Ghost fitted on T6.1?

[Jay586]

Some great advice received as usual and thanks to all concerned. I live in Cheshire and would welcome a recommendation for the installation of the Ghost kit by a local outfit if one exists.

At the moment I’m in contact with an outfit that I’ve googled who claim to have national coverage, are TASSA approved and can come to our house.

Cheers

Taff T

Not Cheshire but Good Motoring in Mochdre, near Colwyn Bay fit the Ghost, if you fancy a jaunt along the A55. Terrible website, nice people.

 

[GrahamB]

And for those that don't, a couple of these secreted in the cabin could work very well for very little outlay

AirTag

Attach AirTag to everyday items, like your keys or a backpack, to easily keep track of them in the Find My app.

www.apple.com

My understanding is that Airtags aren’t meant to work as a car security tracker. They work by latching on to your own or anyone else’s passing iPhones and utilising the phones’ GPS for location (rather than having any inbuilt GPS locator). They also alert any nearby iPhone user if they are being tracked. So your iPhone equipped thief would know they were being tracked and would rip the van apart to find the Airtags. That said, I have one on my keyring and it is very good for finding my frequently misplaced keys!

 

[WelshGas]

Question.
Is there any documented case of a VW California being broken into and driven away WITHOUT a key?
I have yet to find anything on the Internet to say this is possible.
If the scumbag gets procession of the key/remote he/she probably knows who the owner is and who to pressure to reveal how to start the vehicle if a Ghost or Bearlock is fitted.
Wheel or Steering locks are a hindrance to the professional but they would still need a key to drive away.
You could tow or lift the vehicle but the alarm would sound and neither the Ghost or Bear Lock would prevent this. You could smash a window to gain entry the alarm would sound you wouldn't be able to open any doors as the Deadlocks are engaged , but you can't hotwire it without the key remote, unlike the old days.
So what benefit are all these additional security measures, all of which can come with their own problems if they don't work correctly, except to feed owners paranoia?

 

[Loz]

There are many cases of keys being stolen from the house (fished through the letterbox for example), but only a handful of cases where the burglar has actually threatened the householder. (a number of ex-police on the T6 forum concur that is quite rare as the syce of the common thief won't stretch to confrontation)
Lots of Calis are left at home when owners are at work and there is a risk that the keys could be found and the vehicle is taken following a break-in, but if you are not there they will not get the code.
You might drop your keys in a car park one day and return to find it gone. With the ghost, you might be stranded until the spare is recovered but at least it is not gone.

As you say there is always a "way" the official-looking tow truck method will always win, but on a scale of what is actually achievable, it is low on the list as not many opportunist thieves have a tow truck.

Every owner has to do what helps them sleep at night and assess their own situation and what lengths they want to go to.

Personally, I have

• Glass break sounders in the Cali and on the patio doors (cheap but a loud deterrent) as this might prevent possessions stolen if the glass is smashed in a car park.
• Patio doors are double laminated.
• Ghost fitted
• All keys are kept in a key safe mounted with through-wall threaded bar, the key safe is also visible through the glass of the back door so that any would-be thief will see that and realise that there is no point breaking into the house to look for keys. etc.

I build a mental list of the likelihood of each method of theft and cross off the easy ones with my list above.
There are other easy precautions I can't do, like blocking in the Cali or having a pull up post as I don't have a driveway, but these would be on my list if I had one.

You have to balance the method with your day to day use etc. Turning around the seat and pulling on the handbrake is another simple trick that would stall a common their who found your keys, but would fool a targeted theft and you will soon give up doing it if you drive it regularly.

 

[BeagleMum]

Thanks for all the replies …I now need to give this more thought as would be pretty catastrophic if it failed when in our jollys

Have you considered the Bear Lock system?

 

[Loz]

Have you considered the Bear Lock system?

Another great system and should be considered in your armoury of deterrents, but has a key, often kept with the rest of the keys.

 

[BeagleMum]

Another great system and should be considered in your armoury of deterrents, but has a key, often kept with the rest of the keys.

We keep key separate to car keys, it goes with house keys which obviously we always have on us. We spent a lot of time considering Ghost but felt opting for Bear Lock was best for us.

 

[WelshGas]

There are many cases of keys being stolen from the house (fished through the letterbox for example), but only a handful of cases where the burglar has actually threatened the householder.
Lots of Calis are left at home when owners are at work and there is a risk that the keys could be found and the vehicle was taken following a break-in, but if you are not there they will not get the code.

As you say there is always a "way" the official-looking tow truck method will always win, but on a scale of what is actually achievable, it is low on the list as not many opportunist thieves have a tow truck.

Every owner has to do what helps them sleep at night and assess their own situation and what lengths they want to go to.

Agree, so the simplest method is to secure the keys.

