Take out your phone by tapping Up on the D-pad twice, then enter the number below for the desired vehicle:
826-555-0150 - Burrito
245-555-0125 - Double T
245-555-0199 - Hakuchou
245-555-0150 - Hexer
245-555-0100 - Innovation
826-555-0100 - Slamvan
Cheat: Vintage Cheat List
Cheat: Vintage Cheat List
Take out your phone by tapping Up on the D-pad twice, then enter the number below for the desired effect:
267-555-0150 - Raise wanted level
267-555-0100 - Lower wanted level
362-555-0100 - Replenish armor
482-555-0100 - Replenish health, armor, and ammo
468-555-0100 - Alter weather
486-555-0100 - Weapon pack 1
486-555-0150 - Weapon pack 2
948-555-0100 - Song information
359-555-0100 - Spawn an Annihiliator
227-555-0142 - Spawn a Cognoscenti
227-555-0175 - Spawn a Comet
227-555-0100 - Spawn an FIB Buffalo
938-555-0100 - Spawn a Jetmax
625-555-0100 - Spawn an NRG-900
625-555-0150 - Spawn a Sanchez
227-555-0168 - Spawn a SuperGT
227-555-0147 - Spawn a Turismo
Unlockable: Hokachu Bike
To unlock the bike Beat 12 races in single-player. Clay will transport it for you
Unlockable: Gang War Weapons
To unlock the weapons below is the following codes.
Beat 10 Gang Wars - Sawed-off Shotgun
Beat 20 Gang Wars - Automatic Pistol
Beat 30 Gang Wars - Carbine Rifle
Beat 40 Gang Wars - Assault Rifle
Beat 50 Gang Wars - Grenade Launcher
Beat All Gang Wars - Free guns 4 life from Terry
Unlockable: No Ammo Limit
To unlock No Ammo Limit, Get 100% completion to remove ammo limits in the game.
Unlockable: More Vehicles
To unlock More Vedicles, Perform the actions below:
Innovation
- Kill all 50 Seagulls
Bati 800
- Complete all of Angus' bike theft missions
Unlockable: Weapons from Jim
To unlock the respective weapon, Perform the actions below:
Extra Parking
Good News! The yellow parking spaces in front of safe houses you have gained in the main story will carry over into the Lost and Damned content. Use these to save and repair vehicles!
Gang War Rewards
Description: Meet the following requirements to unlock the weapons below for the safehouse:
Beat 10 Gang Wars | Sawed-off Shotgun |
Beat 20 Gang Wars | Automatic Pistol |
Beat 30 Gang Wars | Carbine Rifle |
Beat 40 Gang Wars | Assault Rifle |
Beat 50 Gang Wars | Grenade Launcher |
Beat All Gang Wars | Free guns 4 life from Terry |
Hokachu Bike
Beat 12 races in single-player to unlock the bike. Clay will transport it for you.
More Vehicles
Description: Perform the actions isted below to unlock additional vehicles:
Innovation | Kill all 50 Seagulls |
Bati 800 | Complete all of Angus' bike theft missions |
No Ammo Limit
Get 100% completion to remove ammo limits in the game.
