stolen car - audi tt

Ayashii

Morning all - car nicked during night so would apreciate any help in locating. Usuall job of removing pvc frame and glass and walking in without tripping alarm.
Car is black audi tt coupe - 180 model (1 exhaust at back) reg 02 WH 3851.
Stolen from Malahide area.

If anyone spots it can you post here? Thanks!

Big Nelly

Pic would be best. Or any things that people could notice? scratch on door? bump or something. Plates would probably have been changed by now.

Again mention a forum on this? Stolen Cars or something?

Ernie Ball

I assume that car is equipped with an immobiliser. Any idea how they got past it? Doesn't sound like these guys were joyriders....

I am feeling your pain, though. I've noted the reg in any case.

Ayashii

Guys very neatly took the entire glass window from the back door by removing the window frame and walked into kitchen where keys were on the counter among a load of old letters and other bits. Alarm wasnt set off as they didnt break the contact sensor on the door itself. Cops say this method is becoming very common and is a professional job.

Anyway, sorry for posting if this is the completely wrong forum, so mods please move/delete as appropriate. Thanks.

blahblah06

Wow did you not have any sensors in the actual kitchen like

fletch

blahblah06 wrote:

Wow did you not have any sensors in the actual kitchen like

Generally the sensors are located on the opening parts of the window....these guys sound like they jus took the whole main glass part of the window out

Doolittle51

Ayashii wrote:

Guys very neatly took the entire glass window from the back door by removing the window frame and walked into kitchen where keys were on the counter among a load of old letters and other bits.

Sorry to hear your car was nicked, but why do people still leave their keys on the counter in the kitchen? This practice of removing the window pane and robbing the keys is so commonplace now that people should not leave car keys in such obvious places around the house.

I know it's too late now, so I just hope you get it back soon. I'll keep an eye out for it.

blahblah06

I understand but what about motion sensors. I know with eircom it picks up the window pane been taken out due to vibration and i also have a sensor in the kitchen and stairs. I keep the keys in my room. Lock the kitchen and hall doors etc. Is that not the right thing to do

prospect

I'd leave the keys in the kitchen myself.
If they want them, they can have them. I'd rather that than get stabbed or something over a flippin car.

To the OP. Any distinguishing marks on your car? Upgrade alloys, or body kit?

blahblah06

Prospect are you serious ? I defo wouldnt leave the keys there for them to take ive worked to hard to get my new car so they can sod off.

Sleipnir

Unfortunately it's probably being stripped down to parts in some garage somewhere. It'll then be packed in separate crates, shipped out and re-assembled in another country.

blahblah06

What way does this work with the insurance then will the car be replaced

ds20prefecture

Ayashii wrote:

Anyway, sorry for posting if this is the completely wrong forum, so mods please move/delete as appropriate. Thanks.

This is exactly the right forum for these posts. Not many people will browse a "Stolen Cars" forum.

Hope you get it back - it must be very depressing.

sector

Ayashii, bummer man. to kindle some hope i know a guy where they did the same dam thing, at least came in & got the keys part, even moved their other car to get his, now it was a nice car like yours & well over 2 weeks later the Guards got it back but be warned it was stripped down, alloys gone, airbags & lots of other **** u wouldn't believe, he got it all replaced & is driving it like a new car today.

even after that amount of time it was the guards that spotted it driving a little erratic with a false plate going down the keys then they had to chase it before they jumped so keep your eyes pealed as chances are if they went to that trouble they changed the reg to something else, you could hope they stuck a wrong year on your model or something...

Big Nelly

Ayashii wrote:

Anyway, sorry for posting if this is the completely wrong forum, so mods please move/delete as appropriate. Thanks.

Yeah right forum...just has been alot of stolen cars on here recently and was wondering what people thought of opening a forum? just an idea!

sector

Big Nelly wrote:

Yeah right forum...just has been alot of stolen cars on here recently and was wondering what people thought of opening a forum? just an idea!

It might be a better idea if we starting researching a secure & affordable GPS security system, I'm sure most people that browse here love their car & wouldn't mind spending a few bob in the knowledge that a nicely hidden gps would let you find it & likely get them caught too.

i know these are generally expensive & for high end cars but there must be a more basic alternative.

any comments...

lomb

anything distingusihing like scratches or dents, or wheels, will keep a look out

flanzer

Very sorry to hear. A mate of mine has a convertible TT 180 and lives in Castleheath in Malahide (which has security gates and a security guard up the road in Abington) and spotted 2 guys a few weeks ago looking into his car and his neighbours DB9. He let a yell at them and they scarpered.

But this looks like it might have been robbed as part of a TT order. I'll let him know of this and make sure he brings his keys to bed with him!

