Car alarm not keeping thieves at bay

[WindsorGirl]

My 2001 Dodge Neon has a car alarm. Yet my car actually got broken into yesterday. Actually twice this week! I thought I was safe from thieves since my car has an ALARM! Sunday Jan 21st 2018 I found my driver side car door frame bent at the top and I knew someone tried to get in but I figured they were not successful and would not be back. My brother bent it back for me once he got home from work at 11pm. It was raining. I was not happy.

Then yesterday, Wednesday Jan 24th 2018 I was told by someone in my building that my door was wide open. She told the apartment manager that "someone's car got broken into" but she didn't know me so she didn't know who the car belonged to. The apartment manager called me. She can't figure out why they would break into my old car when there are much nicer cars in the parking lot of our building. My brother figures they broke into my car in the middle of the night and he said probably around 4 in the morning as that is the best time to do it as no one is around as bars are closed and people are not up yet for work. He also said that Neon's are VERY easy to get into because of how the door is they are easy to pull on to bend like this. That is probably why they targeted my car.. twice...

This time my other brother bent my door frame back. He said I will keep getting broken into if I don't park in a spot with cameras. The problem is that I live in an apartment building where we have assigned parking spots to the buzzer number of our apartments. I asked the apartment manager if I could change spots and she said there are none right now for me to move to. The side of the apartment building I have to park on has no windows and no cameras but does have a motion detector light which does not deter anyone. I called the Police and they said that without SEEING the actual criminal break into my car that they could not do anything for me ... I feel at a loss. I am unemployed since complications after my kidney transplant and I worry that as the door frame gets bent more and more it will break! The 2nd time when the thief got in nothing inside was taken. I am confused. My youngest brother who fixed my door the first time is confused. My middle brother who fixed my car the 2nd time said the thief is probably looking for change and anything he can sell and is probably a drug addict.

Either way my questions is ... with the 2001 Dodge Neon when does the alarm go off? Can a criminal bend the door frame and attempt to get to the lock before the alarm even goes off? I wonder this because I wonder if he got so far before the alarm when off and then when it finally did go off the thief ran off. I can only guess at this point and thought I would ask you experts here on Neons. Thanks guys.

[occasional demons]

What kind of alarm?

The remote keyless entry is not an alarm. It only sounds the horn to confirm it is locked.

Most alarms would likely tie into the door latch, or an actuator pin switch, so if it is opened, then the alarm will sound.

The best bet would be an alarm with motion sensors mounted low by the kick panels, so once someone enters, it would go off. It wouldn't rely on a door being opened, because from the looks of that peanut, they would just bend the window frame all the way over and climb in, never setting an alarm.

Unless there was a pin switch at the top of the door opening, which wouldn't be a bad idea, but the pain would be wiring it.

[bust0023]

I lived in a bad area while I was in college to save money. My car got broken into about once a month. It was a first gen, so the door doesn't even have a frame to bent, just have to pop the window out of the way, shove a rod down to hit the lock or the lock switch, and pop it open.

I couldn't justify spending money on a $600 neon, so my solution was make sure my car was as clean as possible on the inside--no CDs (this was the mid 00s), no spare change, nothing in the back seat/trunk/glovebox. And then...I left the doors unlocked, hoping that whoever broke into my car tried the door handle first without breaking my window guides or window. It worked, as far as no one damaging it. Definitely got broken into at least two more times, they usually left the glove box door open after they rummaged thru it. But I didn't have to replace any components of my car, and nothing got stolen after that since there was nothing to steal.

The worst part is after I brought all this stuff from my car into my apartment....my apartment got broken into.

Were you able to fix your door?

Best of luck with your transplant! My neighbor received a lung transplant about 3 months ago, I'm astonished at how quickly he's recovered. Still not 100%, but he's got much better quality of life than he did for the 2 years leading up to his operation.

[WindsorGirl]

My brother bent it back ... twice now ... Frustrating. He says the car will be broken into again probably. The car had nothing in it the 2nd time around but still got broken into. I have a key fob that turns the alarm on. My brother said it is a factory alarm that came with the car so tied to the electrical system. I know very little about cars. All I know is last year when my friend tried to open the door via the handle (he forgot I locked it) the alarm went off for him and he was upset because I wasn't there yet (I was on my way to his place where he was going to work on it but my car was already there. I was on my way to bring him the keys). So I do know it works but I guess only if you try to open the door via conventional means? I don't get this...

[occasional demons]

I would think it would activate the alarm regardless of whether the inside or outside handle opened it. In 2001 up, the door latch is what switches the dome light/door ajar, etc, and I'm sure Daimler Chrysler wouldn't have added an additional switch. Being a factory alarm, they would just tie into the existing circuit. It wouldn't know which handle released the door latch, all it would know is that door latch was opened.

[WindsorGirl]

I would think it would activate the alarm regardless of whether the inside or outside handle opened it. In 2001 up, the door latch is what switches the dome light/door ajar, etc, and I'm sure Daimler Chrysler wouldn't have added an additional switch. Being a factory alarm, they would just tie into the existing circuit. It wouldn't know which handle released the door latch, all it would know is that door latch was opened.

