Statistically speaking about 20% of all car thefts occur by the use of the car’s original key. Car thieves know how incredibly hard it is to try to hotwire a car, especially new models, and therefore they have developed new techniques to steal your car. This technique is to wait for the car owners to make the mistake of leaving their car with the keys in the ignition or on the car seat. Typically in front of stores and gas stations is when people leave their car to go inside for a quick purchase and this is when the thieves make their move. They simply get inside the car and drive off with your car before you can do anything. These types of thieves often times have everything set up where they can quickly sell off your car for parts or just sell it to someone that will take it out of state and change the VIN number. Although a good amount of the time police are able to recover stolen cars, there are still many cases where the car cannot be recovered. Following are some tips you should consider making a habit off in order to make sure you don’t fall victim to such car theft:

1. Never leave your car keys unattended even when you think you are in a safe place because you never know who is around and might secretly take your keys.
2. Leave your spare car keys at home in a safe place rather than giving it to someone else to keep it for you or carrying it in the car. You will be surprised how many people keep their spare keys inside or attached outside of their vehicle and how it makes the job of a car thief so easy. Thieves also know about those key boxes that you can attach on the outside of your car so it’s the first place they will look to find your spare keys.
3. When you are going out without your car make sure your key is not just on top of a counter or hanging next to the door because a thief can easily locate your car keys and drive away with your car. You should keep your car keys somewhere that’s not obvious to a thief so they don’t get an easy access into stealing your car from your garage.
4. When you park your car inside the garage make sure the garage door is locked as well as your car doors. There are many instances where the thief breaks into the person’s garage since most people do not lock their garage door and if the car doors are left open, they can easily enter your car and take any valuables you have inside the car. Since a considerable amount of people forget or leave their wallets inside their car it will allow the thief to steal all your credit cards as well as any cash you have in your wallet.
5. If you are parking your car overnight somewhere then try to park it as close to a light source as possible. It is definitely worth walking a little extra in order to park your car next to a street light because thieves prefer to break into cars that are in the dark since visibility is greatly reduced.
6. If you own a car with a sunroof you need to make sure it’s fully closed and locked before you leave your car because that can also provide an easy access into your car. Same goes for people that own a convertible car because it takes less than a minute for a thief to check your car and grab anything they find valuable inside without any hassle.
7. Finally keep in mind that even when you do everything right a desperate thief will break your car’s window and get in to steal anything valuable they see in your car. If you leave a laptop on top of your passenger seat then it calls for thieves to break into your car in any way possible. Make sure you are not leaving anything valuable inside your car while you are not in it.