Targeted Cars Hold the Key to Thefts
Question: I am shopping for a car, and one consideration is the problem of car theft. I live in an area where cars are frequently stolen. Is there anything I should know about which cars are more vulnerable to theft?--J.K.
Answer: Almost any car can be stolen, so you wouldn’t want to select a car because it is more resistant to theft than other cars. But thieves target certain models based largely on demand for the cars and their parts, and you may want to avoid these cars.
The CCC Information Services Inc. of Chicago, a valuation service, ranks theft rates on cars based on insurance claims for which the company provided vehicle valuation. Last year, it provided 111,440 of these value estimates.
The top 10 domestic car models stolen in 1988 were General Motors cars, which had higher rates of theft than the top 10 imported cars.
In order, they are the 1986, 1987, 1984 and 1985 Chevrolet Camaro; the 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme; the 1986 and 1987 Pontiac Firebird; the 1984 and 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, and the 1982 Chevrolet Camaro.
The top 10 imported cars that are stolen are, in order, the 1987 Hyundai Excel; the 1985 Mazda RX7 GS; the 1983, 1981 and 1982 Toyota Corolla; the 1983 Toyota Celica GT; the 1988 Hyundai Excel, and the 1985, 1984 and 1982 Toyota Celica GTs.
Q: We plan to go away for three months and leave our car parked in the garage. What should we do to prepare the car?--D.M.
A: A three-month stretch without regularly operating your car is too long a period of time to simply park the car without taking some precautions. Long-term storage precautions are often taken when a car is not operated for 30 days or more.
While many of the mechanical and electrical systems on a car are not affected by storage, a car can be seriously damaged from improper storage. The Automobile Club of Southern California has developed a set of recommendations on storage that you should seriously consider even if you don’t follow every suggestion.
For short-term storage, which is under 30 days, you want to be sure to wash the car and check such key items as the battery for a full charge, tires for the maximum allowable inflation and coolant level for a half anti-freeze and half water mixture.
A considerably longer list of chores is called for in long-term storage, because many fluids deteriorate over time and can cause serious problems. Over many months of storage, gasoline can develop a sludge the consistency of varnish and gum up the fuel system. Thus, you want to leave the car with a dry fuel system.
The easiest way of doing that is to simply let the car run out of gas in your driveway. That’s not easy, because you don’t want to allow the car to simply idle for a long period of time.
The auto club suggests you put the car up on blocks, change the oil and oil filter, replace the coolant and pour several ounces of 10-weight motor oil down the carburetor throat. On return, you would change the oil again and reduce the air pressure in the tires to the proper level or take it off its blocks.
If the car has been stored a very long time, the club even recommends removing the spark plugs and squirting a small quantity of oil in the cylinders before you attempt to start the engine. That’s because the pistons tend to dry out over long storage periods and could be damaged when the engine is started.
