In Los Angeles, cars are an integral part of everyday life, so it is unbelievably important to protect your vehicle from theft. No matter the type of crime you are concerned about, any property theft or attempt at theft, can leave your car damaged. Avoid paying for repairs, the downtime, and other hassles, by following Locksmith Pros USA’s expert recommendations.

1. Park In A Well Lit & Visible Area

There are not a lot of options when it comes to finding a parking spot in Los Angeles, but our experts say that adequate lighting provides a great criminal deterrent. If you ever have the choice between parking under a strong light source and a darker location, better lighting is recommended.

Criminals do not want to be seen, because that increases the chances of being caught. The more darkness, shadows, and other things that create cover, the more comfortable a criminal will be with attacking your vehicle.

2. Lock Your Doors

When you leave your car, lock all the doors. There are many criminals, especially younger people, who go around areas checking car doors and only proceed with theft if the car is open. Every criminal is looking for the fastest and simplest way to break into your car. So by leaving your car open, Locksmith Pros USA experts know you are vulnerable to every type of criminal.

3. Keep Windows Up 

Most criminals who are going to open your car door are going to try and make a gap in your door so that they can use a probe to manipulate the interior door lock actuators. By virtue of leaving even the smallest gap in your window, there is a gap to be exploited by a criminal looking to open your car door.

Because of how nice the weather is in Los Angeles, and how hot it can get, you may want to roll your windows down. But make sure that you get in the habit of checking to see all your windows are up when you walk away from your car. When the car is off, the windows need to be up all the way.

4. Install A Vehicle Tracker

Rather than installing a third-party alarm and focusing just on a method of alerting yourself and others, the experts at Locksmith Pros USA would suggest using some form of GPS tracking with real-time monitoring.

Alarm fatigue is especially problematic for car alarms, and that means that no one is likely to come to the aid of your vehicle even with a siren blaring. But if your car is taken, you need to be able to find it. Locating stolen cars is extremely unlikely, and because stolen cars can be gone in 60 seconds, it is likely that if someone wants the vehicle, they can get it. It is up to you to get it back.

5. Know Where Your Keys Are

When your car keys are lost, and you don’t know where they are, you are putting the vehicle at risk. With modern car key remotes, criminals who find lost car keys can drive around pointing a remote at all the parked cars until they find your vehicle. Though that may seem like a stretch, the experts at Locksmith Pros USA say that you can be targeted for key theft by strangers as well as people you know.

In any instance where you lose your car keys, make sure you call a local locksmith in Los Angeles to help you. A locksmith can invalidate existing car keys and remotes so that any criminal with your old set of keys will not be able to use them to steal your vehicle.

6. Securely Store Your Car

Besides the precautions you take while parking your car under normal circumstances, you need to consider what to do with your car during stretches of inactivity. You might not be using your vehicle because of an injury, because you are out of town, due to damage you cannot repair yet, a broken ignition, etc.

Locksmith Pros USA experts would like to point out that a neglected car, which goes unused for extended periods of time, attracts the attention of criminals. These appear to be easy marks for theft because the owners are not looking after them, which potentially means a grace period between the theft and the crime being reported (perfect for chop shops).

7. Keep Valuables Out Of Sight

Los Angeles parking lots have done a pretty good job of reminding drivers to hide their valuables with signs saying things such as, “Hide It. Lock It. Or Lose It.” However, these platitudes do not offer suggestions for how to combat forgetfulness or absent-mindedness. 

The first thing that you can do is check the seats after you get out of the vehicle. Phones, keys, wallets, etc., can slide out of your pocket and end up resting in plain sight on the passenger and driver seats. You should also make sure that when placing anything valuable in the car that it is initially stored in a way that obscures what it is and hopefully its very presence.

8. Make Sure Your Locks Function

As our experts have already recommended, you need to lock your door when you leave your car. However, if your door locks do not work or do not work reliably, this can lead to mistakes or oversights that leave your vehicle vulnerable.

For example, if one door does not lock when the car key remote is used, and always has to be locked manually, you are creating the perfect circumstance to neglect your security. When you are in a rush, you cannot be expected to reliably remember a complex locking process. Hire a Los Angeles locksmith to fix your car door locks so that this is not an issue.

9. Install A Kill Switch

This is a rather extreme step, but the experts at Locksmith Pros USA say that it is what some car owners might need if there is a high risk of theft for their vehicle. What a kill switch is, is a button or switch that needs to be engaged in order to start the car. If you hide your kill switch properly the car will simply appear as though it does not run.

A kill switch is not going to be the answer to concerns about property inside the car being stolen, nor will a kill switch disincentivize someone from attempting to steal the car. The main purpose of a kill switch is to make it impossible to drive away in your car unless the driver understands the kill switch system.

10. Clean Your Car Regularly

Our experts wanted to stress the importance of taking care of your car as a means of demonstrating your intention to protect the vehicle. When a car is neglected it emboldens criminals because they believe there is a greater chance of getting away with any level of theft. 

There is nothing flashy or eye-catching about washing your car, so it does not put a target on your vehicle like a car cover could. The experts at Locksmith Pros USA say that this is a minimal step, which does a lot to make sure that criminals don’t think you are lazy when it comes to your security or taking care of your vehicle.

Final Words From Our Experts

There are so many things that a Los Angeles car owner can do to increase the security of their vehicle. The experts at Locksmith Pros USA just want to make sure you are aware of a variety of the different avenues of automotive protection.

From this list, you can tell that anyone with any budget can increase the security of their car. If you need any help deciding on the right course of action for your car, please call Locksmith Pros USA, the best car locksmith in Los Angeles.