Anybody won with car thieves?

ArnieSilvia

Just been looking at threads about stolen cars. Any advice from past experience how to protect your pride and joy against thieves?

I thought it's all over now with new gen of immobilisers, canbus electronics etc. Looks like if s***bag wants to steal a car they still will.

However, I managed to win with thieves TWICE had a good laugh at losers despite the damage

Car was a mazda RX7 FD3s. No insurance due to no NCT. No NCT due to Wankel engine throwing an apex seal .

1st attempt - previous owners - broke door (bent frame), broken door lock & ignition lock along with plastics. Battery flat, they didn't start the car.

Car fixed, I bought it. Never locked it because I felt it will be tried to get into. Battery negative off because amp/sub was draining battery.

All was good till I advertised the car on donedeal. Same night it was on target.
2nd attempt - Broken ignition lock/plastics/ignition connector. The moment they put negative on battery, the alarm went off :pac: and they run away.

I moved HT leads around and took ECU fuse home. Disconnected battery.

Next night 3rd attempt - negative on battery worked again, alarm went off :pac: and they run away. However the ECU fuse was replaced with another one.

After that I was pi$$ed off with these amateurs, took home the battery, 2x ecu's, ALL fuses, disconnected & messed up HT leads, plus made a mess off electrics. I reckon it would take at least 2 hours for an experienced thief with all parts and expert knowledge on this car to steal it. Or a recovery truck.

Car finally sold and is getting an s2000 engine now

I learned the lesson, good immobiliser is a must but best protection is your own one (doesn't have to be an ecu taken home)

SleeperService

Meh, sh1tbags will ruin your car for fun no matter what, unless you catch then and dispatch them Dexter style.

Had a few cars parked up outside at one stage, absolute scumbag came knocking bout one of em one day - twas time to get rid of that, it was only drawing scum around. Soon as that car was gone some scummer ripped the aerial off my main car and used it to gouge some scratches along my main car and threw the aerial on my bonnet. (I suspect it was the same scummers who came to "view"/target a neighbours car from donedeal - they had tried to break into and take that too)

Moved to a new area in the same county, some under 18s (ie can't be touched by guards) were having a field day in the locality robbing from any car they fancied - break into if they could, or just smash and grab if it had deadlocks or was difficult to jimmy into. Took a few euros for the toll, a Lidl torch. Left all my CDs although they took em all outta the glovebox, guess my musical tastes don't fit in round here...

Best advice - gates, dogs, cameras, and live in an area where it isn't normal to roam the streets with your tracksuit pants tucked into your socks and your hand down your boxers.

Gary ITR

I have a poxy civic as a 'spare' car, it had a fuel pump issue, no power going to the pump so as it's just a spare runner I ran power from the ignition straight to the pump. Anyway, scummer breaks in, pulls ignition out but car goes nowhere cos he's also inadvertently killed the fuel pump!

SleeperService

Lets face it, the only win that counts is very un PC. Anything else involves them coming back for another crack off it, possibly after a very short visit to their friends and cousins, with some games console rehabilitation...

BMJD

Car got broken into one Friday night years ago, window smashed, stereo gone

I couldn't get replacement glass until the following week so I covered it up with clear plastic in the meantime. I also placed a bit of wood with 6 inch nails facing up on the drivers seat with a black tea towel over it. Was pleasantly awoken by screaming at half three on the Monday morning, I was expecting to find someone with a sore arse but the muppet went in head first and his hands and arms were in bits. I ran down and voiced my displeasure at his attempted thievery and advised him not to return.

GL scrappy

BMJD wrote: »

I also placed a bit of wood with 6 inch nails facing up on the drivers seat

A bit extreme, no?

I would have gone for a 2 inch ringshank nail, not as easy to see and harder to remove.

stimpson

LOL @ BMJD. That's just evil.

