Tuesday, December 29, 2020

More Thoughts on Securing Stuff in Cars

The one thing I didn't like about the Subie Forester was the lack of a trunk.

Not lack of storage space, mind you. It was a station wagon, for heaven's sake, it was all ate up with storage space. It's just that all of it was protected by nothing but a sheet of glass. You can get rollup privacy screens for most wagons and SUV's...Bobbi's RX350 has one...but that's not really security. It may deter the most casual of car tossers by not letting them see anything, but to a more determined auto burglar, it's just a signal that there's something in there the owner felt was worth shielding from prying eyes.

Even the trunk on the Mustang isn't really secure. Oh, it's a separate, lockable metal trunk, but any semi-pro car burglar will know there's A) a pass-through to the trunk in the back seat, and B) a remote trunk release in the glovebox that works even without a key in the ignition. Sure the glovebox is lockable, but those barely require tools to defeat.

The Z3 has a trunk that really works as a trunk. It's inaccessible from the passenger cabin and, when you lock it with a key, you have to unlock it again with a key. It doesn't automatically lock and unlock with the passenger doors. If I have to de-gun during the day with the Bimmer, I'll pull the holster off my belt in the car, put it in a nondescript-looking bag, and then lock the bag in the trunk. I won't do those trips in the Mustang because I haven't gotten around to bolting a lockbox into the trunk.

This is also why, if I'm parked at a hotel on a roadtrip, I'll chance leaving valuables locked in the trunk of the Z3, but the entire contents of the Mustang come into the hotel room with me. Which makes things kind of ironic in that I'll pack heavier in the car with less luggage space. I'll stuff the trunk and passenger compartment brim-lippin' full in the Zed Drei, but with the Mustang I try not to take more firearms & camera gear than I can drag in and out of a hotel room in one trip.

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