VAUXHALL/ZAFIRA OWNERS BEWARE

[gone]

I happened to catch 2X gentlemen with Galic accents and amnesia of addresses in caravan parks last night after they had relieved a Vauxhall Zafira driver of his spare wheel which was witnessed by the owner and called into control room.

Any Vauxall with an undermounted cradle spare wheel can be easily removed without entering the car itself.

On stopping the suspect estate vehicle, I lifted the tailgate to find 11 spare wheels with brand new tyres fitted to them!

If you own a Vauxhall van or other car with undermounted spare wheel, buy a lock to secure it in place. This is becoming a real problem at the moment especially as the wheel and tyre is in the region of £150 to replace!

You have been warned

You may not even find out until the next time you have a flat tyre and need to change it as they put the cradle back up with a cable tie!

[docevi1]

hasn't this been happening a load recently with Vauxhall selling a lock or something?

[gone]

docevi1 said:

hasn't this been happening a load recently with Vauxhall selling a lock or something?

I believe it has. I was unaware until I started to make a few enquiries on the force Crime evaualtion computer.

It is a big problem around the west side of London.

I thought I would pass this on to the rest of PH so you are not embarrased when you next have a flat in your Vauxhall to find there is nothing to help your predicament

Those that drive Porcshe, TVR, Ferrari can ignore this until they start to fit spare wheels underneath them !

[jazzybee]

Was done to my Zafira earlier this year while the car was in the cinema car park. Spare wheels from 7 other Zafiras in the Car Park were stolen at the same time. Finally got a new spare after the AA refused to come out to me for a flat tire because I had no spare...

I am getting a lock now!

[Raify]

I can't believe that car manufacturers are still making spare wheel mounts with no locks!

Didn't Peugeot re-design the 205 spare because the gti spare was being stolen left right and centre? That was 20 years ago! Haven't they worked it out yet?

edited to fix formatting

>> Edited by Raify on Thursday 30th December 13:33

[miniman]

Raify said:

Didn't Peugeot re-design the 205 spare because the gti spare was being stolen left right and centre? That was 20 years ago! Haven't they worked it out yet?

They did, but I think it was later than the 205. They certainly started fitting locks to the 306 - my cabrio had one, as well as a sticker warning scrotes of that fact...

[oddman]

Happened to 2 Picassos in our car park during schools Christmas Holidays

Not thought about it until then but I guess if you want 'versatility' the spare had to go somewhere.

Same arrangement on my Talbot Horizon but no one nicked that

[Muncher]

I'll put a padlock round the can of tyre foam in my VX220

[copen 660 turbo]

Muncher said:

I'll put a padlock round the can of tyre foam in my VX220

The same with Copen

[zetec]

gone said:

I happened to catch 2X gentlemen with Galic accents and amnesia of addresses in caravan parks

Is that police speak for gippo??

[Tonyrec]

zetec said:

gone said: I happened to catch 2X gentlemen with Galic accents and amnesia of addresses in caravan parks Is that police speak for gippo??

No, our term is GTB's

[groomi]

Raify said:

Didn't Peugeot re-design the 205 spare because the gti spare was being stolen left right and centre? That was 20 years ago! Haven't they worked it out yet?

My old pug had a 'security conversion' ie. a socking great bolt through the floor of the boot and through the wheel. Great for security but kind of defeats the object of putting the wheel under the car 'cos you still had to empty the boot out to get to the bolt

Car designers eh?

[stub]

Thanks. Just warned 9 months pregnant sister in law to get a lock on the spare (if it's still there) just in case of real emergencies.

[Phil S]

Just to clarify some points above, Peugeot 205s needed you to undo a bolt from inside the boot which lowered the spare wheel cradle. In retrospect this could possibly be done wiht a large set of mole grips on the thread of the afore-mentioned bolt.

It is the same setup in a 306 as well as I have owned both! (You use the flat end of the wheel brace to lower the cradle from inside the boot)

[jazzybee]

Phil S said:

Just to clarify some points above, Peugeot 205s needed you to undo a bolt from inside the boot which lowered the spare wheel cradle. In retrospect this could possibly be done wiht a large set of mole grips on the thread of the afore-mentioned bolt. It is the same setup in a 306 as well as I have owned both! (You use the flat end of the wheel brace to lower the cradle from inside the boot)

The Zafira has a similar bolt. Unfortunately, the tw@ts use a crowbar or something similar to force the cradle that holds the spare to drop. As a result, the wheel has gone, and the bolt is bent and needs replacing. Although my car's bolt is bent and does not lower the cradle, it can still be forced to hold it in place.

£200 cost for a £10 hit

[Phil S]

I guess pulling the bolt head clean through the boot floor probably isn't very hard at all

[sparkythecat]

gone said:

I happened to catch 2X gentlemen with Galic accents and amnesia of addresses in caravan parks last night after they had relieved a Vauxhall Zafira driver of his spare wheel which was witnessed by the owner and called into control room..... On stopping the suspect estate vehicle, I lifted the tailgate to find 11 spare wheels with brand new tyres fitted to them!

One hopes that the following conversation then took place -

" Messieurs, Vous etes les volleurs des pneus!"

" Mais non monsieur! Nous sont les Papas Cools!"

" Papas Cools my arse! You're ing locked up, you thieving bastards!"

"Merde!"

>> Edited by sparkythecat on Friday 31st December 01:26

[jvaughan]

Phil S said:

Just to clarify some points above, Peugeot 205s needed you to undo a bolt from inside the boot which lowered the spare wheel cradle. In retrospect this could possibly be done wiht a large set of mole grips on the thread of the afore-mentioned bolt. It is the same setup in a 306 as well as I have owned both! (You use the flat end of the wheel brace to lower the cradle from inside the boot)

Actually, you can use a car jack to releave a 205 of its spare. The cradle mounts via a long threaded bolt with 2 "fingers" that grip the wheel cradle. You simply jack up the cradle, and unhook the fingers.

I used to have a 205, and mondified the mount so it could me more secured

[mcflurry]

The manufacters will do zip, as they sell more parts to replace them...

[john_p]

sparkythecat said:

" Messieurs, Vous etes les volleurs des pneus!"

I assume Gone meant Gaelic rather than Gallic

in which case it would have been

"Yerfokkinnickedyehfokkers"