I was having work done on the house a couple of years ago. There was a skip full of rubble outside. I pulled up in the CRX and was inside no more than 10 minutes. I came out to an alarm going off, smashed window and I was down an iPod. What pissed me off was that the central locking was buggered at the time. They could have just opened the door. The iPod was considerably cheaper to replace than the glass. OK that's not so much a win....

I did have Mugen rims with lug nut covers that I sourced from the States. Cost me twice the price of the alloys. Every few months some little **** made an attempt to unscrew them. Mugen in their wisdom designed it so you had to screw them in which pushed off the stud and popped them off the wheel. I think there must have been a dozen attempts to rob them and I just had to screw the bolt back in.

randy hickey

To deter Scobies from interfering with your vehicle, cover it with Celtic stickers, leave UB40 and Aslan CDs in plain sight, and a well-torn packet of Rizzlas on the dash.
This works on the basis that they wouldn't want to rob from one of their own.

Of course, this method is even more successful if you already own a Punto.

Red Kev

Lived in a rough part of Dublin for a couple of months, had 3 cars parked up outside for export... Merc W140, Alfa 156 2.5 and an E34 530i (V8).

Unscrewed the negative off the battery to where it meets the chassis in all cars and left the doors unlocked. Several attempts made to steal them, obviously none succeeded.

When I lived in Marseille, if you parked the car in the city, you took your radio out, left the glovebox open and the doors unlocked. Most thieves just wanted stuff out of the car, doing the above saved having the windows smashed. I usually left the windows open a bit to keep the car cool.

If you're worried about having a car nicked then a big chain from the wheel onto a ring in the floor works wonders, or a post in the middle of the driveway if you have one. Both tend to be a great deterrent which is half the job in stopping them nicking your car.

johnayo

BMJD wrote: »

Car got broken into one Friday night years ago, window smashed, stereo gone

I couldn't get replacement glass until the following week so I covered it up with clear plastic in the meantime. I also placed a bit of wood with 6 inch nails facing up on the drivers seat with a black tea towel over it. Was pleasantly awoken by screaming at half three on the Monday morning, I was expecting to find someone with a sore arse but the muppet went in head first and his hands and arms were in bits. I ran down and voiced my displeasure at his attempted thievery and advised him not to return.

I like the wood with the nails bit. But if I did that, I'd probably forget about it myself and sit on the bloody thing.:mad:

Boaty

SleeperService wrote: »

some under 18s (ie can't be touched by guards) were having a field day in the locality robbing from any car they fancied

You would be wrong in sayying that as anyone over the age of 12 can be arrested and brought to a Garda Station.

mfceiling

Pricks tried to break into my van in a car park in UCD in january. Burst the lock on the back door which in turn popped open the door locks. Tried to get the back door open but it would only open at the top and not the bottom so they left it.......without looking in the front at the 2 nailguns i had there!!

The back of the van had a load of cardboard from all of santa's presents and no tools. I take all tools out at night or keep them locked in a strong box at work.

F*cking hate those scummy bollixs who rob other peoples stuff.

YbFocus

Friends car had a close one lately only the kill switch stopped them, don't know how pro they were though!

SleeperService

Boaty wrote: »

You would be wrong in sayying that as anyone over the age of 12 can be arrested and brought to a Garda Station.

Ugh, yes I was lazy there, didnt mean to be negative towards gardai. "cant be effectively dealt with by the justice system or state benefits system" is probably more accurate...

donvito99

The parents had a lovely blue VW Vento in the 90s. It was stolen one night, and was being driven erratically when the Guards spotted it. A chase ensued, and unfortunately the car was written off in Rathmines (at the junction with Rathgar Rd, near Slattery's). A phonecall came early the next morning, not from the Guards but from a friend who'd copped it on the bus into town, the gouger had nearly split it on a lamppost.

He was injured, and as a prolific car thief he did some time, so it was a minor, bitter sweet victory of sorts.

darragh o meara

I had some gob****e try rob a car on me a few years back, only prob was there was no engine in it at the time .

