Jan 15, 20213 min read

What is the best security for your Land Rover?

Updated: Nov 1, 2023

With over 113 thousand motor vehicle thefts in England and Wales in 2019/20, securing your Land Rover is as important as ever. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by Rivervale Leasing to DVLA feature Land Rovers in the UK’s top 10 stolen cars during 2019. Land Rovers are a popular target for resale, export abroad, to strip for parts and to be used in crime. Older models with minimal factory security such as the Series, Defender and Discovery are all an easy target, easily stripped for parts, essentially no longer existing as a whole vehicle when discovered missing in the morning. So what is the best security to ensure your Land Rover is not taken? There is no single device which cannot be defeated by thieves. Putting a steering lock on your Defender may slow down and even stop an opportunist thief, but a professional would make short work of most steering locks. The answer is to have a mixture of devices, creating layers. When one device has been defeated the thief then needing to move on to defeat another, this takes time. the more devices the longer it will take. Probability of being caught increasing with time a thief does not want to hang around. Adding an early warning device, such as an alarm with vibration detection, which when triggered alerts you by text as well as sounding a siren, putting extra pressure upon the thief. There are many types of thefts regarding Land Rovers. The Opportunist: Someone who when spotting an older vehicle, such as a Series or Defender, see this as an easy target and decide to have a go at stealing the vehicle, probably for fun. A bent bit of wire or even a screw driver in the key hole allowing easy access, then quickly 'hot wiring', cutting a joining wires at the ignition key switch, to start the vehicle and away they go, within 5 minutes. Parts taken to order: This could also be an opportunist, but usually someone who has spotted a vehicle which has parts they want or are taken to order for someone else. This thief will be relatively knowledgable and prepared with the required tools. Removal of light clusters, light bars, winch and even doors and bonnet are regularly reported. These crimes are rarely detected at the time and effectively performed in a very short time. Mountain rescue and even the Police have had all their doors and bonnet stolen from their service Defender. The Professional: This type of thief is the most difficult to protect your Land Rover against. Highly organised and knowledgable carrying all the tools required to bypass any security you fit to your vehicle. Even bypassing modern technology designed to keep your Land Rover safe. When discussing Land Rover security the response is often 'if they want it, they will take it'. This is a very true statement, but we can make it more difficult by fitting security. This table shows estimated times in which security devices could be defeated.

An opportunist could break in and take a vehicle in under 10 minutes, doubling this time with 1 security device potentially stopping them completely with more layers. A professional would find the standard security easy to defeat in under 5 minutes and although they would probably be able to bypass any one device, the few layers listed in the table could take up to 40 minutes to deal with. Only the determined thief would continue and more layers could be fitted. Couple this with an early warning method such as an alarm/tracker, allows you to contact the emergency services, the layers of security preventing the thief gaining a head start. The vehicle can be tracked as it is taken and followed for recovery and even possible arrests. LPME Security kits provide different levels of security depending on budget and/or value of the vehicle. Either visit or online shop to order today or contact us if you need more information or advice.