How to defeat a Ravelco

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 five 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, that they call us for guidance. What they are experiencing is exactly what a thief would have to go through 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 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, “Yeah, 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.” Get your vehicle protected with a Ravelco.

See how the Ravelco Anti-Theft device is installed for the ultimate vehicle protection. 

The ultimate vehicle Anti-Theft Device

With more than 5 million installations since 1976, the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device is the only device that has never been defeated

About the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device

This small device is installed in the dash. Remove the plug and the vehicle will not start. The Ravelco offers an unbeatable combination of sturdy construction, secure technology and ease of use.

How the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device works

The Ravelco acts as a keyed electrical interrupt. The Ravelco base unit is installed in or underneath your dash, and the wires are routed into the engine compartment. The Ravelco is wired to various electrical components your engine needs to run (such as the ignition, starter, fuel injection system, fuel pump, engine sensors, etc.). We give the owner the ability to prevent the flow of electricity to those systems by removing the plug from the Ravelco base unit, preventing the vehicle from starting. 

Designed to work AGAINST the way thieves steal vehicles

Thieves go straight to the car’s weak point to steal it: the wires under the dash. Every wire they need to start the car is there. This is also where EVERY alarm and other theft prevention device is wired.

Inside the passenger compartment, thieves are hidden from view.

The Ravelco is different from other car security devices. Underneath the dash, the Ravelco wires are protected with steel, so thieves can’t get access to them. Even if they did, all the wires are the same color, and there is no pattern to follow.

Thieves are forced OUTSIDE the car to work in the open. Inside the engine compartment, all the wires are hidden inside the factory wiring, disguised to look like factory wiring, or put out of view behind engine components. Thieves don’t want to stand outside the car with the hood open, unraveling your car’s electrical system and removing engine components, where anyone can easily see them.

Thieves want to get in your car and be gone within 5 minutes. With a Ravelco Anti-Theft Device installed, they can’t.

Its Genius is in the simplicity

Truly genius solutions are simple and minimize points of failure. Our straight forward design has been proven reliable and EFFECTIVE at preventing vehicle theft time and time again over the last 45 years.

The Ravelco Anti-Theft Device consists of:

The Ravelco base unit that is installed in your vehicle.

  1. Two plugs keyed to the base unit (additional Ravelco plugs can be ordered)
  2. Two warning decals
  3. Two quick disconnect key chains
  4. Custom installation of the Ravelco specifically for your vehicle

The Ravelco is keyed to your vehicle

There are no master plugs for the Ravelco. You can be assured that only your plug will work on your car. With more than 100,000 possible combinations for the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device, the specific physical signature of your vehicle’s plug cannot be guessed.

The base unit is installed in your vehicle, either bracket mounted under the dash, surface mounted in the dash, or concealed from view. When you leave your vehicle, you remove the plug from the Ravelco base unit and attach it to your key chain.

Without the plug, electricity can’t flow to key vehicle components. Because we are disabling multiple engine components, there is no power draw from the car’s battery, and no need to replace batteries in a remote.

Effective and Reliable

It’s not enough that an anti-theft device is effective in preventing thieves from hot-wiring your vehicle. You also need the peace of mind that comes from knowing that each and every time you insert the Ravelco plug, the vehicle will start reliably ensuring that technology designed to prevent theft doesn’t inadvertently prevent operation of your vehicle. The Ravelco is made in the USA of the highest quality materials. The female pins are made out of a memory alloy that always maintains its shape. Ravelco Anti-Theft Devices that were installed 45 years ago are working just as reliably today.

The Ravelco works with other security systems

The Ravelco does not interfere with other alarms or tracking systems installed in your vehicle. No other system is affected by the installation and use of the Ravelco. For owners who want to have multiple layers of protection, an alarm, anti-theft device, and/or a tracking system, the Ravelco is the perfect fit.

Our Lifetime Warranty offers you additional protection

We are so confident in the quality of the Ravelco Anti-Theft Device that we offer a Lifetime Warranty for the original purchaser. If the system wears out, we’ll replace it for free. To date, we have not had one replacement.

Ravelco Anti-Theft Device

Engineered for superior anti-theft protection, yet easy to use by just removing the key chain sized plug, and the engine can’t start and won’t run. Insert the plug, and your vehicle operates normally and won’t interfere with vehicle systems. (Note the Ravelco wires were removed in the photo).

Target-Hardened installation

The Ravelco is installed to work against the way thieves steal vehicles by hiding wires in hard to access non-obvious locations. Under the dash, our wires are encased in hardened steel for maximum protection.