I try to help the folks on the G37 Reddit sub as much as I can as many of them are younger and new to cars in general (i.e. my kids age). Most are polite, but you will find a few that are SAs (Trolls) or lacking basic grammar skills. The ones I like, I refer here so we can continue to grow the community with enthusiasts. Not sure how to feel about all the theft. Kill switches are normally easy to find, otherwise it would be a chore to start the car on a daily basis; clubs aren't much good if the thief saws off a portion of the steering wheel. You can also hide an Airtag in the car, but by the time you locate it... None of these prevent theft if the thief is tenacious. Many talk about shooting folks if they catch them in the act, but that seems a bit extreme. I think technology can fix this issue as one could create a BLE powered DC switch operated from an app. Maybe it connects to the fuel pump? It would have to be battery powered and somewhat easy to access for DIY. At that point, is it any better than a kill switch?

Also note that our state is enormous in size (San Diego to the Bay area is over 400 miles and there's still alot of state left to the north), and the thefts seem to be concentrated in certain areas within each city. We need a poll that allows one to post when their car was stolen and where (city and area within the city, for example, "LA" is 10-12 large areas within LA County, many areas are incorporated Cities), a crude heat map.

 

We’ve all got our own risk tolerances, there’s no right or wrong here

Respectfully I don’t really align with the idea that just because there can be a very determined thief out there, that certain measures aren’t worth it. IMO there’s not much drawback to putting some fairly inexpensive yet effective measures in place to lessen the probability of theft.

Effective meaning, make the opportunist give up or choose to not even bother in the first place and move on to another car

Hand-sawing the wheel is possible, but takes time and effort. Sawzall makes it quick, but it’s clunky to carry around and noisy to use on a city street. Etc etc.

For killswitches, I think it’s relatively easy to design ones that are accessible yet annoying to defeat (admittedly it took me some time with the FSM to grow confident with that design)

Comes down to whatever give one peace of mind, we’re all different. But agree that with enough time or resolve, anything can be beat

 

Understood. Everyone needs to do their own risk assessment. My car spends most of its life in my garage and I park in a garage at the airport when I travel for work. Seems that the highest risk is parking on the street near higher density housing. I may talk to my car stereo guy to see what he recommends. Are car alarms not an option? All the entries I read about break the sunroof because it’s not tied to the factory alarm. Glass breakage monitor? At work we are developing audio models for glass breakage for home security. The technology is there today.

For example: https://a.co/d/bKAee09

125dB is intense. Another deterrant.

 

Can't believe it! I randomly look out the window to check on my car, as I do often just to make sure it's still there, and this is what I see. They just ripped it off. Are there any aftermarket fog lights that fit the IPL bumper? The oem ones are about $150 a piece.

 

having a tune with a lockout map is nice too