 

[Stu@rt]

And don't forget the good old "freebie" protection that comes with spinning the drivers seat around. If the deadlocks are on then good luck getting the drivers door open and the seat facing back in the right direction.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Question.
Is there any documented case of a VW California being broken into and driven away WITHOUT a key?
I have yet to find anything on the Internet to say this is possible.
If the scumbag gets procession of the key/remote he/she probably knows who the owner is and who to pressure to reveal how to start the vehicle if a Ghost or Bearlock is fitted.
Wheel or Steering locks are a hindrance to the professional but they would still need a key to drive away.
You could tow or lift the vehicle but the alarm would sound and neither the Ghost or Bear Lock would prevent this. You could smash a window to gain entry the alarm would sound you wouldn't be able to open any doors as the Deadlocks are engaged , but you can't hotwire it without the key remote, unlike the old days.
So what benefit are all these additional security measures, all of which can come with their own problems if they don't work correctly, except to feed owners paranoia?

As a surfer, I decided to keep the key in the van and take the blank with me whilst surfing.
It means, I dont have any issue of wet keys and immobiliser issues either.
I doubt the opportunist will figure a ghost is fitted whilst I’m surfing should they find the van key. Same at home. I would rather a break in, which there have been many in my area. Where keys are taken and vehicles gone. I doubt they would figure my vehicle has a ghost, as there are no details to show it has. Most thieves are opportunistic and anything more than a few minutes crates unnecessary risk…

Being stranded abroad would be annoying, but ultimately my vehicle could be recovered. Not the end of the world…

 

[Taff Tenor]

As a surfer, I decided to keep the key in the van and take the blank with me whilst surfing.
It means, I dont have any issue of wet keys and immobiliser issues either.
I doubt the opportunist will figure a ghost is fitted whilst I’m surfing should they find the van key. Same at home. I would rather a break in, which there have been many in my area. Where keys are taken and vehicles gone. I doubt they would figure my vehicle has a ghost, as there are no details to show it has. Most thieves are opportunistic and anything more than a few minutes crates unnecessary risk…

Being stranded abroad would be annoying, but ultimately my vehicle could be recovered. Not the end of the world…

Cheers Soulstyle ….I’ve ordered a surf key and intend on locking main keys in the van if we leave our van for any sort of extended period…. gonna have Ghost fitted but does surf key activate alarm on locking?

Taff

 

[WelshGas]

As a surfer, I decided to keep the key in the van and take the blank with me whilst surfing.
It means, I dont have any issue of wet keys and immobiliser issues either.
I doubt the opportunist will figure a ghost is fitted whilst I’m surfing should they find the van key. Same at home. I would rather a break in, which there have been many in my area. Where keys are taken and vehicles gone. I doubt they would figure my vehicle has a ghost, as there are no details to show it has. Most thieves are opportunistic and anything more than a few minutes crates unnecessary risk…

Being stranded abroad would be annoying, but ultimately my vehicle could be recovered. Not the end of the world…

It works for you, but as you said “ Most thieves are opportunistic and anything more than a few minutes crates unnecessary risk…” So they smash a window, climb through, as the Deadlocks are on, and have a few minutes to find the key while the alarm is blaring away, probably attracting attention.
Plenty of unusual places to secrete the key on a California making it difficult for an opportunistic thief, and I doubt if he is going to spend long searching with the alarm going and having to climb back out the window.

 

[WelshGas]

Cheers Soulstyle ….I’ve ordered a surf key and intend on locking main keys in the van if we leave our van for any sort of extended period…. gonna have Ghost fitted but does surf key activate alarm on locking?

Taff

Yes, it will.

 

[soulstyledevon]

It works for you, but as you said “ Most thieves are opportunistic and anything more than a few minutes crates unnecessary risk…” So they smash a window, climb through, as the Deadlocks are on, and have a few minutes to find the key while the alarm is blaring away, probably attracting attention.
Plenty of unusual places to secrete the key on a California making it difficult for an opportunistic thief, and I doubt if he is going to spend long searching with the alarm going and having to climb back out the window.

Exactly.
But should he find the key, the ghost is the addition protection.
Because even with the key it’s not going anywhere. So after a broken window, the alarm sounding for many minutes and drawing attention, is he really gonna do battle with a Ghost he has no idea is even fitted…???

I’m guessing, the van will still be there. Alas, with a possible broken window. But I’ll take that over the van gone, never to be seen again. Let’s be honest, the police have no intention of searching for stolen vehicles. It’s just another write off and insurance claim. Another for the statistics…

 

[SimonB]

I thought it might help to put a location where the Surfer Key is easily available without having to take apart one of your electronic keys.
Just bought myself a "Surfer Key", £20 from Timpson in Sainsburys Bristol. He needed to see the original key first so he could order in the correct blank. That was a couple of days to get in, then I did my shopping whilst he cut the key. Works perfectly, just an ordinary key you can wear on a lanyard around your neck just in case the locks on the Cali accidentally shut themselves.
Hope this helps
Simon