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

darragh o meara

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

It would alright, they went to a lot of trouble to minimise the damage by removing steering rack cowling by removing the screws. Only major damage was the drivers door lock barrel which they pulled out. Funny thing was I'd left the keys of another working car parkee beside it in the armrest of the one rgey tried to steal

johndaman66

A friend was telling me he has a cousin over in Canada. One night his cousin was just getting ready for bed and he heard some bit of noise out in the street. He looked out the window and saw some scobe trying to break into his car.

His automatic instinct was to tear out into the street despite the fact he as naked. So he puts his runners on quickly and runs out into the street to challenge your man. Your man bolts down the street and he gives chase. Catches up with him towards the centre of town and beats the crap of him, all the while butt naked:P Must have looked quere wierd to passer by's I'd imagine

Sobanek

Back in Poland my grandfather had an E32 750iL. As we were living in the back then "gangster infested" region, it was hard not to be friends with one or two baddies.

Grandpa's E32 was stolen, so he called a friend of his (you guessed it - a baddy) and told him about the situation.

Next day a young lad arrives at the door with the keys to his Beemer, a bottle of 18 year old scotch, a box of chocolate for my grandma and my grandpa's 7er fully waxed

This was back in 1997, and was told about this by my dad about a year ago

Unfortunately, grandpa's been gone for 6 years now I was too young to get his E39 540i

walus

Another solution to this problem could be a chopping board and a number of fishing hooks. Mount the hooks onto a board, bending the pointy part of each hook (bite) outwards. Leave the board on the driver's seat covered just by a towel. Your car might still be gotten into, but I do not think anyone in the driving seat will be able to do too much of driving once the human tissue is past the barb part of the hooks. There is small problem for the owner though - getting behind the wheel he might forget removing the board beforehand.
On the plus side - you can tell who stole (or tried to) your car with very high accuracy. It will be the guy with an array of holes in his backside. The guards should be able to find him in one of the hospitals no problem.
This is my solution of dealing with car thieves and on one occasion proved to be fairly successful.

power pants

rightly or wrongly, I think booby trapping ones property is illegal

Why not just go the whole hog and leave a landmine on the drivers seat?

listermint

power pants wrote: »

rightly or wrongly, I think booby trapping ones property is illegal

Why not just go the whole hog and leave a landmine on the drivers seat?

Because landmines are illegal. Leaving ones fishing gear in their car isnt illegal.

walus

listermint wrote: »

Because landmines are illegal. Leaving ones fishing gear in their car isnt illegal.

Precisely. Costs next to nothing and can be done in an hour.

aujopimur

<Bit much there chief..>

Páid

Jason Statham has the right idea.

keithsfleet

Had a lovey 2.5 litre twin turbo go missing on me one night a few years back.
Was gutted as I'd only had it 6 weeks.
Car was written off after they cracked the sump on a curb.
Car sat outside my house for 9 months while I was rebuilding the engine in the garage. It was broken into almost every weekend for about a month straight till I put a note in every window saying "no engine, don't waste your time trying to rob it"
Worked pretty well as it was only attempted to be taken once after that.

Got the car back on the road a whole 8 weeks when it was robbed again.
Managed to find out who took it a week later and paid him a visit one morning but the car was long gone, I was suitably compensated though :-)

cena

Red Kev wrote: »

Lived in a rough part of Dublin for a couple of months, had 3 cars parked up outside for export... Merc W140, Alfa 156 2.5 and an E34 530i (V8).

Unscrewed the negative off the battery to where it meets the chassis in all cars and left the doors unlocked. Several attempts made to steal them, obviously none succeeded.

When I lived in Marseille, if you parked the car in the city, you took your radio out, left the glovebox open and the doors unlocked. Most thieves just wanted stuff out of the car, doing the above saved having the windows smashed. I usually left the windows open a bit to keep the car cool.

