Near Theft of my S3
Discussion
The-Wanderer said:
Afternoon all, long time lurker but now registered after reading this thread.
Thought I'd share my experience of having been targeted for my C63 three years ago.
The car was always parked backed into the drive, close to the garage, to try and make it blend in as just a black Merc. Access to the rear of the property is very restricted from the front of our house, but easier from over the neighbours back fence.
About 1:00am on the Sunday of the second bank holiday in May we were woken by loud banging noises, so I had a look out the windows front and back but couldn't see anything. We put it down to next door's teenage sons coming home the worse for wear. A couple of hours later, having not really got back to sleep, the same noises started again. This time, I put the upstairs lights on, which almost immediately was followed by next doors security lights being triggered. A look around downstairs still didn't reveal anything untoward.
Roll forward to just before 6:00am, now daylight but raining heavily, the banging starts again. I go downstairs in just my boxers (not a pretty sight), and whilst I'm on the stairs the noise changes to a scratching, scraping sound which I thought was the cat in her litter tray...it wasn't. As I enter the kitchen I see two black clad, masked figures on the other side of the kitchen window, one on a garden chair trying to jemmy the window open; this was the scratching noise I could hear. They carried on for what seemed like an age, until they saw me. They ran off, via next door's garden. At this point, I see that the banging noise was from them trying to force open the French doors into the kitchen, which now had a two inch gap between the door and the frame, and some very bent hinges.
The police did actually come and take a statement, and whilst they were sat in our kitchen three calls came through on the radio from people within a mile of me who'd woken to find they no longer had an Audi RS, an BMW M and a BMW cabrio.
Never heard another thing about it, but the police advice was as follows:
Do not keep the keys out of sight, or with you. Leave them visible downstairs, as they will hurt you to get them.
Do not bother with CCTV, it's useless as they know its there and cover up
Do not bother with bollards or posts, you will be removing them so they can get away and you will get hurt if you don't
Get rid of the car as it will be targeted
I took it to my parents house first thing that morning, and sold it to WBAC the following day, and vowed I'd never have another AMG, M or RS car as it isn't worth the risk to me or my family.
Another sad indictment of the country and the society that we now live in, where it feels as though you can't reward yourself for study and hard work as somebody who can't be bothered will take it off you.
Thanks for reading, and apologies for the long first post.
Those points are the exact opposite of my experience of the police and what they told me. Two anecdotes both cancelling each other out. Thought I'd share my experience of having been targeted for my C63 three years ago.
The car was always parked backed into the drive, close to the garage, to try and make it blend in as just a black Merc. Access to the rear of the property is very restricted from the front of our house, but easier from over the neighbours back fence.
About 1:00am on the Sunday of the second bank holiday in May we were woken by loud banging noises, so I had a look out the windows front and back but couldn't see anything. We put it down to next door's teenage sons coming home the worse for wear. A couple of hours later, having not really got back to sleep, the same noises started again. This time, I put the upstairs lights on, which almost immediately was followed by next doors security lights being triggered. A look around downstairs still didn't reveal anything untoward.
Roll forward to just before 6:00am, now daylight but raining heavily, the banging starts again. I go downstairs in just my boxers (not a pretty sight), and whilst I'm on the stairs the noise changes to a scratching, scraping sound which I thought was the cat in her litter tray...it wasn't. As I enter the kitchen I see two black clad, masked figures on the other side of the kitchen window, one on a garden chair trying to jemmy the window open; this was the scratching noise I could hear. They carried on for what seemed like an age, until they saw me. They ran off, via next door's garden. At this point, I see that the banging noise was from them trying to force open the French doors into the kitchen, which now had a two inch gap between the door and the frame, and some very bent hinges.
The police did actually come and take a statement, and whilst they were sat in our kitchen three calls came through on the radio from people within a mile of me who'd woken to find they no longer had an Audi RS, an BMW M and a BMW cabrio.
Never heard another thing about it, but the police advice was as follows:
Do not keep the keys out of sight, or with you. Leave them visible downstairs, as they will hurt you to get them.
Do not bother with CCTV, it's useless as they know its there and cover up
Do not bother with bollards or posts, you will be removing them so they can get away and you will get hurt if you don't
Get rid of the car as it will be targeted
I took it to my parents house first thing that morning, and sold it to WBAC the following day, and vowed I'd never have another AMG, M or RS car as it isn't worth the risk to me or my family.
Another sad indictment of the country and the society that we now live in, where it feels as though you can't reward yourself for study and hard work as somebody who can't be bothered will take it off you.
Thanks for reading, and apologies for the long first post.
Either way works. janesmith1950 said:
I have room to park my M3 on the driveway, but instead park it on the street behind my house. Harder (not impossible) for thieves to work out where to break in. The driveways at the back our houses contain a 320i SE, boggo basic Polo, Golf GTD, my wife's V90 and a Kia small SUV thing. Hopefully that collection is so mundane it literally repells car thieves using its power of mundanity.
Nice. So they break into the house of someone else who has the misfortune to have you park in front of their house.another one...
Golf R and RS6 targeted.
video and details > https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-4...
