A potential car thief always looks for a good reason to steal or break into a car; maybe you left some enticing packages in the back seat or a laptop or cell phone on the floor of the passenger side.  A thief will typically make a quick reconnaissance of the car’s perimeter, looking for evidence of an alarm system (or even better, an unlocked door) before he makes his attempt.  What will it take to stop him?

A good alarm system.  But good alarm systems cost money; something that not everyone has in this economy.  Even if you let your Lo-jack subscription expire, you’ve still got that sticker in the window don’t you?  Why the heck not?  Go get a sticker or decal for their anti-theft service, or any similar car tracking service, and display it proudly in your window.  Now, that may or may not stop a professional thief who will know how to disable the system, but it will stop an opportunistic petty thief.

You might also want to consider making your car a little less appealing.  A car that is scratched up and dented isn’t any fun to steal… “Jeez, Joe, if you were gonna boost a car couldn’t you have found one that didn’t look like something my crazy Uncle Elmo would drive?”  Make it so that even a car thief wouldn’t be caught dead in it.  Can’t do it yourself?  Let your kids key the car a bit, or ride into it with their bicycle or scooter.  Is that still too drastic for you?  You can actually buy faux rust and scratch stickers that you put on your vehicle to make it look like someone’s already trashed it.  A cheapskate sticker comes to your rescue, again.