What I was saying is the thief pried the door frame and didn't use the handle. Would the alarm still go off?

[occasional demons]

How else would they get into the car? Unless they are skinny enough to slide through there, or bend it all the way down.

Even then, the added time to get back out without setting off an alarm would be too much risk for most thieves. They want to get in and out as fast as possible. If they wanted to go undetected, they would have taken the 5 seconds to bend it back, but they want to be gone ASAP.

Also someone sitting in a car with the door open raises less red flags than someone climbing in and out of a bent down door. So someone driving by would be less likely to report it if it was only open, vs an obvious break in. Not that too many people will bother anyways, which is part of why they are so bold, even if the alarm is going off.

[Vitor]

Why would they pkc your car vs another.. keeping things of value in plain sight ?

[WindsorGirl]

Why would they pkc your car vs another.. keeping things of value in plain sight ?

My youngest brother said the same thing .. but my middle brother saw my car and saw NOTHING was in plain site and he said because they were probably looking for spare change or anything they could sell as a car contains things not just what you can see but what is in the glove box, under the seat, truck, etc and the 2001 Neon is easy to get into if you bend the door frame (which is what they did).

[fixit]

i used to work in a bad area..

deterrent -- i had a big chain (just went under driver seat, not connected ha ha) and HUGE Chrome padlock (around steering wheel)-- looked good
left my doors unlocked.. because it became expensive to keep replacing windows

[WindsorGirl]

i used to work in a bad area..

deterrent -- i had a big chain (just went under driver seat, not connected ha ha) and HUGE Chrome padlock (around steering wheel)-- looked good
left my doors unlocked.. because it became expensive to keep replacing windows

Haha ya I have already considered just leaving my doors unlocked since I have nothing worth taking anyway. I am poor and don't have any CD's since the car radio only plays Cassette tapes (who wants that?). Also the truck button doesn't work in the glove box but this car the seats come down to gain access to the trunk but I got everything in there that I don't think any thief would want to take the time to try to get anything out of there. But leaving the door unlocked at least they would not eventually break my door ...

I have also thought of smearing Vaseline on the door frame as when I go to get into the car I don't touch the top of the door frame but use the door handle like normal people where as this particular thief seems to like to pry open door frames. Other ideas were to have a sign on my window saying, Smile you have just been caught on camera and have my Christmas white spotlight shining at the car from my balcony.

[Roberts Red Neon]

buy one of those electric fence transformers (20,000 volts) - connect to the door frame and ground wire hanging to the pavement under the car, wire in an on-off master switch?!
my neighbour has one of these to keep the horses in a fenced yard - it burned right through a 3" diameter tree that fell on it!
Joking- aside - I would say a car alarm and video system is in order. Can always be re-used on your next car too!

[WindsorGirl]

Ya looking into reliable affordable video systems now that can pick up night time video as well.

[occasional demons]

Borrowing from Snapdragon's other post, put a switched wire from the dome light to the horn relay. Open the door, and the horn goes off.

You'll probably have to go out there to shut it off in the middle of the night though, 'cause I doubt they'll take the time to shut the door.

A 12 volt air horn right inside the car would have maximum effect, if not give them a heart attack. But video would also be helpful, because you don't want to miss that.

[bust0023]

A 12 volt air horn right inside the car would have maximum effect, if not give them a heart attack. But video would also be helpful, because you don't want to miss that.

This made my day. Surprisingly simple, and would probably startle them to death!

[NickKo]

A 12 volt air horn right inside the car would have maximum effect, if not give them a heart attack. But video would also be helpful, because you don't want to miss that.

This made my day. Surprisingly simple, and would probably startle them to death!

This is a great idea.

I would not be surprised, to find out it's the same moron breaking into the car, over and over again.
A Train Horn would 'train' them to stop picking on your car.

- Nick

[Copperhead]

Sleep in the trunk with the rear seat folded down and a 45. Make the first shot a blank if you feel the need but you will be cleaning sheit off the seat but they won't be breaking in again!

[NickKo]

Sleep in the trunk with the rear seat folded down and a 45. Make the first shot a blank if you feel the need but you will be cleaning sheit off the seat but they won't be breaking in again!

I would recommend, wearing ear plugs if you do this. You don't want to discharge any weapon - let alone a .45 - inside a confined area like the interior of a car without hearing protection.

- Nick

[91CavGT]

Many years ago I had to work at a store on the very very bad side of town. My team and I worked the night shift and we were going to be at this store for a week. So the first night that we were there I brought a screwdriver with me and I took the radio out of the dash, but I left the dash apart and kind of hanging to the side. I also left all of the wires just hanging out.

From the outside it looked like the car had already been broken into. My plan worked! During the week we had 3 or 4 of my teams cars broken into but my car was never touched. At the end of each night I reinstalled my radio which only took about 3 or 4 minutes.

So why not make it look like the car has already been broken into and leave the doors unlocked?