Advertisement
Please note that it is not permitted to have referral links posted in your signature. Keep these links contained in the appropriate forum. Thank you.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055940817/signature-rules
Help Keep Boards Alive. Support us by going ad free today. See here: https://subscriptions.boards.ie/.
https://www.boards.ie/group/1878-subscribers-forum

Private Group for paid up members of Boards.ie. Join the club.
Hi all, please see this major site announcement: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427594/boards-ie-2026

Car Stolen-Thinking about installing bollard

  • 10-07-2023 10:00PM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 42


    My car was stolen recently from my drive way, and I am now thinking about installing bollard to act as a deterrent. So just wondering what peoples opinion on installing one are, as I rarely see any in any drive ways in Ireland, considering the amount of cars that are stolen in Ireland.

    Be interested to hear any pros or cons if anybody has installed one previously. I am getting cctv installed this week, however from experience I am not sure how much of an effect cctv has in these situations.



«13

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,120 ✭✭✭✭freshpopcorn


    What type of car was it?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 51,877 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    How was the car stolen?

    Most cars have an immobiliser fitted so thieves focus on getting the keys to start it. Many people leave their car keys on view on the hall table lamp or on top of the kitchen counter. Thieves break into the house, take the keys and off they go. Some Japanese imports don't have an immobiliser so these can be hotwired so no need for a key. Other more sophisticated methods involving tech to clone or imitate a key with keyless start being vulnerable to these methods.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 86,596 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    GDY151


    If it's a modern car I would forget about the bollard and look instead at a ghost immobilizer, these work in conjunction with the key by having a sequence of button/switch presses in the car in order to start it. Even if the thief breaks in to your house and robs the keys the vehicle will not start without the pattern of buttons being pressed.




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,120 ✭✭✭✭freshpopcorn


    The TikTok videos of them stelling the Jap imports are very brazen!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 42 Rasher_Sausage




  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 42 Rasher_Sausage


    I don't know how they stole it as they didnt have keys and it was obviously locked. Probably as you say more sophiscated method by cloning the key fob. No idea how they could do that as key in house in the bedroom.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,567 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    They can use a radio signal booster to relay the signal from the key fob to the car. The car then thinks the key is nearby and lets them unlock the door

    Someone got into my 2016 Leaf this way, although they didn't steal the car or take anything (most valuable thing in the car was probably a usb cable)

    You can stop them, or at least make it difficult by keeping your keys in an RFID blocking box or pouch at night. Move them to the other side of the house as well to put as much distance between the car and keys as possible

    In terms of the bollard, it's worth considering. Just keep in mind the thieves might not be overly concerned about the car getting damaged on the way out. So if they can get around the bollard in any way, for example by going through some hedges, then it's not much use

    If you have the Tucson PHEV, another idea could be to leave it plugged in overnight. There's usually a setting to lock the charging cable in place until you unlock the car, so they'd need to mess around unplugging the cable before the car will move

    In general terms, you have to manage your expectations somewhat. If someone really wants to steal your car then they'll find a way. The idea is to try and make it unattractive to steal so they don't bother and move on to someone else's house

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 19,334 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    A good strong locked gate will make them move on somewhere else.

    A gate is as easily locked as a drop bollard.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,567 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    It's not always feasible, for example my driveway doesn't have walls on the sides, just hedges. So I'd need to build a boundary wall which involves getting planning permission as well as getting the neighbours to agree.

    Also there's no space to swing the gate inward and IIRC outward swinging gates aren't allowed

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,636 ✭✭✭the.red.baron


    you dont need planning for a low wall or get agreement from neighbours

    without a wall the bollards might be pointless too



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 19,334 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    Correct, not suitable in all cases.

    An electric sliding gate can be used in locations where there is no room for conventional gates to swing.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,957 ✭✭✭kirk.




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 19,334 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    Not if you install properly.

    The main advantage of a physical barrier is that the thieves go and steal someone else's car.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,636 ✭✭✭the.red.baron


    its a good way of having a short career in car theft



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,957 ✭✭✭kirk.




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,636 ✭✭✭the.red.baron




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,579 ✭✭✭GavPJ




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,862 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    Very surprised to see that a relay attack worked against a 2022 car, the keys for my own car (VW Group) deactivates when it's not in motion and has to be within a short distance before it will work... I also keep it in a foil pouch to be extra sure...



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,154 ✭✭✭Vic_08


    Unless it's a very valuable and rare car then any significant obstacle is enough to send them off to find an easier target in an unobstructed driveway or street parked.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,011 ✭✭✭colm_c


    Why would car thieves steal a family suv?

    Resell with new plates?

    Break for parts?

    Getaway car?

    Joyriding?



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,636 ✭✭✭the.red.baron


    Typically they will run until you stop the car, rather than cutting out



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,636 ✭✭✭the.red.baron


    all those things

    parts probably the easiest thing

    getaway car yes, you want to blend in



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,385 ✭✭✭kdevitt


    My mates Range Rover was robbed when the key got cloned during a valet - getting around the cars security seems to be getting easier these days rather than harder. Either way, I think a bollard or two is a great visual deterrent. I've cut the locks off myself in the past when a key went missing, but it makes a lot of noise and these lads generally want to get the car and slip away quietly.

    For some of the fancier stuff, they just ring the doorball and demand the keys!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,862 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    I meant the signal from the key deactivates once not in motion so it's not constantly pinging between the key and the car so there's no signal for the relay attack to pick up...

    Also good advice for people is to keep the keys away from the front door and use a metal pouch/box to keep the key fob in..



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 181 ✭✭amovingstatue


    A used biscuit or chocs tin is ideal. Even better is one with a hinged lid makes getting and putting away the keys a one handed action.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,636 ✭✭✭the.red.baron


    i think it more works that the car wakes up the key, the equivalent of the toll tag

    the car is constantly looking for a key though

    otherwise the keyfob would run flat in no time



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,385 ✭✭✭kdevitt



    My mate was a claims manager for a few insurance companies - by pure luck a Garda down by the CCC saw his car being driven away on the back of a flatbed, quite obviously gave chase and caught the car. The lad led them to a bodyshop in the midlands - someone would arrive with a Passat needing a front bumper and bonnet for example. They'd have spotters who knew where an identical car was - they'd have it lifted and just swap the parts over. Guy was getting €250 or something per car he lifted. The mate had an open file for a 1 series which was robbed in similar way, and there it was being stripped.

    The Range Rover stolen above I mentioned was tracked to a similar setup - just being stripped down to sell on as spares though.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,601 ✭✭✭JoeA3


    With those bollards, I think there's a very real risk you (or someone else) will forget its there someday and will reverse into it! Same goes for any "post" type fitting in a driveway. I have bollard-style kerb lights on my driveway and they were whacked into and damaged badly a few times by idiot courier drivers until I finally had a gate fitted.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,957 ✭✭✭kirk.


    Would be less work to transfer plates onto stolen passat😁



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,862 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    New keyfobs use UWB, if a signal isn't received in good time it won't activate the car so makes relay attacks useless due to the delay in sending the signal to the vehicle.. Though as I mentioned before always use a faraday pouch too.. https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-security/rfid-blockers/


    UWB outwits the car thieves who try to extend the signal of the key. A UWB box (Ultra Wide Band) works on the principal of signal time-of-flight verification. The UWB box sends a signal to the key and waits for a response which must come within a certain time frame. If the signal is artificially extended, it will never make it in time.



Advertisement
Advertisement