Again deapest regrets

lomb

flanzer wrote:

his neighbours DB9

jesus, fine car....

prospect

blahblah06 wrote:

Prospect are you serious ? I defo wouldnt leave the keys there for them to take ive worked to hard to get my new car so they can sod off.

Deffo,

Which would you prefer:

1. They break in, do little/no damage, take the keys from the kitchen and head off, unknown to you and your family.

2*. They break in, can't find keys. Head upstairs, take one of your kids out of bed, bring them to your room with a knife to their neck, threathen to slice the kids throat unless you hand over keys, then smash a few things on the way out (because they are frustrated for being delayed), and they make off with your car anyway.

* Probably a bit dramatised, but you get my point

Ayashii

Thanks for the replies so far. Car is standard and there is a very small dent (bout 1.5 inches across) on the passenger side skirt of the car. Apart from that nothing out of the ordinary.

I always leave the car keys downstairs but out of obvious sight. A mate of mine who brings his keys to his bedroom woke up a few weeks back with a guy standing over the bed demanding the keys. Thats far scarier!

Heres my car!

blahblah06

but why dont ppl lock there kitchen doors etc

ds20prefecture

A low cost GPS locator is a mobile phone. There was a story on the news the other day how the police located a woman who had chrashed her plane by her mobile phone.

What baffles me is that the mobile telcos don't offer a number locator service to the gardai, so that you buy a pay-as-you go phone and hide the thing somewhere on your car, with a charger if necessary. 3 days battery life will help if they disconnect everything. It is small, cheap and ubiquitous. I can think of around 16 places on mine where it would only be found if they took the car apart. Hopefully, by that point, they'll be nabbed.

The problem is the lack of accuracy but if it is accurate to a 500m, they at least know where to look. I believe it is accurate to about 10m.

The reason why there isn't cheap GPS tracking devices is because they need a back end service provider to allow anyone to track the car. This is quite expensive to setup, apparently. O2 and Vodafone already have this capability, but I wouldn't offer it to everyone, just the Gardai.

Either way, this isn't high technology - we just don't have a market big enough to justify the investment.

Big Nelly

ds20prefecture wrote:

A low cost GPS locator is a mobile phone. There was a story on the news the other day how the police located a woman who had chrashed her plane by her mobile phone.

What baffles me is that the mobile telcos don't offer a number locator service to the gardai, so that you buy a pay-as-you go phone and hide the thing somewhere on your car, with a charger if necessary. 3 days battery life will help if they disconnect everything. It is small, cheap and ubiquitous. I can think of around 16 places on mine where it would only be found if they took the car apart. Hopefully, by that point, they'll be nabbed.

The problem is the lack of accuracy but if it is accurate to a 500m, they at least know where to look. I believe it is accurate to about 10m.

The reason why there isn't cheap GPS tracking devices is because they need a back end service provider to allow anyone to track the car. This is quite expensive to setup, apparently. O2 and Vodafone already have this capability, but I wouldn't offer it to everyone, just the Gardai.

Either way, this isn't high technology - we just don't have a market big enough to justify the investment.

As far as I know it aint too cheap to trace a mobile phone like you mention they did in the UK. Heard about this and it is a few times they have done this in UK. Remember the two kids that where killed a few years ago. Reason they couldnt find quickly was there phones had been turned off. If you want this technology there is a system you can buy where a third party company track the car. The Garda wouldnt have the time to track every car that is stolen in Ireland. You could see your car as being precious if worth a fortune, but also an older person who has a Micra or something that isnt worth much more to anyone else than her. If its stolen and garda spend a fortune trying to trace. Not sure if best explanation!

ds20prefecture

Sorry for the Off Topic, by the way. This isn't helping you find your TT. I'll blitz that last post and create a new thread.

MercMad

Surely an easier way is to have a device that allows the engine to run for 60-120 seconds and then shut down unless a code has been activated ?

ds20prefecture

MercMad wrote:

Surely an easier way is to have a device that allows the engine to run for 60-120 seconds and then shut down unless a code has been activated ?

This just gets them angry 2 minutes from your house. They'll torch the car or pop back down the road to you.

elexes

ive never been robbed whilst i was in the house but i have friends that were and they always tell me that there is never the same feeling in the house after the robbers got in .

i think your lucky you slept through it . btw get a dog and a big heavy gate

Kersh

I would assume that locking the doors in the house is bad news if a fire breaks out. I reckon...

Automan

Was watching a program on ITV I think a while back were they had an ex burglar breaking into houses, amazing how easy it was, anyway after he broke into the house a security team went around the house and put extra bolts, hide all the extra keys and loads of other stuff. What they did with the windows, with the frame outside, was to take the frames off and put them back on with a line of silicon on them. They said that it would make it a lot harder for the thieves to take the frames out.

ballooba

Should have got him to try again afterwards. Put their money where their mouth was.

blahblah06

they did try again ballooba

Ayashii

They found it!

