The end of the year can be a great time to pick up bargains on pretty much anything your heart desires. One thing your heart probably doesn’t desire is for your car to be stolen. So why not take advantage of the sales to improve your car’s security?
Here we’ll run over 5 items we suggest picking up:
Should I be worried about car security?
First things first. Is car crime that big of a deal? In short the answer is ‘yes’.
To give a bit more detail, car crime is currently hovering around a 15 year high. Things are a lot better now than they were in the early 2000’s, but compared to the early 2010’s, car crime is well up.
Since 2022, there’s been an overall fall in car crime of all types, but the number of vehicles being stolen actually went up 3%. And as we explain in our 2024 car crime update, that was on top of a big, big rise the year before.
So what should you do about it? These items can definitely help boost your car security:
A steering lock.
A steering lock won’t make your car impossible to steal. But it will make it harder to steal than most other cars – and that could be enough to make thieves give up before they even begin.
As we covered in our buyers guide to steering locks, there’s a big range in terms of price. You could spend as little as £20 or over £100 depending on what you want. Like with anything you buy in the sales, it’s good to know how much popular models usually go for so you can tell if you’re really getting a good discount.
A faraday pouch.
Keyless car crime may account for somewhere in the region of 70% of vehicle thefts. As we’ve covered before, there are a few things you should be doing to protect yourself from keyless entry car theft. One of them is to get a faraday pouch – to block your keys signal from being ‘boosted’ by criminals.
The good news is, they only cost about a fiver. Even better, you might get one for even less in the sales. By checking tests by reviewers (like this) you can make sure you’re getting a product that works as advertised.
A parking pole.
Parking on a driveway or in a garage improves car security, but even so around 45% of cars are stolen while parked on the owner’s property. If you don’t have a garage or the option of a locking gate, a parking pole can be a good way to mean that even if thieves get into your car, they can’t make off with it.
How the pole is installed depends on the design – and prices also vary depending on what you go for (telescopic options can be quite pricy) but a simple fold down option could be more like £50 – £60.
Security screws.
As far as manufacturing goes, your licence plate is one of the least expensive parts of your car. But to thieves, they’re extremely valuable. By taking them, they basically get a false identity to use on the roads – allowing them to commit crimes without being tracked or facing the proper penalties.
Fitting your plate with security screws can help to ensure thieves aren’t able to come along and claim your plates. It’s pretty inexpensive too, with kits often costing under a fiver.
A dash cam.
Theft isn’t the only way criminals can target your car. Scam artists can sometimes fake, or deliberately cause accidents as a form of fraud. But if you have a dash cam recording what happened they won’t be getting very far at all.
Even if it’s a genuine accident, having a dash cam can be really useful in making sure you aren’t found to be a fault for an accident if it was the other parties fault.
You’d usually be looking at spending £50-£100+, but hopefully you can scoop up a good option in the sales.
