MBfan21

The dealership told me the thieves can cut the TeleAid line and you won't be able to locate the car. I guess that was part of their sell when they sold me Lo-Jack. The next day I cancelled it but I have yet to get a refund on it from MB.

alpinweiss

The biggest anti-theft device on your Mercedes is lack-of-demand by car thieves. There is not a particularly big market for stolen MB parts. And there is virtually no demand for a stolen Mercedes in México. Mercedes cars have a reputation for being expensive to maintain and repair (whether true or not), so this limits your market considerably.

Recent Mercedes have enough security devices that only thieves with a flat-bed tow truck can steal your car easily. This pretty much restricts it to professionals.

Teenagers, joy-riders, and amateurs will pick an easier car to steal. Hondas, Toyotas, pickup trucks, and Jeeps top the most stolen list around here. And New México is a border state with a high auto theft rate.

Still, if a professional thief has an order for a car like yours......

spotless

trunk monkey for the win!

peabers

+1 for the Trunk Monkey! Is there a monthly fee?

webada

no, you only need to throw some bananas once in a while.... but only works if you got the p2 option... need the fold down seats for the monkey to pop...

211E350Black

lo jack is the way to go

peabers

In Canada, all of the W204's have fold-down rear seats as standard equipment.

chilledbenz

Sad to say this, but after reading a post on the SL board I can say that theres nothing your can do if a thief wants you car. Guy on that thread had his SL65 stolen, has both sets of keys and said there was no glass on the ground. Called Tel Aid and the Police to no avail.

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl55-amg-sl63-amg-sl65-amg-r230/223269-my-sl65-stolen.html

mtnbenzer

After reading these posts it just occurred to me that if my car, trucks are parked in the driveway that a thief can open my garage door using the remote buttons (ones built into the MB and my 4-Runners) for the garage doors. These work even with the key removed. Can these buttons be temporarily disabled to prevent someone from entering the garage if the car is outside? This could argue for using the standard portable garage remotes as they can be taken into the house. Any thoughts on this?

GDawgC220

You can probably remove the fuse to the garage buttons to disable them. I'm surprised they work even without key.

mtnbenzer

I stand corrected. My E-550 will not open the garage door with the key out but my two 4-Runners will. Guess everyone should check their particular cars esp. when you leave them out. The most common cause of home thefts/invasion is through the garage area.

chilledbenz

+1

On Mercedes the ignition must be on for them to work, or at least on all the ones I've owned. Just to add to this, when you go to trade your car in, be sure to erase the codes before you let the car leave your hands. Its as simple as holding the two outside buttons till the light flashes rapidly. Other wise the next person that buys your car will have a "key" to your house. They can run a car fax and get your name and address, or in some cases your name was put in the owners manual when you purchased the car. Then its just a matter of google maps or map quest or if you have a nav package, just pushing the home button for a direct map to your house.

Which also leads into when you go to sell your car, to remember to erase your phone book entries in the radio/nav system. Its in the menu screen on the radio, says something about reset to default, but be warned it will reset everything, sound settings, presets, and phone book entries.

RLE

<<After reading these posts it just occurred to me that if my car, trucks are parked in the driveway that a thief can open my garage door using the remote buttons (ones built into the MB and my 4-Runners) for the garage doors. These work even with the key removed. >>

Not the MB buttons. Where did you get this idea?

Dema

The best anti theft device is a hammer. Get it and slightly damage your car making it look as off an accident. Thieves do not want such cars, so nobody will be interested in it. Another benefit that other drivers will be careful when drive around.