What Car Thieves Don't Want You to Know

Ex-con Steve Fuller, who has been convicted six times for stealing cars, has decided to reveal all to make amends for the hundreds of cars he stole in the past.

Fuller outlined to ABC News' 20/20 program what car thieves look for, what they know that we don't, and how you can best protect your beloved vehicle. Here are five of his tips:

1. Be careful where you park
It might sound obvious, but Fuller recommends avoiding dark locations, including carports, underground parking and apartment complexes. Of the latter, Fuller said that it was easy to steal from an apartment block because "all I really had to deal with was somebody coming down from their apartment to get in their vehicle, and at that time in the middle of night it's not usually that often."

2. Be aware that your car model might be a target
Fuller used to love stealing Honda, Toyota, Acura, and General Motors vehicles because "they have good resale value so the parts are in demand. It's as simple as that."

3. Don't keep spare keys in your car
It sounds so obvious, but people really do it - in fact, Fuller told 20/20 that for 90 per cent of the vehicles he's stolen he used the car's spare keys to do it.

"Glove compartment, center console, door, change tray, you name it, it's there. I found it in all those places," Fuller said.

4. Be aware of secret keys
"A lot of people don't know that they have a valet key inside their vehicle," said Fuller of the keys which can unlock the driver's side door and start the car. Your car manual will advise you of whether you have a valet key or not.

5. Don't leave your window open when you're not inside
This is the biggest mistake you can make.

"A window that has enough room for me to stick my fingers in, I can get out of its track by rocking it back and forth," Fuller explained.

"Then, I can pry the window out of the track enough to where I can get my arm down in there and unlock the vehicle."

The Most Beautiful Roads In The World

Chevy vehicles can take you down any road in any location of the world that you want to drive in. But if we had our pick, here are just a few of the roads that we'd love to travel on:

 

This desert pass in northern Iceland.

The Vasco de Gama Bridge in Lisbon, Portugal.

Turri Road, a five mile loop through rolling hills and cattle country in Los Osos, California.

Along the Niagara River in Ontario.

TF-21, one of four roads in the Teide National Park, Canary Islands.

The Apple Valley Road Bridge in Lyons, Colorado.

The Stelvio Pass, Sondrio, Italy.


Have you driven down any of these roads before? If not, what's the most picturesque road you've ever driven on? Let us know, fans!

How to See Forever on Your Dirty Car

Every year, almost 100,000 tons of space dirt falls on our planet. That's the equivalent of one U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carrier dropping from the skies every year. Of course, it doesn't all come at once. Each day, about a hundred tons of material hits the Earth. Most of it is in the form of interplanetary dust caught in the Earth's gravitational pull. But on any given night, you might also catch the bigger stuff: sand-grain-sized or even pebble-sized bits of the solar system flaring across our sky as meteors. After their fiery journey through the atmosphere, most of that material ends up as dust on the ground too.

So if you do the math, those hundred tons of inbound space stuff translates into about 10,000 grains of dust added to your car every day. And if you only make it to the car wash once a year, then odds are pretty good that if you write, clean me, on your car's rear window, it will leave at least a few tiny bits of dusty space dirt on your fingers. And it's right there, on your fingertips, that you can meet eternity up close.

(courtesy of NPR)