Spawn Vehicles
Description: Take out your phone by tapping Up on the D-pad twice, then enter the number below for the desired vehicle:
826-555-0150 | Burrito |
245-555-0125 | Double T |
245-555-0199 | Hakuchou |
245-555-0150 | Hexer |
245-555-0100 | Innovation |
826-555-0100 | Slamvan |
359-555-0100 | Annihilator |
227-555-0100 | FIB Buffalo |
Vintage Cheat List
Description: These cheats from GTA IV's main story are also effective in the downloadable content. Take out your phone by tapping Up on the D-pad twice, then enter the number below for the desired effect:
267-555-0150 | Raise wanted level |
267-555-0100 | Lower wanted level |
362-555-0100 | Replenish armor |
482-555-0100 | Replenish health, armor, and ammo |
468-555-0100 | Alter weather |
486-555-0100 | Weapon pack 1 |
486-555-0150 | Weapon pack 2 |
948-555-0100 | Song information |
359-555-0100 | Spawn an Annihiliator |
227-555-0142 | Spawn a Cognoscenti |
227-555-0175 | Spawn a Comet |
227-555-0100 | Spawn an FIB Buffalo |
938-555-0100 | Spawn a Jetmax |
625-555-0100 | Spawn an NRG-900 |
625-555-0150 | Spawn a Sanchez |
227-555-0168 | Spawn a SuperGT |
227-555-0147 | Spawn a Turismo |
Weapons from Jim
Description: At the clubhouse you can call Jim to deliver certain weapons. Perform the actions below to unlock the respective weapon: "Ihave enjoyed The Grand Theft Auto Series since its inception. The First of the series was a flop; Grand Theft Auto, the first game in the Grand Theft Auto series, was originally released for PC on Feb 28, 1998. Later, it was released on PlayStation June 30, 1998, as well as GameBoy Colour, in 1999." Main article:
"The second game in the series, Grand Theft Auto 2, was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Dreamcast and released in 1999. Set in the indeterminable future, it featured updated graphics and somewhat different gameplay based upon the player's appeal to various criminal organizations."
A reduced Game Boy Color port was also produced. Unlike the other games of the Grand Theft Auto series, GTA2 was the only game released in its era. It is also the only game to have a "T" (Teen) rating. It is also the only sequel to have a digit in the title instead of a Roman numeral.The 3rd was GTA III Released in 2001.
"Grand Theft Auto III was released in October 2001, and served as the breakthrough for the franchise. The game's setting takes place around that time, in fictional Liberty City, which is loosely based on New York City, but also incorporates elements of other American cities. Grand Theft Auto III brought a third-person view to the series, rather than the traditional top-down view of earlier titles (although the view is still made available as an optional camera angle). For the first time, the problem of navigating in the huge sandbox game was solved by implementing a constant GPS triggered mini-map that highlights the player's position as well as those of current targets. Graphics were also updated with a new 3D game engine. The gameplay engine expanded the explorable world of GTA III, using a mission-based approach. Multiplayer was discarded (third party mods were later released, allowing for multiplayer gameplay), but GTA III improved in many other areas such as voice-acting and plot (in previous games, there was speech only in short animated cut scenes between levels, while other communication was simply subtitles running on the bottom of the screen).
After the success of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released in 2002. This game was set in 1986 in Vice City, which was based on Miami. The game's plot focuses on the cocaine trade during the 1980s. Vice City was the first game to introduce fully functional flying vehicles that could be used by the player, such as sea planes and helicopters. It also featured a variety of new weapons and vehicles.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, released in October 2004, is set in 1992, focusing on California gang life and the awakening of the drug epidemic brought on by crack cocaine. The setting was in the fictional state of San Andreas, which was based on some California and Nevada cities, specifically Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Their counterparts are Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas respectively. The game also included a countryside in between Los Santos and San Fierro and also between Los Santos and Las Venturas, and a desert in between Las Venturas and San Fierro.
Grand Theft Auto Advance, for the Game Boy Advance, was also released in 2004. Originally developed as a top-down conversion of GTA III, became an original game. Unlike the Game Boy Color ports of Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2, Grand Theft Auto Advance did not tone down the violence and profanity common to the GTA series. The game received an "M" (Mature) rating from the ESRB. It was developed by an external developer, Digital Eclipse.
In 2005 and 2006, Rockstar released two games for the PlayStation Portable, both developed by Rockstar Leeds. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is a prequel to Grand Theft Auto IIIand set in Liberty City in 1998. A PlayStation 2 port was released by Rockstar on 6 June 2006.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories was released for the PlayStation Portable on 31 October 2006 and set in Vice City in 1984, two years before the events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. A PlayStation 2 port of the game was released on 6 March 2007. It is the last installment of the third generation series, and the final game in the Grand Theft Auto III canon.Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV was released on 29 April 2008, after a six month delay.[6] It was the first Grand Theft Auto game to be released simultaneously for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360consoles. In August 2008, Rockstar announced that it was going to publish GTA IV for PC. GTA IV's game engine is the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (also known as RAGE) used inRockstar Games presents Table Tennis and the Euphoria physics engine. The game once again takes place in a redesigned Liberty City that very closely resembles New York City, much more than previous renditions.
