Be aware that if you disable the vehicle while it's in motion (or even stopped in traffic) you could be liable for injuries caused by an accident. Either to bystanders or the perps... they have waaaay more right to steal your car in the United Torts of America than you have to endanger them in any way while they are plying their chosen profession. Yes, this has happened.

 

Indeed. I have my autel ap200 in my OBD port so that was not an option for me.

 

LMAO! All that says it's that some attorneys are asshats. I've represented myself all they way to state supreme court in more than a dozen cases. I always win, no exceptions.

 

Now that I think of it, there was a TV show called "Bait Car" or something like that where the police would leave an unlocked car with a remote immobilizer on the street, then wait for a thief to jump in and drive it away. They were very careful about where they would immobilize the car so it didn't stop someplace that would cause a hazard to anyone.

 

sounds like a good way for the police to waste time and resources.

 

The program was actually quite successful and reduced car thefts in that area by a significant percentage. It is a popular and effective technique used by police departments nationwide.

 

According to my buddy in PD it sort of works... punk *** biatches get scared away from grabbing cars which are left with keys / engine running at convenience stores.

Professionals are more likely to target cars parked longer-term, and they need to do longer-term planning to spoof they key fob or whatever. Or pick a car that's parked where they can just get it on a flatbed. Bait cars are impractical for addressing that.

 

That's what GPS trackers are for.

If someone REALLY wants a car with a GPS tracker they just have to invest in an illegal GPS jammer. But 99.999% of the people on this planet do not own a car that justifies going to such lengths to steal.

 

GPS jammers are cheap. Not particularly hard to be build your own either. Car thieves today need some tech savvy since they have to get around the key encryption to start the car.

In SOCAL most stolen cars either go across the border within hours, or to a chop shop. In the later case, they park the car in a nondescript location off the street for a few days in case it has a tracker. If it's not recovered, then they chop it.

Some high end cars can end up in shipping containers going to Asia. The containers themselves usually block any tracking signals.

 

GPS jammers are also highly illegal and can land you in a federal jail. They are also easy to detect and track down. If the car has a tracker and the thief is scared of it being found with him, guess what, it did its job. I know you are covering the obvious, but most car thieves do not go to such lengths. You know that as well as I do.