Grand Theft Auto may be one of the best selling video games of all times, but there’s nothing funny about a stolen car in the non-cyber world. Unfortunately, where there are cars, there are car thieves, and where there are car thieves there are chop shops.

These guys, who are professional thieves, don’t just steal your car for joyriding, or a trip to the beach or to impress a date. Heck no, there’s no money in that! How are you going to sell a stolen car without documentation? Even a numbskull is going to ask for the registration and title. That’s only one problem, the other is that a stolen car is too easily identifiable - it’s got a license plate or two, and VIN identification etched all over it, even on engine parts you’d never think to look. No, the real money is in body and engine parts.

So, this gang of guys go around looking for vehicles that are in demand, usually luxury or high end cars and SUVs, though that doesn’t mean your generic Honda is sitting pretty, that’s still a pretty popular model. Generally, they are those cars with parts that are hard to find, and therefore, worth more money. In this case, the sum of its parts is definitely greater than the whole.

The car thieves only need a few minutes to break into your car and drive your vehicle away to their friendly neighborhood chop shop. Inside the chop shop is a cadre of auto body specialists, all of them eagerly rubbing their greedy greasy little hands together in anticipation of your car’s arrival. Within minutes, your car has been cut up and disassembled, and is ready for transfer out of the garage and onto eBay. It probably bears no resemblance whatsoever to the car you owned, and probably are still paying for.

There’s no guarantee that any one security device will prevent a car ring thief from taking off with your vehicle - if the thief can find the anti-theft device, he can usually disable it - but anything you can do to slow their progress, before they drive off into the night with your car, will be worth the money. If you’ve got a security features that can track a vehicle, the police will have to move very fast to locate it, because generally within an hour of the theft, your car will be just a distant memory.