Do You Use The Club/Club LX?

[RedRaptor]

A few people have mentioned to me that I should get the \"The Club\" for my car. They say that its a visible deterant against cheap thieves who don\'t know the Mazda 3s come with a immobilizer.

What do you think guys & girls think? Do you own one? Honestly I find it annoying that I have to put the Club on each time I leave my car, but if its going to stop someone from smashing my window and hacking my car, then I guess its worth it.

I noticed they have the Club LX now...anyone want to comment on the LX version of the Club?

[wtom]

I don\'t have either but I\'ve been recommended to get it by two coworkers also. Most thieves are just looking for the quickie theft so if they see your car has a deterrent on it (not just club but maybe even alarm warning sticker) they will not bother.

Of course, it\'s been said... if someone REALLY wants your car... they WILL steal it. Club or no club.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

the Club is useless.

a few years back GlobalTV had a special on car theft in canada. they had a professional thief break into a car that had a Club and demonstrate how simple it is to remove it. 10-15 seconds with a hacksaw through the steering wheel and that was it.

another 5 seconds to pop the ignition cylinder and another 5 seconds to start the car with a screwdriver. the title of the movie \"Gone in 60 Seconds\" was too damn long, more like \"gone in 30 seconds\".

here\'s some irony...going back a few years, a buddy in NYC sees a guy standing over an empty parking spot giving a report to the police....on the ground is his Club. the thieves left the Club on the parking spot and took his car.

[idreamofmazda]

I think it\'s better than nothing. I saw a show on the CBC a few years ago, a documentary about the underground world of car thieves. The guy, who seals for a living, was looking for cars that were easy to seal, and would ignore any cars that had the club. I don\'t believe it is that easy to cut, the seal is pretty hard.

I used to have a Mustang Cobra, parked in an underground parking lot at the building I use to live in. I always used the club, but on Sunday, I went out in the morning, and left the club off, as I was going to go back out later. I never did go back out that day, and didn\'t go back to install the Club. The next morning, I was very sorry, as someone attempted to steal my car during the night, but left it, as he broke the steering column. Perhaps if I had left the Club on, I would have been spared that miserable time of my life I would like to forget.

I am sure if someone had a Corvette, or better, the Club wouldn\'t help much, if they really want that kind of a car, but the Mazda is at the low end, so at least it keeps the inexperienced punks away.

PS. Never leave anything that in your car that is visible to from the outside, and lock it in the trunk. If something thinks there is something of value in that bag, may break a window just to see if he hits the jackpot. This happed to a co-worker of mine, he was on vacation in Ottawa, and his daughter left a back-pack on the seat, there was nothing of value in it, but someone broke the window anyway. Also, another co-worker of mine had her car vandalized, as her son left a Game-Boy on the seat. I guess the punks were unprepared, and did their best the get the car open, but only managed to thousands of dollars in damage.

[FLIPDADY]

If they want your car they\'ll take it no matter what you have on it. The club will just delay them a couple of minutes. I have one just for piece of mind. A good thing to look into is the Boomerang theft recovery system. A friend of mine had his Type-R stolen at Dave and Buster\'s a few years ago and they found the car that same evening.

[bluntman]

I do, but I\'ve lost the keys for it so long ago that it\'s only a visual deterrent. Sssh, don\'t tell anyone. ;)

[civiclad]

I do have a \"club\" however, I never use it as it\'s just too much of a hassle. I keep the club in my car mainly to be used as a weapon if needed :)

[majic]

Originally posted by bluntman


I do, but I\'ve lost the keys for it so long ago that it\'s only a visual deterrent. Sssh, don\'t tell anyone. ;)

how do u take it off the wheel then ;) :D :p

[Soulcrusher]

I saw a documentary on CBC the other day about car thieves. They will usually avoid cars with clubs and immobilizers. IMO, people who would know how to steal a car without the actual keys would almost have to be knowledgeable enough to know which cars have immobilizers. After all, why risk getting caught on a car that can\'t be stolen? And if that is the case, then the immobilizer is more effective as it will be impossible to steal the car without the key.

So how do thieves get around this? They can either break into the house to steal the actual key or they will get all of your information by inputting your license plate at one of the kiosks. Then they\'ll create fake ID to impersonate you and have the dealer create a new set of keys.

