Being a victim of wheel theft is never pleasant and could happen to anyone.
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It doesn’t matter where you are or what you do about it, there is always a chance that you’ll become a target for criminals.
As cars are getting hard to steal, unscrupulous thieves have already shifted their attention to vehicle accessories, including wheels.
According to FBI statistics, there has been an increase of 2% in the number of motor vehicle accessories in 2016.
In addition, law enforcement agencies across the country have also reported over 366,000 incidents of vehicle-accessory theft in the same year, which is an alarming number nobody can afford to ignore.
Since nobody is immune to wheel theft, what are you doing to avoid being a victim? As for this modality, wheel thieves operate in groups during sleeping hours, making hard for others to spot them on a normal day.
Despite the increase in the number of reported cases, the best advice is to avoid being a target by learning how to be extra cautious.
However, once thieves target you as their next victim, they are going to find a way to win this battle regardless of how much you try to avoid it.
Fear not! Below we grouped 5 ways to prevent your wheels from being stolen. They may be easy to follow but their effectiveness is quite remarkable.
Park your vehicle in busy areas
Wheel theft is a real and the more you isolate, the more unprepared you’ll be to avoid being a target.
Hence, unless you have a reserved parking spot in a garage or safe building, try to park your vehicle in busy areas to discourage criminals from targeting you.
Keep in mind that robbers won’t complete their mission unless they feel confident about their success which is reduced in areas where they could be exposed.
Lock those wheels for once
Along with parking in visible areas, have you considered getting an anti-theft lock for your wheels?
You could also find lug nuts as an alternative but there’s a risk that thieves know how to rid of the locks.
Having locks on your wheels are effective additions and represent good value for their price.
Parking makes a difference
Try parking your vehicle close to the curb as possible to deter thieves from approaching your vehicle.
Know that these criminals need space to remove the wheel assembly and that requires a considerable amount of space that they cannot get when you park close to a curb.
As they find your vehicle hard to handle, they will be discourage and move to the next one. Make things even harder by turning the steering towards the curb, which complicates things even further.
Set your car alarm
If you are shopping for an anti-theft car alarm, look for a modern version that comes with sensors attached to the wheels for better performance.
If the wheels are tampered, these will go off giving you an opportunity to react on time.
Talk to other people in your area
Believe it or not, talking to other people in your area increases the odds of having someone spotting thieves targeting your vehicle when you least expected.
They could let you know on time, or even call the police when you are not around to take care of it.
In the war against wheel theft, the more things you do to reduce the risk of being a target, the more protected you’ll be.
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