It seems to me that most car related thievery starts at unlocked cars (door checkers) that will take what they can find and move on. Next in the pecking order is someone who will actually break a window if they see something of value in a locked vehicle. Another is the car running dude that'll take it since its there, unlocked, and running.
I'd say the majority of vehicle related thievery is due to unlocked cars, keys in the car/ignition, valuables left in plain site. Opportunistic theft as others have said.
To get to the level of breaking a window or using a slim jim to get in, defeating a steering wheel lock, and/or another antitheft system, pulling the ignition or hotwiring is going to be way out of the norm and a thief like that would be targeting that specific type of vehicle for whatever reason.
I think if you lock your car, leave nothing of value in plain site, activate whatever alarm system you have, and put a club on the steering wheel you'd be 99% safe. If someone gets your vehicle after doing all of those things there probably isn't anything else you could have done to avoid it.
I'd say the majority of vehicle related thievery is due to unlocked cars, keys in the car/ignition, valuables left in plain site. Opportunistic theft as others have said.
To get to the level of breaking a window or using a slim jim to get in, defeating a steering wheel lock, and/or another antitheft system, pulling the ignition or hotwiring is going to be way out of the norm and a thief like that would be targeting that specific type of vehicle for whatever reason.
I think if you lock your car, leave nothing of value in plain site, activate whatever alarm system you have, and put a club on the steering wheel you'd be 99% safe. If someone gets your vehicle after doing all of those things there probably isn't anything else you could have done to avoid it.