This is an idea have the locks in car doors in a location that would not be visible to others from the outside of the vehicle. Or the locks would simply not visually indicate weather the door is locked or not. Or the the lock could be removed completely and replaced with electric latches which would be remotely controlled, and the exterior handles could even be removed (which I know is baked in some custom cars).
I know this idea probably sounds paranoid, but I think it would be useful (at least slightly) in that people gazing in from the outside of your vehicle would not be able to simply look at the lock to see if it was left unlocked and just open the door and vandalize your car. If they can’t see that it is unlocked then they might just assume that the car has an alarm or something and not bother it.-- BJS, Dec 08 2006 My sisters had a junky old car that they drove that the door handle broke, so to lock it you had to pull or push on the linkage sticking out slightly through the panel. But I guess it worked, because the car never got broken into... Just like those elephant whistles I bought. I haven't hit one yet, so they must be working. : ) But bun on the idea, though.-- Hunter79764, Dec 08 2006 The idea is not to have "the internal lock combined with the interior handle", it is simply to hide the lock from view. Or the lock could be completly removed with the use of remotes and electric latching mechanisms (which I know are baked on some custom cars).
And I never said not to lock the car.-- BJS, Dec 09 2006 [boysparks] I don't know how you could "combine the lock with the handle".
Saying "If they can’t see that it is unlocked" is NOT telling you to leave your doors unlocked.
And there isn't really a point to this idea, and that's why I said it "probably sounds paranoid".-- BJS, Dec 09 2006 If I get bad fishbones then I will delete this idea, but there is nothing bad about this idea, just not much good.-- BJS, Dec 09 2006 In the lawless part of the world where I live, locked cars are simply opened with a brick or a bar through the window. If you are in the car, then the weapon is used on you as well, but having no handle would at least force car thieves to climb in through the space once occupied by the glasss - so +-- xenzag, Dec 10 2006 I did not see any door without a visible lock in the provided link. The doors I saw in the link do visually indicate weather the door is or isn't locked.
And I changed the wording just for you boysparks.-- BJS, Dec 10 2006 :-(-- BJS, Dec 10 2006 //where I live, locked cars are simply opened with a brick// [xenzag], for your Christmas present I am trying to decide between a Browning and a Bradley.-- lurch, Dec 10 2006 Sounds like a good Christmas to me...-- Hunter79764, Dec 12 2006 I don't know about where you live, but around here they just break the window and grab the goods.-- esperance, Dec 12 2006 I bunned this one, mainly because the criticism is unfair. Most people today lock their cars, and I have to believe it's an advantage to always look like it's one of those, not easy prey.-- undata, Dec 13 2006 I am assuming that this is all based on the element of the unknown- Like when nobody knows what you have in your house, you are less likely to get burgularized because there is nothing to tempt a theif. And if you shy away from your neighbors and constantly have friends comming in and out the door to the point where nobody has any idea as to who lives there, again you are less likely to encounter a problem because there is never a way to know if the house is occupied.-- Jscotty, Dec 13 2006 trust in God but lock your car, .....at the end of the day its only a car, and by the way, locks only keep out honest people, so if they know/think/suspect there's somthing worth stealing in there, its already gone.-- Stork, Dec 13 2006 You could have a false lock so it always looks locked.-- caspian, Dec 13 2006 Get a conversion kit to make your Beemer look like a Yugo. (Why don't they make those?)-- lurch, Dec 13 2006 They make heaps of them, but almost all the owners have got conversion kits to make their Yugos look like Beemers.-- imaginality, Dec 13 2006 I'm surprised no one has mentioned TVR. They do a pretty good job of hiding the locks, the handles, the ignition switch, etc.-- methinksnot, Dec 13 2006 random, halfbakery