Keeping your car safe from theft doesn't have to be expensive! Judging from research and testing, these are the most effective ways to prevent burglary.

We are not saying that we blame the government, but in a wider world with increasingly unstable economies, there is an increasing motivation for theft. Approximately 740,000 car break-ins are reported to the police every year, and 720,000 car thefts occur almost as frequently...In the United States alone, there are 3 car crimes every minute! If you live in Bakersfield, a higher-risk city or Modesto, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Odessa, Texas, Honolulu, Hawaii, or Denver, Colorado, you have been broken into during your average residence The chance of entry or theft is about one in four.

But don’t be afraid! Science, statistics, reviews and testing have allowed us to find free or cheap solutions to protect your pride and happiness. Many of them even apply to your 69-year-old Mustang, not just your new BMW M4. Sadly, super easily stolen cars like the Civic and Accord of the 90s are always easier to stolen, but you are not without hope! Here are 10 products and strategies, even your $100,000 sports car will not be stolen on the street.

In interviews with 86 thieves, KTVB found some very insightful statistics and methods. Most owners can apply these methods to avoid intrusion. The most common themes are exposure to risks and fear of lighting. As you might expect, almost all thefts happen in the dark. It is almost stupid and simple to find that motion-sensing lights are one of the greatest deterrents.

It is not difficult to imagine stealing a car in the shadows and parked out of sight of a house or window, but stealing a car under dazzling indoor lights or street lights is not so easy to accept. The $24 solar motion sensor LED lights on Amazon can be installed on nearby walls or pillars and frighten most potential criminals.

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Almost all break-ins occur when criminals see something of value. If thieves can't quickly and easily see things such as laptops or easy-to-remove stereos, it is almost impossible for them to risk breaking in. Parking in the same area, such as a workplace or school, can make it easier for criminals to inspect your car and put you at greater risk, especially when there are more dark hours in the day.

If you must leave things in the car, put them in the trunk or even the spare tire. If nothing happens, try putting a lid on it. Things like bags, wallets and briefcases are red flags. Coloring the windows will help, but the windshield will still show anything left. This is your chance to be creative!

The programming of car alarms is somewhat difficult, but if you break in under normal circumstances, it will usually sound. As the last line of defense, unusual or terrifying alarms may deter thieves or warn sympathetic bystanders in the process. If possible, increasing the car’s sensitivity will help, for example, if you try to open the door when the door is locked, but in older cars, this may not be an option.

It is not difficult to replace your speakers with aftermarket speakers. We recently did this with RAV4, and now it emits a siren of more than 100 decibels. Similarly, train horns can paralyze people. Our friends at Donut Media even installed a pre-recorded alarm, announcing that someone had stolen their car, a gadget and a sound device for only $14 on Amazon. Not only is this safer for your car, but it's interesting to think about what warnings you can send to make the thief escape. Things like a bomb countdown or fake police phone calls may be done.

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The dealer uses these boxes, and one of the keys allows you to enter each box where the car's personal key is waiting. Solar or battery-powered flashing lights indicate the possibility of GPS, and it is almost impossible to remove the GPS from the outside without damaging the windows. Installing one on the side window of your ordinary car driver is a terrible unknown factor, and few people dare to use it to tempt fate.

It can be as simple as a formal-looking lock box, usually a sign of a rental car with GPS or a car that is tracked and anti-theft in other ways. If they bravely face unknown variables in some way, open the box, and still want to go in, actually not putting the key in it will increase the level of protection and confusion.

Related: Dodge Charger and Challenger models get security features to combat muscle car theft

These are not necessarily the safest, as most can be drilled through within a few minutes, but having one means you can reduce potential thieves. On the one hand, they must know the brand of the steering wheel lock... Is it reinforced or cheap? Secondly, they must know that they have time to drill and unlock. They are not observed for 2 to 6 minutes. They can usually only be judged by covering your car for several days.

Finally, they must have the right tools, a solid drill that will not die, or some serious unlocking skills. By now, they should have turned to neighbor Maserati. The mere presence of a wheel lock means that you are serious enough to keep the typical fast lobbyist who needs poison money to move on. This easy-to-stow device is priced at only $29 on Amazon (first image), which is our recommendation, even if only to access more problematic areas. For the safest wheel locks, check out the $73 Stoplock "Pro Elite" (second image), which has a certain appeal but a warning aesthetic.

When your car has red or blue flashing lights at night, it is usually from a running dash cam or other additional safety equipment. Like a black box trick, the thief just doesn't know its purpose and would rather move on. What they don't know is that it can be as simple as a set of $12 blue and red blinking LEDs, which are powered by solar energy from Amazon.