Microsoft officially announced a "strategic alliance" with Rockstar Games over the rights to episodic content through their Xbox Live service at their X06 event. This content was released asGrand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned on 17 February 2009, and it is available for download, exclusively for the Xbox 360. The expansion adds some new elements to the existing game and focuses on Johnny Klebitz, the vice president of "The Lost" motorcycle gang. The second Grand Theft Auto IV Downloadable Content will be called "Blood and a Four Leaf Clover".
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is the first Grand Theft Auto game to be released on the Nintendo DS, and was announced at the E3 Nintendo Press Conference on July 15, 2008. This game has several new features, such as touch screen mini-games. The game was released on March 17, 2009 in North America and March 20, 2009 to Australia and Europe. The game is rated 18+ by PEGI and the BBFC (Europe, UK) and M by the ESRB (North America).
Summary of Games
Era | Title † | Developer | Primary platform | Availability | First released | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sony | Microsoft | Nintendo | Other | |||||
First | Grand Theft Auto | DMA Design, Tarantula Studios | PC | PS1 | Windows | Gameboy Color | DOS | 1997 |
London, '69 | DMA Design, Tarantula Studios, Rockstar Canada,Runecraft | Expansion pack | PS1 | Windows | None | DOS | 1999 | |
London, '61 | DMA Design, Tarantula Studios, Rockstar Canada,Runecraft | Expansion pack | PS1 | Windows | None | None | ||
Second | Grand Theft Auto 2 | DMA Design, Tarantula Studios | Console | PS1 | Windows | GameBoy Color | Dreamcast | |
Third | Grand Theft Auto III | DMA Design, Rockstar Vienna | Console | PS2 | Windows, Xbox | None | None | 2001 |
Vice City | Rockstar North, Rockstar Vienna | Console | PS2 | Windows, Xbox | None | None | 2002 | |
Advance | Digital Eclipse | Hand-held | None | None | GameBoy Advance | None | 2004 | |
San Andreas | Rockstar North | Console | PS2 | Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360 | None | None | ||
Liberty City Stories | Rockstar North, Rockstar Leeds | Hand-held | PSP, PS2 | None | None | None | 2005 | |
Vice City Stories | Rockstar North, Rockstar Leeds | Hand-held | PSP, PS2 | None | None | None | 2006 | |
Fourth | Grand Theft Auto IV | Rockstar North, Rockstar Toronto | Console | PS3 | Windows, Xbox 360 | None | None | 2008 |
The Lost and Damned | Rockstar North | Expansion pack | None | Xbox 360 | None | None | 2009 | |
Chinatown Wars | Rockstar North, Rockstar Leeds | Hand-held | None | None | DS | None | ||
Total | 13 games |
† It is important to note that all of the games' titles begin with "Grand Theft Auto".
Games in green mark the beginning of a new era, and all those that follow in yellow are in the same era as the preceding green field.
Controversy
The series has courted a great deal of negative controversy. Lawyer Jack Thompson has been involved in a number of attempts to get families of murder victims to hold the Grand Theft Auto series accountable for the death of their loved ones. Due to his conduct in this and related cases, Thompson was disbarred in 2008, and was fined more than $43,000 by the Florida Bar Association.
