Vandalism risk

[thelawnet]

Just noticed on a nearby street whose 2012 XF is always gleaming white parked on the front driveway (no gate, adjoining the pavement) had put sheets of A4 paper in the side and rear windows of the car saying 'Look up, there's CCTV'. Sure enough, the owner had fitted two Maplin special CCTV cameras (pretty cheap and good quality these days, truth be told) trained on the car.

I assume there is a history here (I can't imagine he's worried about it being nicked, there's a brand new M4 directly opposite), though I've never noticed the car (and I walk past it several times a week) less than immaculate.

Are shiny polished 'posh' cars an especial magnet for vandalism? Is it a lost cause to keep them tip-top? This is FWIW a street in Surrey of middle-class housing (no council estate nearby) worth over £500k in each case, and in my experience insurance premiums in the area are well below average, so the crime risk is not high.

[iva cosworth]

Putting the notes in the window is almost an "invite" to the hoody element to do something.

Bad move IMO.

[Risotto]

iva cosworth said:

Putting the notes in the window is almost an "invite" to the hoody element to do something.

While at the same time informing them they're unlikely to be identified unless they look up. Sounds bizarre. Probably some sort of paranoid Middle Englander.

[sebhaque]

Sometimes the insurance postcode lottery is a massive red herring to potential crimes. It just takes a posh teenage girl to advertise her birthday party on facebook before the breeding deficits descend on the area - and bear in mind it's not just the house targeted, it's everything on the way and around.

A friend of mine suffered something similar many years ago, she'd invited a few friends and I to her 17th birthday party but before we got there, the invite had got loose on MyFace and several dozen chavs had gatecrashed, knocked down the porch and front conservatory thing, microwaved her rabbit ( ) and thrown the rubble and various garden paraphenalia in the swimming pool. Naturally the scum had scarpered sharpish after all this and I don't think any of them were caught - in fact, a friend of mine was arrested for matching a description (in fairness, 6'1, wearing a black t shirt and blue jeans isn't really that accurate!) and we had our beer taken away because we were 17

I don't want to appear all tinfoil hattery, nor do I want to sound like I grew up dodging bullets and stab wounds on Cambridge Estate, but I'd imagine there's a surprisingly few degrees of seperation between most PHers and someone who's fallen afoul of untoward vandalism.

[thelawnet]

Risotto said:

While at the same time informing them they're unlikely to be identified unless they look up. Sounds bizarre. Probably some sort of paranoid Middle Englander.

I'm not sure about that, it would depend on the angle of the camera - with two cameras and a wide angle from height you should catch most people.

But there's definitely a case that if it's a passing scrote, then even if they did catch him on camera then what are they going to do? I think there's something in the Middle Englander angle - even if they can persuade the police to watch the video, what do they think they are going to do then? Put out a manhunt?

If you are a proper hardened scrote I reckon you've worked out that there's not much anyone can do to you.

And of course if you take it as a challenge - wear a hoody, crouch down, etc., then what then?

[getawayturtle]

iva cosworth said:

Putting the notes in the window is almost an "invite" to the hoody element to do something.

Bad move IMO.

I agree.

Although oddly enough, my car has been parked right in the middle of a rough "hoody element" estate a couple of nights a week for about a year now. Absolutely nothing has happened to it. Maybe they think it's a drug dealers car, or something.

I'm sure some people will disagree with this, but I think petty car vandalism is more likely in nicer streets where curtain twitchers happen to reside and people aren't willing to confront you face to face, but let their displeasure with you mount up anyway. The issue usually caused by parking on a bit of a road which someone has "claimed" as their space, etc.

[Wacky Racer]

Asking for trouble (imo)

Just like if you see a sign saying "Wet Paint" on a bench is an invitation to touch it, to see if it's dry..

[brunbread]

Not really a good idea imo

I have a ridiculously loud alarm fitted to my car. I remember some woman brushed against it and nearly jumped out of here skin.

It's a great combination of humour and security

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

I had my 911 for about 5 years. It was my second car, and as such, kept immaculate.

I often fretted about leaving it anywhere and was very careful where I parked.

I never suffered any damage as such - however I started knocking off a bird for a bit and left it parked round the back of her flat, tucked right in the corner of a dark car park. Hence, it could not be seen from the road at all, and you would only find it if you walked down a long, private gravel drive, and turned left into the car park. Even then, at night, you would have needed a torch to locate it.

Hence, when I came out one morning to find Chinese take-away thrown all over it, I am fairly sure it was her ex, rather than an opportunist nob. Not a huge problem, however rather annoyingly a lot of it was thrown over the rear engine lid grille, hence the engine underneath was also covered in sweet and sour noodles. I actually started to get hungry from the smell on the way home that morning as last night's Chinese was slowly re-heated

Another time on a Mobile Home Holiday Park, I came out to find Coca Cola all over it. Probably kids I guess.

Then on my own driveway, found kebab all over it one morning too.



I wouldn't mind, but what a waste of food and drink!

[SlimJim16v]

The thing is, most thieves, not drunk vandals, will usually take the easier/safer option. Fit an alarm, CCTV, get a big dog, noisy/gravel drive, they will go somewhere easier, of which there are many.

Not sure about the A4 notices though, CCTV being so common now, I'm sure a thief would look out for it anyway, the infra red giving off a faint red glow at night.

[SEE YA]

Would you not have a garage for a car like that maybe before buying it?
I would not have bought my car, without a garage to put it in.

There are so many not nice people, who love to attack nice cars for some reason.

[Nickbrapp]

It's not always just chavs that can get jealous enough to vandalise a car or someone's property you know

[SEE YA]

Got that right wife and nine iron.

[thelawnet]

SEE YA said:

Would you not have a garage for a car like that maybe before buying it?
I would not have bought my car, without a garage to put it in.

This is a problem with London and its commuterland. You get people living in what are allegedly multimillion pound properties, but a garage is often still an impossible dream, even having spent the GDP of a small African country on your house.

[SEE YA]

Yes funny how a garage can cost more then a house in London.