Bronco Sport, a Magnet for Auto Theft?

[RS1]

Demented karma?
Oh, I’ve never had a traffic ticket, boom, next day guess what happens.
Oh, I’ve never been in a car accident, boom, guess what.

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[RS1]

Hope your lucky streak continues.

 

[Elegance]

I have a simple and cost effective solution to this problem. Purchase a decoy full-size and park it next to your Sport everywhere you go. Thieves will only steal the decoy since our Sport is "not a real Bronco." ?

 

[Barry S.]

I have a simple and cost effective solution to this problem. Purchase a decoy full-size and park it next to your Sport everywhere you go. Thieves will only steal the decoy since our Sport is "not a real Bronco." ?

Sacrilege!!?

 

[Bronclahoma]

BS's aren't in the top 10 most stolen vehicles for 2023. Most stolen are full-size Ford and Chevy pickups and Honda Civics. Life is too short to worry about things like this. Take reasonable precautions and make sure there are no lapses in your insurance coverage.

I've had two full-size Chevy trucks stolen. Both were trick and attracted attention. One from the swankiest office/hotel complex in OKC. Believe I was followed there. A bitter pill for a guy as paranoid as me. The other was a revenge, warning deal. I was retained as an investigator by a manuracturer insurance subsidiary to work a case involving an active auto theft ring stealing mainly from dealerships. Ironically my truck was parked across the street from a courthouse when taken. Also had a round fired at me through my bedroom window. Ended with OSBI and FBI involvement. Recovered over 30 trucks, mine included, from a location in North Texas. By this time State Farm was the owner of mine. Ring-leader got a lengthy prison sentence on multiple charges.

I've thought about an after-market alarm, but the probability of my BL being stolen is low. Doesn't sit in parking lots for long and is always kept in the garage and locked.

A club is a low-cost option if you have to leave your vehicle parked on the street or in a parking lot.

 

[Martinjv71]

Like all of us, can't wait to get my hands on my new Bronco Sport. I hope Ford's keyless system has gone a step further to keep my Bronco.....mine.

Call your insurance agent. They can pull up the stats much better than an internet forum can.

 

[Bucko]

I have a simple and cost effective solution to this problem. Purchase a decoy full-size and park it next to your Sport everywhere you go. Thieves will only steal the decoy since our Sport is "not a real Bronco." ?

An easier option would be to have a half starved pit bull in the back seat.

On the other hand, that would be cruelty to animals, and I'm a dog person.

 

[gatornek]

Demented karma?
Oh, I’ve never had a traffic ticket, boom, next day guess what happens.
Oh, I’ve never been in a car accident, boom, guess what.

Nah. I'm not superstitious.

 

[gatornek]

I park on my parking pad. Dead end alley. Just bought the Ring motion detector light/camera. I won’t leave it unlocked. When I have, someone always rifles through it. I live in a great neighborhood, but it doesn’t matter.

Agreed. Never leave it unlocked, and no one will rifle through it.

Please understand, I can sympathize if the situation is that your neighborhood is constantly being threatened by people trying car handles.

Here are the basic precautions that shoudl allow you to sleep better ...
a) leaving your doors always locked
b) never leaving valuables in your car
c) attaching a club to your steering wheel so the car will never be stolen
d) making sure you have great insurance in case any damage does happen

In your instance, I would also recommend taking the extra step of partnering with every neighbor on the block, making sure everyone is aware of the situation (go knocking door to door), and maybe even attempt to form a neighborhood watch. You can register this with your local municipality and get signs put up. In time, the thieves will see your block as too much trouble and move on to another.

I truly do hope that helps you. I think we are in similar "urban" situations.

 

[Mark S.]

Agreed. Never leave it unlocked, and no one will rifle through it.

On the other hand, locking the car will encourage smash-and-grab thieves to break a window. Some places I've visited you're better off taking all your valuables inside with you and leaving the car unlocked, even with the windows down if you know it's not going to rain. If they're after your car it won't matter leaving the windows down; if the windows are up and they want your car bad enough they'll simply break the window.

 

[Bucko]

Changing my answer. A well fed but drooling pit bull in the back seat.

Leave the windows down and door unlocked as Mark said, with a bowl of water in the back seat for the dog to keep the drool rolling.

 

[Fuquinay]

Thanks, all. The neighbors are all aware. We have a listserv. I don’t leave things in the car—not even my 80-lb dog!

 

[gatornek]

On the other hand, locking the car will encourage smash-and-grab thieves to break a window. Some places I've visited you're better off taking all your valuables inside with you and leaving the car unlocked, even with the windows down if you know it's not going to rain. If they're after your car it won't matter leaving the windows down; if the windows are up and they want your car bad enough they'll simply break the window.

Nah. I'll err on the side of locking the car and use other aforementioned methods to dissuade smash and grab.

 

[gatornek]

Thanks, all. The neighbors are all aware. We have a listserv. I don’t leave things in the car—not even my 80-lb dog!

Now that picture was well worth this thread!

 

[Elegance]

I did actually think about this when buying my house. We found a new construction in our price range which was a bit of a miracle in this area, but it doesn't have a garage (originally a requirement during my search). What it does have is a long steep driveway that places our cars and the house well above street level. I've gotten a kick out of watching Jehovah's Witnesses huff and puff just getting to our front porch. I think our small hill will deter most thieves just because it makes our cars less convenient than others. If not, that's what our cameras and insurance are for. Would be a bummer, but I try not to stress all the time about things I can't control.

Please excuse the unfinished landscaping. Tackling one piece of the "contractor special" yard at a time. ?

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