On 20 October 2003, the families of Aaron Hamel and Kimberly Bede, two young people shot by teens William and Josh Buckner (who in statements to investigators claimed their actions were inspired by GTA III) filed a US$246 million lawsuit against publishers Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive Software, retailer Wal-Mart, and PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment America. Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two, filed for dismissal of the lawsuit, stating in U.S. District Court on 29 October 2003 that the "ideas and concepts as well as the 'purported psychological effects' on the Buckners are protected by the First Amendment's free-speech clause." The lawyer of the victims, Jack Thompson, denied that, but failed in his attempt to move the lawsuit into a state court and under Tennessee's consumer protection act.Two days later, the plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, and the case was closed.
In February 2005, a lawsuit was brought upon the makers and distributors of the Grand Theft Auto series claiming the games caused a teenager to shoot and kill three members of theAlabama police force. The shooting took place in June 2003 when Devin Moore, 17 years old at the time, was taken in for questioning by police in Fayette, Alabama regarding a stolen vehicle. Moore then grabbed a pistol from one of the police officers and shot and killed him along with another officer and dispatcher before fleeing in a police car. One of Moore's attorneys, Jack Thompson, claimed it was GTA's graphic nature - with his constant playing time - that caused Moore to commit the murders, and Moore's family agrees. Damages are being sought from branches of GameStop and Wal-Mart in Jasper, Alabama, the stores from which GTA III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, respectively, were purchased and also from the games' publisher Take-Two Interactive, and the PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment. The case is currently being heard by the same judge who presided over Moore's criminal trial, in which Moore was sentenced to death for his actions.
In May 2005, Jack Thompson appeared via satellite on the Glenn Beck program on CNN's Headline News. Thompson mentioned Devin Moore and said regarding Grand Theft Auto III andGrand Theft Auto: Vice City "There's no doubt in my mind [...] that but for Devin Moore's training on this cop killing simulator, he would not have been able to kill three cops in Fayette, Alabama who are now dead and in the ground. We are suing Take-Two, Sony, Wal-Mart, and GameStop for having trained Devin Moore to kill. He had no history of violence. No criminal record."
In September 2006, Jack Thompson brought another lawsuit, claiming that Cody Posey played the game obsessively before murdering his father Delbert Paul Posey, stepmother Tryone Schmid, and stepsister Marilea Schmid on a ranch in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The suit was filed on behalf of the victims' families. During the criminal trial, Posey's defense team argued he was abused by his father, and tormented by his stepmother. Posey was also taking Zoloft at the time of the killings. The suit alleged that were it not for his obsessive playing of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the murders would not have taken place. Named in the suit were Cody Posey, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, and Sony. The suit asked for US$600 million in damages.
In June 2008, four teens in New York decided to go on a crime spree, claiming inspiration from Grand Theft Auto. The four teens beat and robbed a man outside of a New Hyde Park supermarket. They then went to a train station, encountering other teens they knew from their high school and recruiting them. The mob, now numbering six, armed themselves with a baseball bat, a broomstick and a crowbar. They stopped a woman driving a black BMW, stole her cigarettes, then her car. They then smashed a van with the baseball bat they carried. Both the driver of the BMW as well as the van called the police, and the teens were arrested shortly after.In 2009, a six-year-old boy, who claimed he had learned to drive from the game, took his family's car on a 10 mile trip before he crashed.
According to the The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition, it's the most controversial videogame series ever, with over 4,000 articles published about it, which include accusations of glamorizing violence, corruption gamers, and connection to real life crimes.
Sixth Generation
Every console game released starting from Grand Theft Auto III each had its own variety of diverse controversies. There were three original console installments in the sixth generation of video games. Some of the controversies stemmed in this generation include extreme violence, hate crimes, and deliberate sex indulgence.
General Violent Notoriety (Grand Theft Auto III)
The controversies and complaints began with the release of Grand Theft Auto III. Some controversy can be attributed to publicist Max Clifford, who planted sensational stories in tabloids in order to help sell the game.
There is also criticism from the focus on illegal activities in comparison with traditional "heroic" roles that other games offer. The main character can commit a wide variety of crimes and violent acts while dealing with only temporary consequences, including the killing of policemen and military personnel. Opponents of violent video games, such as Hillary Clinton and Julia Boseman, believe that players will try to emulate this behaviour, while proponents believe it provides an emotional outlet, as such actions in real life would have serious consequences.
