schmieg wrote: ↑Sun Mar 16, 2025 9:16 pm
Klingon00 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 16, 2025 8:58 pm
When at the gas station or parking lot, many cars will automatically unlock your doors when you put the car into park or shut the car off. This can provide an opportunity to an unexpected intruder from a blind spot who's waiting for this to happen.
It's probably a good idea to search online and see if there is a way to disable this in your vehicle or simply be aware of it.
I try to remain cognizant of my immediate surroundings before exiting the vehicle and always lock the car as soon as I exit the vehicle to prevent someone sneaking up the opposite side from the pump and obtaining access while I'm distracted with the pump.
Pumping gas is one of the most distracting tasks I do while in a crowded area. It's only made worse by those loud advertisements they play at some stations.
My CX5 does the locking for me. I do lock the Jeep when I fill it, but the fob is in my pocket, so they would have to accost me to do anything with it if I didn't lock it and they got in. I don't worry too much about the MX5 when filling it as there is no way anyone can quickly get in it unless they are under age 8
and as the six speed manual transmission is probably one of the best anti-theft devices in this day and age.
It also helps that all my cars fill up from the driver's side as well. Filling from the passenger side complicates security.
One of my vehicles has a stick shift also, and I occasionally try to keep track of news stories involving car jackers or opportunity thieves jumping into cars or trucks with stick shifts, only to get out because they can't drive one. As of right now
in the US I see news stories on these kind of incidents happening on average about once a month, with the last one reported was March 6th. Here's an example video from February, thieves get in, thieves get out.
https://www.instagram.com/bobbypetkov_0 ... mmSOBttJU/
Out of the many stories like this, almost all of them the thief merely tries to steal another vehicle. Sadly in one case a few years ago, the armed car jacker got in, found out he couldn't drive it and was angry about it. He got out and went over to the (
unarmed) owner and shot and killed him. I bolded this because if the owner had been carrying he could've gotten the drop on the car jacker instead of the other way around. I think if a stick shift car owner is unarmed and carjacked, it's probably a good idea to use the time that the thief takes getting in and trying to drive away to get as much distance from the car as possible, just in case some other car jacker ends up with a similar intent, don't just stand next to the car.
There is now a new wrinkle with some vehicles and automatic transmissions. My primary car is now a modern one with push button start and auto transmission. If I put the running engine in park
and get out with the fob in my pocket,
and someone else gets in and puts it in drive, the engine dies, even if I'm literally standing just outside the car. IDK if all push button cars work this way but mine definitely does, and so does my wife's car, different brand. Some people will leave the fob in a cup holder when they start or drive a car but IMHO that's a very bad idea. If you do that and are carjacked they can drive off with it. MIght be the same for having the fob in a purse, because if a woman is carjacked the carjacker might not allow the victim to take her purse with her.
