Autoblog

Lock Those Doors: New Year's Day the worst holiday for stolen cars?

Dan Roth — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:01:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety

Maybe it's the mass inebriation that makes it easier, but New Year's Eve is apparently hottest holiday for car theft. If the whole world is already sleeping it off, there's no way anybody is going to pay heed to your stupid alarm, perhaps.

As proof, our corporate cousins at AOL Autos breaks down the car theft rates for various holidays, and New Year's bookends the list of eleven days. While New Year's Eve is relatively quiet, New Year's Day is three times as active. The second-most active car theft day? Labor Day - again, another event that tends to involve plenty of imbibing and a good dose of "hey, watch this." With Halloween in third, it would be interesting to see how many of these thefts were mere joyrides, and how many were determined thieves looking for 1994 Honda Accords (the most stolen car last year) to feed the chop shops.

Many cars are easily stolen because of a lack of owner vigilance. Things like leaving your keys inside the car, even if it's just at home, are about the same as a blinking neon sign on the roof saying "steal me." Josh Max works up a good list of Dos and Don'ts - and if you don't want your car stolen this New Year's season, AOL Autos has tips, whatever the reason.

[Source: AOL Autos | Image: Tuppus - C.C. License 2.0]

Lock Those Doors: New Year's Day the worst holiday for stolen cars? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CES 2008: CarShield offers telematics on the (kinda) cheap

Chris Tutor — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:03:00 EST

Filed under: Gadgets, CES, Safety

That little red box contains a lot of electronic goodies that, until now, were only available as options on newer vehicles. Plug that plastic rectangle into your car's diagnostics port and CarShield puts you in touch with your car like never before.

Like most simple telematic systems, it contains cellular capabilities, GPS and Bluetooth. Those technologies allow car owners to open locked car doors with a Bluetooth mobile phone and track where there car is, has been or is going. Got a teen driver? If the little brat ventures outside your pre-determined boundaries, the CarShield will send you a text message to let you know.

Perhaps more useful to the general population, though, are CarShields diagnostic features. It monitors your car's health, and alerts you via text message if your battery is getting weak, if your tires are low or, in some cars, if you need an oil change.

Continue reading CES 2008: CarShield offers telematics on the (kinda) cheap

CES 2008: CarShield offers telematics on the (kinda) cheap originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CES 2008: Autopage lets you start your car from ANYwhere

Chris Tutor — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 11:33:00 EST

Filed under: Gadgets, CES

Ever been sitting in a cafe in, say, Paris, and wanted to impress your new French friends by starting your car back in the States remotely? No, neither have we, but if the opportunity ever arises, Autopage can make it happen.

We poke fun, but Autopage's new C3 system is actually pretty cool and won the 2008 CES Best of Innovations Award. After installing several of Autopage's various modules in your car, you are, virtually, Michael Knight. Using your most any smart phone, you can not only remotely start your car from anywhere you have service, you can also roll windows up or down, disable the starter and open your trunk.

But those are not the coolest things it can do. If your car moves more than 25 feet without your permission (stolen, towed, rolled into a lake after you forgot the parking brake, etc.) you will be notified via text message that sumthin's up. Then you can invoke yet another feature: GPS tracking via your mobile. C3 shows you a map updated every 5 minutes of your car's direction of travel so you can help the fuzz track down the perp who stole your ride. Or you can use it to keep dibs on your teenager who's headed to Vegas instead of the movie theater.

Speaking of teenagers, C3 will also alert you via text message if the car exceeds a set speed limit. So next time Junior takes the Camry over 90 again, you'll know it. Then you can lock the doors, disable the starter and know exactly where he is.

We didn't get a price on the entire system (it can't be cheap), but service plans (you didn't think all those fun things were free, did you?) range from $150 a year for a limited number of uses, to $250 a year for unlimited use.

CES 2008: Autopage lets you start your car from ANYwhere originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 06 Jan 2008 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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