Critics have also targeted the exploitative and violent attitude toward women. Although not encouraged to do so, main character Claude may utilize the services of prostitutes, and then subsequently murder and rob them. This utilization has been subsequently carried on in every single game in the series and is extremely more graphic in IV.
Alleged discrimination against Haiti (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
The sixth game in the series, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, also came under criticism. One mission in particular, in which the player must instigate a gang war between Haitian and Cuban gangs, has been controversial. Haitian and Cuban anti-defamation groups criticized the game.
Jean-Robert Lafortune of the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition is quoted as saying that "The game shouldn't be designed to destroy human life, it shouldn't be designed to destroy an ethnic group," for this and similar scenarios, including lines in the game's script such as "kill the Haitian dickheads" during an altercation between the player and a Haitian gang. After the threat for having been sued by the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, Rockstar removed the word "Haitians" from this phrase in the game's subtitles.
Sex (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
San Andreas contained a sex minigame that was cut from the game, but remained in the game code, which was discovered in both the console and Windows versions of the game. Dubbed the "Hot Coffee mod", the minigame allowed players to have sex with their in-game girlfriends.
After the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, hackers managed to find the unused code in the game and released unofficial patches for the Windows & Xbox (with a modchip)version enabling the player to engage in these sexual mini-games (dubbed "Hot Coffee" in reference to a euphemism for sex used in the game). These mini-games were never intended to be playable in the final version of the game, but were left partially intact in the game's code. This prompted application of an Adults Only (AO) ESRB rating to the version of the game containing the leftover code. Take-Two Interactive was forced to re-release the game in order to restore the Mature (M) rating. A class action lawsuit against Take-Two was also filed as a result of the "Hot Coffee" code.
Seventh Generation
Grand Theft Auto IV is the first and currently only console game of the series in the seventh generation of video games. It has already been a subject of intense controversy in the media such as from talk-show host Glenn Beck and the Chicago Transit Authority.
Drunk Driving (Grand Theft Auto IV)
One of the controversies involved with this game that had details of the gameplay was the Mothers Against Drunk Driving's (MADD) criticism of the ability to drink and drive as a new feature. MADD had even requested ESRB to change the rating of the game from "M" for ages seventeen and up to "AO," for adults only, because they felt it was inappropriate for children even in the age of seventeen to experience drunk driving in any way, shape, or form. If Rockstar were to comply, Grand Theft Auto IV would be the second game in the series to have the rating converted from "M" for those seventeen and older to "AO" for those eighteen and older.
Similar games
Critics sometimes treat the release of Grand Theft Auto III as a revolutionary event in the history of video games, much like the release of Doom nearly a decade earlier. Subsequent games that follow this formula of driving and shooting have been called Grand Theft Auto clones. Some reviewers even extended this label to the Driver series, even though this series began years before the release of Grand Theft Auto III. Grand Theft Auto clones are a type of 3D action-adventure game, where players are given the ability to drive any vehicle or fire any weapon as they explore an open world. These games often incorporate violent and criminal themes. Notable games that are sometimes seen as Grand Theft Auto clones are theSaints Row series,The Godfather,The Godfather II, The Getaway, The Getaway: Black Monday, Crackdown, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, Mafia II, Wheelman, True Crime: Streets of LA, True Crime: New York City, Scarface: The World Is Yours and The Simpsons Hit & Run, which uses the GTA style of gaming.
Reception
Ever since 2001, the Grand Theft Auto series has become a gargantuan success, both critically and financially. It has generated perfect or near perfect reviews and scores on almost all of the games, and has sold over 70 million copies worldwide, as of March 2008. Times Online reported that Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest console installment, recorded 609,000 copies in first-day sales, in the UK. In its first week, Grand Theft Auto IV sold approximately 6 million copies worldwide and grossed over $500 million.
