Bait Car

"I was just moving it! The owner told me to!"

Tru TV Reality Show that follows police auto theft squads as they plant "bait cars" (police-owned cars rigged so they can be shut down via remote control).

Tropes used in Bait Car include:

Awesome but Impractical: The bait car itself needs to be heavily modified at substantial expense to work properly, and when it is placed, apprehending the people driving off with it requires about a dozen officers on duty. After all that, the criminals are often charged with misdemeanors (unlawful driving/taking of a vehicle) and not felonies (grand theft auto). In one case, the judge dismissed the charges entirely, arguing that the methods the cops used in their particular baiting counted as entrapment.
The Alleged Car: A few of the bait cars. L.A. has a '90s beige Camry with bad-taste aftermarket chrome rims. Not a bad car per se but hardly worth doing hard time for.
- New Orleans' black Kia Borrego is a model hardly anyone actually bought. Being the only one like it in town probably counts as a fail for a bait car.
Cool Car: Some of the others. Cadillac Escalades are popular.
Genre Savvy: In later episodes it's getting more and more common for suspects to mention the possibility of being in a bait car or even holding the door ajar to prevent being magnetically locked in.
Point and Laugh Show
Schmuck Bait: The bait cars used in many of the show's episodes. A car like that in a neighborhood that shitty? Best case scenario, it's a bait car and you're about to get arrested and carted off to jail (and later humiliated on a cable television program). Worst case scenario, it belongs to someone who will shoot you in the face just for looking at his ride in a way he doesn't like. Either way, you're an idiot for messing with it.
Stupid Crooks: Entire carloads of them.