Garda in Clondalkin just called - they found it in underground carpark.
He says no visible outside damage - will know later today when drop car keys down.

Never thought I'd get this back !

ballooba

Glad to hear you got it back, that's great news and i'm sure a great weight off your shoulders. Did they give you any more details?

flanzer

Glad to hear! Similar happened to a mate of mine. They found his A4 in a car park in Blanchardstown 2 weeks after it was stolen.

Eoin

Ayashii wrote:

They found it!

Garda in Clondalkin just called - they found it in underground carpark.
He says no visible outside damage - will know later today when drop car keys down.

Never thought I'd get this back !

That's great news! I would imagine they were leaving it there for a couple of days to see if there was any tracking unit on it.

Ayashii

They need the spare keys later today so that they can fingerprint the car.
Will need locks etc changed (expensive) though as keys still missing.

lomb

excellent news, i personally would have fitted it with a tracker, and left it in the underground car park and they would have caught the bastards when they came back for it, stupid garda...

blahblah06

does anyone have a site to get the tracker fitted.

Standard Toaster

Extremly lucky Ayashii!
Well pleased for you. What's with all these HP cars being stolen and showing up in underground carparks? Surly it's the work of the same gang?

ballooba

Maybe not so stupid Garda realise that not so stupid criminals already know that they have found the car and fitting a tracker now would be a waste of time.

lomb

i doubt criminals have realised, how can we stop these losers if we dont even try to! i say fit a tracker and a hidden cctv and wait for 2-3 weeks, to see what happens. they would have probably led the car to the gangs base, and no doubt there MANY other stolen cars. the gardai are nuts in my opinion. one of these days someone might be killed haven confronted the thiefs. i think the gardai should put every resource into catching them, usually it will lead to a drug ring also, as the proceeds of car thefts are used to finance drugs like coke etc. all alot of the gardai do is drain a hundred grand a year out of the exchequer, when are we going to see some value for that money and convictions? i dont see what the problem is in catching the thiefs. they havent left the car there for the good of their health.

unkel

Glad they found your car

lomb wrote:

i say fit a tracker and a hidden cctv and wait for 2-3 weeks, to see what happens. they would have probably led the car to the gangs base, and no doubt there MANY other stolen cars

Agree. Not only to solve other car thefts and prosecute the criminals, but also to get more knowledge of their modus operandi

prospect

Great news that the car was found.


RE: Gardai.
How do we know that they haven't put a tracker on other cars and followed the gangs? Maybe they are currently doing this and gathering as much info as possible before they crack down. You can't assume they are doing nothing...

Ayashii

In fairness the guards told me that they had spotted the car on Sunday night (apparently) and have been watching it since. Nobody came back to car so they towed it to station this morning.

Dont know how they were actually watching it though - would be funny to think that the guys would come back during one of the times that they guards werent actually there!

Ste.phen

Big Nelly wrote:

As far as I know it aint too cheap to trace a mobile phone like you mention they did in the UK. Heard about this and it is a few times they have done this in UK.

O2 used to offer this as a commercial service here in Ireland.
It was called locator, and was accurate to within about 50m.

If you wanted to see where someone was they were sent a text by O2 asking them to approve you to see their location, and after that you could pay 10c and you'd be shown their approx location on a map (from the website), or sent a text with the approx location to the nearest intersection (if you used your phone).

it was pretty accurate in Dublin anyways; we looked into it a little in college when it was active, and as far as we could see it was hooked pretty well into O2s backend infrastructure. When you requested a person's location, that person's phone re-synched with the base station(s) giving O2 a nice set of points for triangulation

Shrimp

That must be such a relief, I'm glad for you!

ballooba

I pretty much guarantee you that within 20 minutes of the gardai finding that car that a professional criminal would know about it. Whether from a member of the force, from a look out watching the car or from friends who live/work in the complex.

drdre

thats great news you got it back. i think you should get a tracker on the car or something for extra saftey.it might be expensive but its worth it.

5500

Ayashii wrote:

They found it!

Garda in Clondalkin just called - they found it in underground carpark.
He says no visible outside damage - will know later today when drop car keys down.

Never thought I'd get this back !

Did they mention in what carpark it was found?
My friends mams car was taken recently and left in an underground in clondalkin,Garda have recovered a few cars from the same lot already...

Is the reason they leave these cars unattended in places to see if they have a tracker? Presumably they would be back a week later, when they are sure the car hasn't a tracker...