Avoid Window Etching at the Dealership

It's great that you want your car to be protected from theft, but don't waste your money on window etching. In case you don't know what this is, here is a brief overview.

For a couple hundred dollars (I've heard of this costing up to $900), the dealer can etch the VIN number onto all of your vehicle's windows. This way, if your car gets stolen and disassembled, the police and your insurance company can figure out where the parts came from.

To etch the windows takes under 10 minutes. I've done it plenty of times myself. Basically, I would stick a decal onto the each window. This decal has the VIN number on it. Then, I would blot an acid solution over the decal. The acid would etch the VIN number into the window.

Here are my objections to the whole thing:

• First of all, I have never seen any evidence that it is effective. I'm sure somebody could enlighten me as the pros and cons.
• Second of all, if you pay the dealer more than $20 to get it done, you're being ripped off. Search the web and you can find do-it-yourself window etching kits for $20. As I said, it only takes 10 minutes to do. If you can put a decal on a window, blot an acid solution on top of it and remove the sticker, then you're qualified to do the job yourself.