The association of blue and red with police colors is almost always sufficient, as long as you put one in front and one in the back, you will not be accused of impersonating a policeman. For an always-on dash cam, you need a car that can keep battery running, or a battery-powered dash cam like the motion sensor Venture N2, which costs $170, which is the most powerful budget drive recorder Instrument with front and rear cameras.

This is not something you will do on your own, but in areas with high theft rates, you may want to consider owning a sleeper car. Red, yellow, and green cars (usually sports cars) are the most likely targets for theft, while silver and white have a lower proportion. One trick we learned while researching this is to remove your front bumper! This is a temporary extreme measure for a good car in a rough area, but it is effective.

This is not too difficult and will not put you in danger, in terms of safety (usually the structural bumper is located under the body panel). It can make your car brand indistinguishable, and make an otherwise premium journey useless and unworthy. It may also indicate to the rogue that it is finishing its work and may not be able to drive. Removing the markings on the back will ensure that any Maserati and Buick blend together until you no longer need to stop the thief. Also, not on this list, but a set of $21 wheel lock bolts and $13 safety license plate bolts will prevent additional disasters in extreme situations.

Related: 10 classic sleeper cars can still wipe out sports cars

Many vehicles carry or carry insulation stickers. Although this is close to a 50-50 chance of preventing intrusion, unique stickers are an inexpensive way to stop the determined non-working person. The threat of GPS systems is one of the most reliable ways to scare thieves...can they find GPS? Will they be tracked directly? They can't know. A set of four bold opaque stickers from Amazon is one of your best choices, at only $2.79, the best prevention cost value on this list.

Keep in mind that your daily appearance may be more or less discrete, but if your anti-theft sign is not obvious, there may be nothing to show. We once printed a simple security company sticker at home and pasted it on Subaru's car door. It worked well for many years. The idea was that any tricks and tricks that broke into the brand-name security system could not be used to deal with fake brands. Some funny stickers have been used, such as the "millennial anti-theft device" sticker with a gear lever, or simply "the car is not working", which are most suitable for use on BMW.

Related: 15 funniest bumper stickers people put on cars

The kill switch is an unparalleled device that even the person driving with you may not be able to detect or copy it. You cannot provide a hotline for cars with cars, so it is very suitable for old cars. It's just a typical button or a switch, plug in your ignition wire (find the correct way to do this on your own vehicle), and spend $5 or less at your local hardware store. The smaller and more discrete the better.

But first, you need to consider where you want to hide it, and whether you want an on/off button or a momentary button. Momentary means that you have to press and hold the switch to start the car, otherwise it will not start. On/off means you need to remember to turn it off every time, but you can get a cheaper switch and may hide it in a more cunning (or impractical) location. Our recommendation is this all-black metal momentary button, which is priced at $6.99 on Amazon. The switch or button should preferably be hidden away from passengers or bystanders, and should be placed in a place that is not difficult or obvious, such as a place where the left hand can rest when starting a car.

Modern GPS can be as small as a quarter and run on a battery for several months. In the case of a car, they don't need to be accurate, it can be installed anywhere the thieves won't check, they will check! Therefore, in the case of anti-theft, it may not be worth plugging into the common port of the OBD2 port. You also want to avoid the wheel wells and bumpers. It is good to be under the plastic body panel or under the folded carpet, but if it is under too much metal under the dashboard, there may be weak signal problems.

We recommend Spy Tec, which costs only $30 and comes with a rechargeable battery that can last for 2 weeks and a waterproof magnetic case. Yes, it requires a subscription to track, but in the case of anti-theft, you can put the GPS in the car and activate the subscription when it is stolen, without contacting the device! It allows you to check the location through your phone and remind you when the device enters or leaves certain areas. Or you can put a small keychain tracker called Tiles in your backpack or valuables without GPS, but if it is close to some Bluetooth devices, it will alert you and give you some hope in densely populated areas . A set of four is $69.99 and does not require any subscription at all, although this is not the best choice for cars.

Car thieves are always getting more and more cunning and diligent, so be sure to check these anti-theft products to ensure the safety of your car!

Wyatt is from Utah and enjoys cycling, skiing and driving too fast. He has written articles about motorcycles and cars for many years, and he especially likes Japanese cars and off-road vehicles. He has appeared in DriveTribe more than once, and some of his content has been viewed more than 6.5 million times. He likes Formula 1, Formula Drift, Baja 1000 and World Rally Cross!