If you're worried about having a car nicked then a big chain from the wheel onto a ring in the floor works wonders, or a post in the middle of the driveway if you have one. Both tend to be a great deterrent which is half the job in stopping them nicking your car.

You could also put one in front of the car as the back. Won't go anywhere than

thenightrider

Not a win but here it is anyway car was stolen and was recovered by Gannens yard. Went to pick up the car was told by Gannens i could not drive it out of the yard as it had been stolen and had to pay for a recovery truck to deliver it home so i called a different company to come pick it up they were not happy with that.

So a few weeks later the car was now of the road so i had no battery in the car no spark plugs and loads of cables disconnected. As it was going to be a while before it was going back on the road. I had it parked in an under ground car park were i was living at the time. One day the security of the complex knocked on the door asking if i owned the car in the under ground i said i did he told me it was now above ground with two vans blocking it in so no one could see the car.

We went around to were the car was seen and it was now gone a while latter i got a call from Gannens saying they had found my car in a field after someone must have stolen it and they now had it.

When i went to the Gardaí i was told ah sure its just an old car and did not want to do anything saying there was noting he could do would take a report the normal BS.

When i went to Gannens to pick up the car this time i could not even see the car i was told i could not have the car as the Gardaí were not finished with it they had to check it for fingerprints. To this day i still have not seen the car again.

sogood

Reading some of these posts may well reflect the reality, but it is somewhat depressing nonetheless. Six inch nails, fishing hooks, removing half the engine every night etc. etc. and this won't prevent wanton vandalism.

Then you have a lack of interest or total inactivity from the Guards,for whatever reason. Lack of resources, manpower, it's only a petty crime etc. An example that I posted about recently, concerned a car that I had stolen, many years ago when I lived in Dublin. The car was returned, abandoned on some nearby waste ground and inside I found a receipt for petrol bought the previous night, by the joyriders/scumbags. I brought this to the attention of the Guards, to check out any available CCTV and they did absolutely nothing. It just wasn't worth the man hours etc. This is what I pay taxes, rates, this and that levy etc. etc. for.

The garage in question wouldn't release any CCTV footage to me, only to the Guards!

I've been driving a long time and have had 3 cars stolen, one badly vandalised and one set on fire, all in Dublin. After my car was vandalised, the attending Guard said "Well, what do you expect, driving a fancy car like this, it only attracts the wrong sort of attention"

So, I might have been better off driving an old rust bucket, and put my money up my nose, like some of my neighbours did. And as for tax and insurance, what's that! I lost my NCB several times through theft, back in the day when it was YOUR fault that some scumbag decided he wanted to take your property.

Anyway, that's all behind me now, as I live in a quiet town in Kerry. Bliss! And another bonus was the fact that my insurance premium almost halved with the change of address.

I know it's not possible for everyone to uproot to the sticks, nor should you have to. In my case, it was always on the cards anyway. I place quality of life way above all of the "conveniences" on offer in a big city, but when you don't feel any ownership over your own private property, your neighbourhood or your city, then you've lost it.

When you learn that the lunatics are running the asylum, then it's time to go elsewhere.

Apologies if I've rambled on a little and Happy Christmas to all the good, fine decent people who still live in Dublin.

djimi

sogood wrote: »

The car was returned, abandoned on some nearby waste ground and inside I found a receipt for petrol bought the previous night, by the joyriders/scumbags. I brought this to the attention of the Guards, to check out any available CCTV and they did absolutely nothing. It just wasn't worth the man hours etc. This is what I pay taxes, rates, this and that levy etc. etc. for.

The garage in question wouldn't release any CCTV footage to me, only to the Guards!

I had a similar experience when I came back to a car park to find my car damaged. CCTV pointing right at the car, owners wouldnt show me tape, Gardai couldnt be bothered getting up off their arse to go and view the tape for me. I know it might have only been a minor issue to them, but it cost me a lot of money to put right, and to be honest I lost a lot of respect for my local Gardai that time.