Is A Steering Wheel Lock Worth it?

The common steering wheel lock; a fantastically cumbersome, spectacularly ugly thing that pretty much smashes through the car window with its presence while you walk besides it in the streets, looking to it's overprotective owner.

You can picture him, the 70 year old guy who nosily peeks behind the curtains to see what the next door neighbours are doing with the trash. It's quite a dull subject, but we thing the humble steering wheel lock is worthy of your attention.

But why? Well because people want to protect their cars. Did you know that in the USA, nearly $9 Billion's worth of vehicles were stolen last year?! To put that into perspective, if car theft was a business, it would be on a par with MacDonald's in terms of revenue!

In the United Kingdom, 50 cars are stolen every minute! That's nearly one every second! So it's worth taken a little time out to consider how we can protect our vehicles.

It really doesn't matter if you have a Ferrari or Ford, your motor vehicle is a target. Criminals can obtain up to three times more for your car actually being dismantled and selling the parts on than for trading it as a fully functional vehicle. Outrageous I know, however the 10 most stolen varieties of cars in the United States are valued under $10,000.

Therefore, we need to do all we can to stop our cars from getting stolen.

It's now time to consider the steering wheel lock more and think about its role in protecting your car. Many people simply haven't really thought about it.

Do They Work As A Deterrent?

How many times have you been told the phrase "if a thug wants your automobile, it doesn't matter what anti-theft gadget you have, they will take it"? Well granted, it's not as memorable or renowned as 'the early bird catches the worm' but nonetheless, it's very valid.

That's not really the issue though. A thief is making constant judgements over whether breaking into a car is worth the time and effort and ultimately risk of going to jail.

If I look at a steering wheel lock on a car, I recognise that even if it's a mediocre Asian import (the lock not the car!), it's still bound to take me more time to get past it and drive the car away, hence greatly increasing my risk. My decision? To pinch the car sitting besides yours!

A Financially Prudent Investment.

I was terrible with numbers when I was younger. But as I've gotten older I've started to see how they have such a great impact on our lives.

So let's apply some mathematics to the question of whether you should invest in a steering wheel lock or not. The average price tag on a new car is just over $30,000. With a decent steering wheel lock costing around $60, you can protect your car for roughly 0.19% of its cost!

A range of insurance corporations will reduce your insurance payment given the use of anti-theft devices such as a steering wheel lock. Often times the $60 you just spent to purchase a lock is given back to you in the form of an insurance discount.

So do I have a good steering wheel lock on my car? Yes. Do you have to have a steering wheel lock on your automobile? Probably.