There are now a lot of ways to protect your car from theft and thanks to technology, they have now become a lot more complex so that your neighborhood thug with a slim jim wouldn’t be able to drive away with your precious wheels.

Car Alarms. Car alarms have gone a long way from simply providing you with keyless entry and a door-breach alarm. Taser equipped car alarms have been around for a long time. Some systems even synch to your wireless device/cellphone to verify your access. But even if your just install door-breach type alarms, it beats not having anyone hear that your car’s being driven away by some crook.

Mechanical Locks. Some would still have reservations with regard to all the fancy electronic gadgetry that’s supposed to thief-proof your car. And these people would swear by good old mechanical locking devices to secure their rides. The Club is still one of my favorite mechanical locking devices and it wouldn’t even cost you more than $60.

VIN Etching. These are those acid-etched markings you’d find on mirrors, windows and windshields of cars. It’s cheap and it fends off petty thievery (like those cheap crooks who just prey on parts then sell them to surplus shops). Even car thieves will be deterred since they’d only have to shoulder the cost of replacing practically a lot of parts just to get rid of those with VIN etches.

Electronic Immobilizers. These things are really complex electronic systems. Newer cars ignition systems are protected by these. Usually, chips are embedded in keys and these chips work together with the ignition system. So even if the thief just tries to hotwire or pick the ignition, the car won’t start since the system “shuts down” ignition.

GPS. Have your car stolen and they won’t get far. How can you possibly shake off a satellite if you’re a crook. Many new models, particularly those that provide navigation systems, are equipped with GPS. Some companies offer these as a per-year service.

I always believe that even the fanciest security systems will be breached by some geek. So my advice is to swear by a combination of these devices. So even if you have a complex electronic security and GPS, have that extra layer of security by installing a mechanical one.