The series has broken several records, and many of them resulted in the Guinness World Records awarding the series 10 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include Most Guest Stars in a Video Game Series, Largest Voice Cast in a Video Game (GTA: San Andreas), Largest In-Game Soundtrack (GTA: San Andreas), and Most Successful Entertainment Launch Of All Time (GTA IV).
† Grand Theft Auto IV is the first and only game in the series to be awarded a "10" by IGN. This is unique for the series because IGN rarely awards games with perfect scores. The last time IGN awarded a "10" before Grand Theft Auto IV was 1999, to Soul Calibur. However, later in 2008, another game was awarded a "10," which was Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Games in green mark the beginning of a new era, and all those that follow in yellow are in the same era as the preceding green fit
Future
Following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar Games has released The Lost And Damned and Chinatown Wars and is developing a second downloadable pack for the Xbox 360version of Grand Theft Auto IV. After the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, rumors began circulating that the next complete console installment would be released in 2009. However, in January 2009, Rockstar confirmed that this was untrue. Many video game experts now believe that the next console installment will be released in 2010. On the 20th episode ofGameTrailers' "Bonus Round", Wedbush Morgan Securities’ video game industry analyst Michael Pachter said, “I actually think they already have a story in mind. GTA5 is already in the planning stage and my guess is you’ll see the next GTA game in two and a half years. In fall of 2010, there’ll be Grand Theft Auto 5.”
Soundtracks
- Grand Theft Auto soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto 2 soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto III soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Official Soundtrack Box Set
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City OST - Greatest Hits
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack Box Set
- The Music of Grand Theft Auto IV
- The series Has Had The Worlds Atention Well I Know it has had Mine
- "Grand theft auto" redirects here. For the video game series, see Grand Theft Auto (series). For other uses, see Grand Theft Auto (disambiguation).
Motor vehicle theft, sometimes referred to as grand theft auto by the media and police departments in the US, is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle, including an automobile, truck, bus, motorcycle, snowmobile, trailer or any other motorized vehicle.Incidentaly Did you know that the Name for GTA Came from Methods
Some methods used to steal motor vehicles are as follows:
- Theft of an unattended vehicle without key(s): The removal of a parked vehicle either by breaking and entry, followed by hotwiring or other tampering methods to start the vehicle, or else towing.
- Theft with access to keys: Known in some places as "Taken Without Owner's Consent (TWOC). The unauthorized use of a vehicle in which the owner has allowed the driver to have possession of or easy access to the keys. Often, this is the adolescent or grown child or employee of the vehicle's owner, whom at other times, may be authorized to use the vehicle. May be treated differently, depending on the jurisdiction's laws, and in some cases, the owner may choose not to press charges.
- Opportunistic theft: The removal of a vehicle that the owner or operator has left unattended with the keys visibly present, sometimesidling
- Carjacking: Refers to the taking of a vehicle by force or threat of force from its owner or operator. In most places, this is the most serious form of theft, since assault also occurs. In some carjackings, the operators and passengers are forced from the vehicle while the thief drives it away him/herself, while in other incidents, the operator and/or passenger(s) are forced to remain in the vehicle as hostages. Some less common carjackings result in the operator being forced to drive the assailant in accordance with the assailant's demands. This method is most often used when the assailant does not know how to operate the vehicle of choice (i.e. a helicopter or airliner). In the United States, carjacking is a federal offense, subject to 15 years imprisonment[1].
- Fraudulent theft: Illegal acquisition of a vehicle from a seller through fraudulent transfer of funds that the seller will ultimately not receive (such as by identity theft or the use of acounterfeit cashier's check). Many vehicles stolen in this manner are resold quickly thereafter.
Tools Used
- Slide Hammer Puller to break into the door locks and the cylinder lock.
- Multimeters or a test light to find the source of the battery
- Spare wires and/or a screwdriver to connect the battery source to the ignition and starter wires
- A generic rod and hook toolkit to slip between your car window and car frame and to open the lock behind the window. A common one is called the "Slim Jim".