Now, we\'ll probably need FLIPSPEED to verify this, but from reading some of his comments and trying to recall some of the info I had previously read from way back when, the dealer cannot just create a new programmed key without two programmed ones. So even if a thief impersonates you, he still needs to get a dealer to create 2 new programmed keys and reprogram the ECU in the car to match these new keys.

Can anyone confirm this?

[bluntman]

Originally posted by Soulcrusher


I saw a documentary on CBC the other day about car thieves. They will usually avoid cars with clubs and immobilizers. IMO, people who would know how to steal a car without the actual keys would almost have to be knowledgeable enough to know which cars have immobilizers. After all, why risk getting caught on a car that can\'t be stolen? And if that is the case, then the immobilizer is more effective as it will be impossible to steal the car without the key.

So how do thieves get around this? They can either break into the house to steal the actual key or they will get all of your information by inputting your license plate at one of the kiosks. Then they\'ll create fake ID to impersonate you and have the dealer create a new set of keys.

Now, we\'ll probably need FLIPSPEED to verify this, but from reading some of his comments and trying to recall some of the info I had previously read from way back when, the dealer cannot just create a new programmed key without two programmed ones. So even if a thief impersonates you, he still needs to get a dealer to create 2 new programmed keys and reprogram the ECU in the car to match these new keys.

Can anyone confirm this?

I saw that documentary too, very eye-opening.

It\'s true what you wrote about the programming a spare key, you will need at least one of the original keys in order to program the new key.

[civiclad]

I think it\'s a great way to ward-off potential car thieves by requiring them to have at least one of the original keys.

I always keep a spare key in my wallet, the M3 key is kinda bulky for my wallet though.

[FLIPDADY]

If you want I can cut you a door key for $7 but it won\'t start the car.

As far as cutting another key we always ask for 2 pieces of ID before we do it.

Ownership and Driver\'s licence.

[Newlook]

I\'ve the club in the car but seldom use it... depends on where I park. If I park for a long time (worse places to park: TTC and GO lots), I put everything out of sight either in the glove box, inside the cup holder, under the seat or in the trunk.

Sometimes I think with the club on the wheel... you\'re also telling people that your car has something good to steal. Luckily we in Toronto don\'t have serious professional auto theft problem, otherwise even if you have a $1000 alarm system they still have their way to take your car.

[midnightfxgt]

Club wont do anything as stated. Someone broke into my mom\'s Jeep about 2 weeks ago. She has a TJ and the simply unzipped the window and climbed in :sarc .

She had her Oakleys, 407 Transponder, and a nice silver panasonic deck I put in. They took NOTHING but ransacked the car. My guess - young teenagers looking for money and nothing else.

About what Flipspeed said about the BOOMERRANG theft protection. it is simply awsome!!! A budy of minie has it on his 91 Chevy Pickup. Everytime the truck moves from his driveway, he has it setup that it calls his cell! :) Full GPS tracking world wide cant be beat. But is is pricey, and has a monthly bill.

~JOHN

[Soulcrusher]

Originally posted by midnightfxgt


About what Flipspeed said about the BOOMERRANG theft protection. it is simply awsome!!! A budy of minie has it on his 91 Chevy Pickup. Everytime the truck moves from his driveway, he has it setup that it calls his cell! :) Full GPS tracking world wide cant be beat. But is is pricey, and has a monthly bill.

~JOHN

The Boomerang system is pretty much foolproof because only the installer will know where the chip was attached to the car. The cost of a full install is about $300, but the yearly monitoring fee is about $120. You might be able to get your insurance premium reduced but it would depend on the insurance company.

Here\'s an interesting article on the subject: CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/cars/boomerang/)

[dredd2099]

Originally posted by Soulcrusher


You might be able to get your insurance premium reduced but it would depend on the insurance company.

Here\'s an interesting article on the subject: CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/cars/boomerang/)

about 3% +/- average
negligible specially if u compare againt ur monthly gps tracking bill
but cant beat the piece of mind

[Jay3]

The club is pretty useless imo. I have the brake pedal lock (i think it\'s called the invincible auto lock) and trust me, no one is going to even attempt to break into your car with that on. With the club, all you have to do is cut the steering wheel. With the brake pedal lock they\'d take hours to cut through it or the pedal. It was on sale at crappy tire last week for 40-50 bucks. Someone tried to steal my 93 accord at the Go Train station, he broke in but left the car alone after seeing what I had on it.