Keeping our vechicle safe under lock and key and alarm

JohnGuppy · Sep 21, 2017

Since purchasing my lovely California and joining this forum I have had chatted to many helpful people I am aware how many Vans /Conversions / California's are on the road
Lately I have noticed cars stopping 4 young guys and looking into my drive and looking at my pride and jo sitting on my drive

Lately there has been a spate of incidents where three guys kick your door in and take your keys and drive away your car

Where do you keep your keys ? , I keep mine in my study behind the door on a key hanger made by my son 25 years ago
When on holiday a break in and the yobs stole all my keys and drove away our car smashing past a friends car parked in the drive
My insurance company gave me hassle saying I should have taken more care of the keys advice was
Never leave keys downstairs unless in a hidden locked box , take upstairs

So these strangers looking are they " casing the joint " and will steel and break for parts ?

Just think of the hassle your key ring has the house key , works key , wife's car keys garage key and so on
How can we keep safe in our homes and feel safe under the protection of our Police service

The police only see our vehicle's as objects and take the attitude that you are insured and will get paid out so in most cases no visit only a crime number

Is the bunch of keys the problem

andyinluton · Sep 21, 2017

As a result of violent intruders many years ago, I now leave all keys downstairs out of sight of windows letterbox, but somewhere an intruder will easily find them.
If they are committed enough to get through a steel reinforced door with multipoint locking & the alarm blaring away, I don't intend getting in their way.

JohnGuppy · Sep 21, 2017

I agree I have VW connect how long do you think they would go before they removed it or parked it somewhere

Jay586 · Sep 21, 2017

I've just installed a security camera.

I leave the keys downstairs, I'm 5ft 3, I'm not going to get into a fight with the lads who come car hunting to order...

Shane Bennett · Sep 21, 2017

This is a tough one and has caused me too many brain cycles thinking about it. No matter how much you secure your house a determined thief is going to get in no matter what. The best you can do is to make yourself the hardest target for entry so they move on to the easier targets.

Iron Van · Sep 21, 2017

I have just recently upgraded my cameras to a Swann system. Not too expensive, in the grand scheme of things, reduced my home insurance and kept the firearms chap happy too. Mine can record 4 cameras in HD for a month before overwriting, it has motion detection and I can watch on my phone. Of course it won’t stop them, but it’s nice to be able to check, even in the middle of the night.

VWDrooper · Sep 21, 2017

John Guppy said:
I agree I have VW connect how long do you think they would go before they removed it or parked it somewhere

Not sure what your saying

Loz · Sep 21, 2017

Obvious CCTV, automatic flood lights and a strong key box that IS visible from the outside.
My thinking is that if the perp knows they are not easy to get to before they break in they will move on..

Wongo · Sep 21, 2017

You can only delay never deny. Do think of it from their perspective, ‘take too long’, ‘CCTV & Alarms’, ‘sturdy door’, get them to move on.

Stoneybroke · Sep 21, 2017

CCTV monitors the drive and Cali, with the added advantage of covering the front door and whole car port area.
If you were to get in, you have to get through house alarm and the two loud dogs to get near the keys. :punch

PudnBob · Sep 21, 2017

I just encourage nosey neighbours with a bottle of wine! Better than most alarms as they are up all hours!

andyinluton · Sep 22, 2017

My nosey neighbours opposite watched a gang of three break into our garage & walk off down the road carrying various tool cases at 5am.
At 7.30 she came over the road to tell me that they didn't shut the garage door properly behind them!
She didn't want to disturb the police at that time of the morning.

JohnGuppy · Sep 22, 2017

What is wrong with people today
When I was a boy starting work at 15 years old it was drummed into me NEVER touch a mans tools its the way he earns money to supports his family and pay his bills
I do hope you told everyone who lives near you about this

Amarillo · Sep 22, 2017

The good news is that we live in days of generally falling crime, and these miserable events are becoming less frequent. Instead of robbing cars and racing them around the local estate, the youth of today sit around playing Nintendo, getting so fat they couldn't climb through a bathroom window if they wanted to.

Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

JohnGuppy · Sep 22, 2017

If you have collected your free VW connect and plugged it into the test socket then get place a small plate over the socket and fix with tamper proof screws you will have a built in tracker in the form of all of your trips when it stops it shows where you are parked
Just remember to give dealer tamper proof screwdriver
And as free it’s a great gadget tracked from home or smart phone

andyinluton · Sep 22, 2017

John Guppy said:
What is wrong with people today
When I was a boy starting work at 15 years old it was drummed into me NEVER touch a mans tools its the way he earns money to supports his family and pay his bills
I do hope you told everyone who lives near you about this

To be fair my collection of power tools is all for DIY - I built 90% of the house we live in ( theres a bit of the original left) I was fortunate that although they took six cases, all bar one only had a charger in it - most of my tools are cordless using the same batteries etc so the loss of a charger or two didn't matter.

Loz · Sep 22, 2017

John Guppy said:
If you have collected your free VW connect and plugged it into the test socket then get place a small plate over the socket and fix with tamper proof screws you will have a built in tracker in the form of all of your trips when it stops it shows where you are parked
Just remember to give dealer tamper proof screwdriver
And as free it’s a great gadget tracked from home or smart phone

The tracking comes from your phone not the plug, so unless you leave your phone in there to get stolen as well this won't work..

B J G · Sep 22, 2017

Just to cite what happened to my friends house when thieves wanted their son's Focus ST3.

In the process of trying to find the keys the thieves ripped all the kitchen units off the walls, upturned the lounge and dining areas. They then proceeded to upturn the bedrooms and smash wardrobes etc. Found a gun cabinet and couldn't open it, ripped it of it's securings and took it complete.

The keys were found and the car taken nearly hitting a horse and rider in the process.
The Police got interested when the gun factor became known.

Gun cabinet was later found outside a 'traveller's site' but the police took no action as a no go area.
car later found parked up in a country lane and was one of 3 cars stolen that day which were believed to be placed for escape purposes during Cash Machine ram raids.

andyinluton earlier made the point that the keys will be found no matter what obstacles are placed in the way as this sorry tale confirms.

JohnGuppy · Sep 22, 2017

That says a lot this scum need to be sorted the police need to do a better job

sidepod · Sep 22, 2017

We've been here before. The T5 has a simple way to disable the starter circuit. Keys or no keys, it's going nowhere, unless they drag it on to a flat bed.

I won't detail it here.

ArunAlec · Sep 22, 2017

sidepod said:
We've been here before. The T5 has a simple way to disable the starter circuit. Keys or no keys, it's going nowhere, unless they drag it on to a flat bed.

I won't detail it here.

Remove the rotor arm? :thumb

Skewif · Sep 22, 2017

There is a very a clever immobiliser called the Autowatch Ghost. It works by you choosing a pin using the buttons on the steering wheel or dash. No matter how someone gets the keys it will never start. Might be the solution to many worries. There is now also an app so if you get in with your phone there is no need for the pin. But be careful as they might steal your phone too.