- New keyless ignition/lock cars often share the same 40-bit encryption method between their "keys" and their computers. Using a RFID microreader and a laptop, university students have managed to remotely unlock, start, and drive away in top-of-the-line luxury cars, not without returning the cars to their rightful owners of course and with their consent to "steal" it in the first place.[citation needed]
Motivations for theftMotor vehicles often get stolen for the following reasons:[original research?]
- Transportation of self: For temporary or long-term use of transportation, in hopes that this use will not be detected by law enforcement. Most vehicles that are stolen are reported as soon as their owners discover them missing, therefore limiting the amount of time they can be driven without detection.
- Commission of a crime: When used for transportation in a crime, if the vehicle reported by witnesses does not belong to or have any ties to the perpetrator, and is abandoned thereafter, it cannot be traced to the perpetrator, without a study of forensic evidence that may not always be successful.
- Joyriding
- Chopping and selling parts: May be a single vehicle stolen for its parts, or a larger ring that engages in the mass theft of vehicles. Vehicles stolen for this purpose are less likely to be returned to their owners, since they have been dismantled, and the parts have either been sold as replacement parts or built into new vehicles. VIN etching or microdots may prevent this from occurring to a vehicle.
- Resale of vehicle: A stolen vehicle cannot easily be resold within the country from where it is stolen due to its registration to its owner. But shipping the vehicle across a border to a location where there is no reciprocity for motor vehicle registration may allow the thief to dodge this process.
Vehicles most frequently stolenThe makes and models of vehicles most frequently stolen vary by several factors, including region and ease of theft.
In recent years in the United States, some models often on lists of most frequently stolen vehicles include Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Jeep Cherokee, and Cadillac Escalade[citation needed]. In Thailand, the most frequently stolen vehicles are Toyota cars, Isuzu pickup trucks, Honda cars, and Honda motorcycles (2007 data).[2]
PreventioThere are various methods of prevention to reduce the likelihood of a vehicle getting stolen. These include physical barriers, which make the effort of stealing the vehicle more difficult. Some of these include:
- Devices used to lock a part of the vehicle necessary in its operation, such as the steering wheel or brake pedal. A popular steering wheel lock is The Club.
- Immobilisers, allowing the vehicle to start only if a key containing the correct chip is present in the ignition.
Chances of theft can also be reduced with various deterrents, which give the impression to the thief that s/he is more likely to get caught if the vehicle is stolen. These include:
- Car alarm systems that are triggered if a breaking and entry into the vehicle occurs
- microdot identification tags which allow individual parts of a vehicle to be identified
- Killswitch circuits are designed to frustrate or slow down the efforts of a determined car thief. Killswitches are often located between crucial parts of the starting system, between the battery source and the coil, or the fuel pump. A car cannot start without first flipping these killswitches to closed position. Smart car owners hide these killswitches in obscured areas, under the dashboard, beneath the seat, behind a chair, etc.
- Signage on windows warning of the presence of other deterrents, sometimes in absence of the actual deterrants.
- VIN etching
[Recovery of stolen vehicles
Recovery rates for stolen vehicles vary, depending on the effort a jurisdiction's police department puts into recovery, and devices a vehicle has installed to assist in the process.
Police departments use various methods of recovering stolen vehicles, such as random checks of vehicles that come in front of a patrol unit, checks of all vehicles parked along a street or within a parking lot, or keeping a watchlist of all the vehicles reported stolen by their owners. Police departments also receive tips on the location of stolen vehicles throughStolenCar.com or TWOC.co.uk in the UK, Taken WithOut Consent?
Vehicle tracking systems, such as LoJack or Automatic vehicle location, may enable the location of the vehicle to be tracked by local law enforcement or a private company. Other security devices such as DotGuard microdots allow individual parts of a vehicle to also be identified and potentially returned.
- Auto theft information and statistics
- List of theft prevention devices
- Taken WithOut Consent? UK FREE database of stolen vehicles
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