Golf R and RS6 targeted.
video and details > https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-4...
Since this thread has popped back up and being the OP, I will update.
I eventually sold my S3, after driving it 40days out of 160 days I owned (The rest of the days it was well hidden, in a garage)
I sold it to a friend, who kept it for almost a year and recently his house also got burgled, but they couldn't find the key for S3, so they took another car which was on the drive.
It was a truly jinxed car!
I eventually sold my S3, after driving it 40days out of 160 days I owned (The rest of the days it was well hidden, in a garage)
I sold it to a friend, who kept it for almost a year and recently his house also got burgled, but they couldn't find the key for S3, so they took another car which was on the drive.
It was a truly jinxed car!
wjb said:
another one...
Golf R and RS6 targeted.
video and details > https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-4...
The article even described him as a [powerfully built] company director. Glad to see it didn't end worse, he gave the four of them a run for their money.Golf R and RS6 targeted.
video and details > https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-4...
vindaloo79 said:
The article even described him as a [powerfully built] company director. Glad to see it didn't end worse, he gave the four of them a run for their money.
Got a feeling he might have been assuming his size and build would intimidate any scum and was surprised because 'if someone my size can get taken down and robbed, it could happen to anyone', IE he was surprised he didn't seem intimidating to them. if that makes sense?2 x RS3s have been aggressively taken (one in daylight) from their owners in my town recently. One of the owners ended up in hospital for a week or so after being attacked in his home by a machete wielding rat gang.
Both cars haven't been found as far I know. If it was me, I wouldn't want it back tbh.
Both cars haven't been found as far I know. If it was me, I wouldn't want it back tbh.
Dromedary66 said:
Nice. So they break into the house of someone else who has the misfortune to have you park in front of their house.
No, because it's not outside any particular house when on the street.Academic now anyway, as they were resurfacing the street last week so I parked outside the back of my house and they broke in and nicked it!
magnum555 said:
People who own these high performance cars need to ensure they have decent security in place, i.e composite door rather than PVC, high fences, security bollards, anti snap door locks, alarm systems etc.
If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
You really don't need any of that. You just need insurance and to leave the keys by the front door. If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
If you can afford to spend min 5k odd on all that then sure why not.
You have insurance to protect the value of the car, you leave the keys by the front door to protect yourself/your family.
Chamon_Lee said:
magnum555 said:
People who own these high performance cars need to ensure they have decent security in place, i.e composite door rather than PVC, high fences, security bollards, anti snap door locks, alarm systems etc.
If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
You really don't need any of that. You just need insurance and to leave the keys by the front door. If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
If you can afford to spend min 5k odd on all that then sure why not.
You have insurance to protect the value of the car, you leave the keys by the front door to protect yourself/your family.
xjay1337 said:
Chamon_Lee said:
magnum555 said:
People who own these high performance cars need to ensure they have decent security in place, i.e composite door rather than PVC, high fences, security bollards, anti snap door locks, alarm systems etc.
If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
You really don't need any of that. You just need insurance and to leave the keys by the front door. If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
If you can afford to spend min 5k odd on all that then sure why not.
You have insurance to protect the value of the car, you leave the keys by the front door to protect yourself/your family.
Now if you have a couple of high end toys 100K+ each then sure its a realtive measure to spend the 5-10k to protect yourself.
Chamon_Lee said:
xjay1337 said:
Chamon_Lee said:
magnum555 said:
People who own these high performance cars need to ensure they have decent security in place, i.e composite door rather than PVC, high fences, security bollards, anti snap door locks, alarm systems etc.
If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
You really don't need any of that. You just need insurance and to leave the keys by the front door. If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
If you can afford to spend min 5k odd on all that then sure why not.
You have insurance to protect the value of the car, you leave the keys by the front door to protect yourself/your family.
Now if you have a couple of high end toys 100K+ each then sure its a realtive measure to spend the 5-10k to protect yourself.
I have a £17k car sat on my driveway but I sure as hell don't have a spare £5-10k to protect myself with :-(
xjay1337 said:
Chamon_Lee said:
magnum555 said:
People who own these high performance cars need to ensure they have decent security in place, i.e composite door rather than PVC, high fences, security bollards, anti snap door locks, alarm systems etc.
If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
You really don't need any of that. You just need insurance and to leave the keys by the front door. If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
If you can afford to spend min 5k odd on all that then sure why not.
You have insurance to protect the value of the car, you leave the keys by the front door to protect yourself/your family.
Chamon_Lee said:
magnum555 said:
People who own these high performance cars need to ensure they have decent security in place, i.e composite door rather than PVC, high fences, security bollards, anti snap door locks, alarm systems etc.
If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
You really don't need any of that. You just need insurance and to leave the keys by the front door. If you don't want to be targeted this is compulsory.
If you can afford to spend min 5k odd on all that then sure why not.
You have insurance to protect the value of the car, you leave the keys by the front door to protect yourself/your family.
xjay1337 said:
Then when your £80k car gets stolen , your insurance premiums go up significantly over the next few years....
Not just theirs in reality. Unless that one individuals policy goes up by £80k, everyone else will have to pay for their personal decision, without being consulted..
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