When I first got a Viper car alarm, I thought it was pretty snazzy. I was about 18 years old then, and I had been saving and saving to buy my first sports car. Looking back, it seems like a stupid idea. At the time, however, it was a dream come true. I did everything I could to keep the car in good shape. I waxed it every weekend, I washed it practically every day, I drove slowly and only during the daytime, and of course I bought a cutting-edge car security system for it. That car security, in the long term, turned out to be almost useless. Don't get me wrong – it worked fine. If you would so much as touch the car, the car alarm would go off. The problem was that no one paid any attention to it. People are so used to car alarms going off that they generally ignore them.

I have even seen cops walk past cars

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with the alarms going off without giving them a second look. Basically, 19 out of 20 times, it is a false alarm anyway. Why bother. That is why, despite the new fancy car security system, a thief was able to break into my car and steal it. Apparently, it took him at least 10 minutes. When they found the vehicle a few days later, it was completely trashed. I didn't have theft insurance, so that was that. It was a harsh lesson, but an important one. First of all, it taught me that sports cars are a stupid idea – particularly if you don't live in a very good neighborhood. More importantly, however, It showed me that low-tech car security devices are sometimes the best choice. Ever since then, you see, I have used one of those clubs to lock up my car. It is not electronic, it doesn't trigger an alarm, and it doesn't involve flashing lights or blaring horns. It is, however, very effective. Basically, it takes a professional locksmith to beat that kind of car security – and it would take him quite a while.

You can be confident that, even if someone breaks into your car, they won't be able to drive it off. Best of all, car thieves don't even try to steal a car if they see that you have a club. The best kind of auto security, after all, is the kind of makes thieves stay away.