as skid steers and backhoes, get an immobilizer to prevent the engine from starting. If the thief can’t get it started using his standard approach, odds are he’ll jump off and go for something else. They won’t want to spend time going through the electrical system. It’s far to obvious they’re attempting to steal the equipment if they are tracing down wires.

Most heavy equipment that is stolen is either used on private property, sold to unsuspecting used equipment dealers, or taken across the border. So, bright paint, logos, permanent identifying numbers, etc are all discouraging for two out of three of those.

What can be done to help recover after a theft attempt?

TRACKING DEVICES

Tracking devices can be a good secondary approach to dealing with theft. Consider these the ‘cure’ as it is more expensive to treat theft after the fact. But there are some shortcomings to be aware of. It takes 10 minutes to clean out a truck. Will your tracking device alert you and allow you to respond in that amount of time? Will it work if the vehicle crosses a boarder, or if the thieves have time to find the GPS antennae? Police respond to crimes in progress much faster than a theft that happened a few hours ago or over the weekend.

The bottom line is that tracking systems are designed to get your car back AFTER it has been stolen. This approach may help law enforcement find crime rings, but for the fleet manager, you’re often looking at getting back what the thieves don’t want: a truck stripped of it’s valuable parts and equipment.

We also recommend keeping good records. Know exactly what equipment you have and where their identification numbers are will help law enforcement identify equipment as yours, should it turn up.

Thieves are opportunistic. They rarely have a need for YOUR particular vehicle or equipment. So do what you can to discourage them and prevent them from taking your equipment or vehicle. You don’t need to be a victim by taking some very common sense steps.

The current factory immobilizers in most cars will go a long way to stopping theft when first introduced. The challenge with factory (not dealer/aftermarket installed) car security devices is that they are installed the same way, on every car. When a new technology comes around, it takes a while for thieves to figure out ways around it, and eventually that information makes its way down from the ‘smarter’ thieves, who figure it out, to the common thieves just brazen enough to follow instructions and try. Because the same approach is used on every car, the same approach to bypass the system works on every car.

The benefit to an aftermarket device is that it can be installed in a different way, every time. So even if a thief figures out a way to defeat it on one car, the same approach wont’ work on a different car.

The Best Car Security Device

The best car security device will have many features to it: A) it won’t leave you stranded. B) it takes time to install properly. C) it has a long term reputation and D) it does what you want it to do: PREVENT the theft of your vehicle. What use is spending $500 to $1200 on a system that does nothing to prevent the theft of your car?

The best car security device we’ve found is the Ravelco Anti Theft Device. It’s been around since 1976, sold over 4 million units, and no customer has ever lost their car by defeating the Ravelco. It’s an easy to use immobilizer that is installed in the dash of the car, and wired in a way that makes it difficult to trace and tricky to undo. It takes so much time to bypass, that thieves are better off quitting and going after a car that doesn’t have a Ravelco.

To read the whole article from Fox Business news, go to http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/08/12/what-steal-anti-theft-devices-zap-car-insurance-rates/

“That’s why I buy AAA insurance,” you said to yourself. Except that each car theft costs you in time, lost deductibles, and higher insurance premiums.

You’ve heard the myth: “If thieves want your car, they’re going to get it.”

Here is the fact: thieves are limited by time and resources, just like you and I. If they don’t have enough time, or resources, they’re NOT going to get your car. They want to steal the car fast, inside 3 minutes. If they can’t, they move on. They want to work unseen, hidden under the dash of the vehicle where alarms and kill switches are wired. Just reconnect the factory wires, and these systems are bypassed.

What doesn’t work:

Car alarms. With their high false-alarm rate, car alarms have only given the public a deaf ear and blindness to honking horns and blinking lights. Criminals willing to smash the glass and grab what they want know the public tends to ignore alarms. They’re also wired right under the dash, where the thief is concealed, and has time to defeat them..

Tracking devices. They don’t stop thieves from driving away with your vehicle. It takes a small crew less than 15 minutes to make off and strip a car of what they’re looking for. Tracking devices can not alert you, notify police and recover your car within 15 minutes. Also, when a car is stolen, its theft is reported to the California DMV, a blot on the car’s record which shows up on a CarFax report. Dealers and private buyers pay less for recovered cars because of possible unfound damage.

A properly installed Ravelco works!

A simple, reliable, and undefeated vehicle immobilizer all but nails the car to its parking spot. More than 90 percent of stolen cars are hotwired and driven away, not towed, so preventing thieves from starting up and driving off means keeping your car and accessories. The Ravelco doesn’t have any exposed wires under the dash where thieves can get them. The Ravelco’s protected wiring is disguised in the car’s complex harness under the hood. Thieves won’t risk opening hoods, because it means that they are outside, exposed, not hiding under the dash but drawing attention to themselves.

At California Ravelco, our business is car theft prevention. Above all, remember this: you don’t have to be a victim of car theft.

By Brooke Sutherland – Jun 20, 2011 9:00 PM PT
U.S. vehicle thefts dropped to the lowest since 1967, falling for a seventh straight year as more cars were equipped with security devices and police tactics helped deter thieves, an insurance industry group said.

Thefts probably declined 7.2 percent last year from 794,616 in 2009, according to preliminary figures released today by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The New York City region, Dallas, Los Angeles, Detroit and Miami were among 257 urban areas reporting fewer thefts, the non-profit trade group said, citing FBI data.

Insurers including Allstate Corp. (ALL) and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. offer discounts to customers who use anti-theft devices. In addition to built-in security features, NICB recommends manufacturer-installed products such as LoJack Corp. tracking devices and Ravelco ignition disablers.

“Technology both on the manufacturing end and what comes out of the automakers is a lot better than it was,” Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for Des Plaines, Illinois-based NICB, said in an interview. “Even on the baseline vehicle today, it’s harder to steal than in 2000.”

Auto thefts in the New York City area, including northern New Jersey and Long Island, fell 1.9 percent to 29,189. The region had the 198th-highest-rate of 366 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, compared with 223rd in 2009. State College, Pennsylvania, had the lowest rate for the second straight year with 46 thefts, or 30 per 100,000 people.

Bait Programs

Car thefts in Dallas declined 14.5 percent in 2010 to 21,963, or 345 thefts per 100,000 people, the NICB said. Police use “bait programs” in which officers leave cars unlocked, often with the keys still in the ignition, to tempt would-be thieves. The tactic has helped reduce thefts, said Sgt. Robert Benitez of the Dallas Police Department.

Fresno, California — one of eight regions in the state among the top 10 places for car snatching — had the highest rate of theft. The Fresno area, in central California, had 7,559 thefts, or 812 per 100,000 people, the NICB said.

Law-enforcement efforts are hobbled by insufficient capacity at the county jail resulting from staff shortages, said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.

“Individuals we arrest for the crime of auto theft are being booked into jail and released, generally the same day,” he said in an interview. “It is not uncommon for us to arrest the same person for auto theft multiple times in one week.”

Sgt. Eddie Perez of California’s Delano Police Department, in the Southern California region with the third-highest rate of car thefts, said more automobile owners should take basic precautions.

“The simplest, the easiest and the most cost-effective is really just to lock the thing,” Scafidi said. “I know that sounds kind of elementary, but there are lots of vehicles that are stolen every year because people make it easy on the thief.”