New car purchase - theft worries
Discussion
Looking for some advice from fellow Pistonheads folk…
Thinking of buying a new S3 saloon, I’ve had an itch to own one for many years & now in a fortunate position that I can finally afford to take the plunge.
However, I keep talking myself out of it as I’m really concerned about making my house a target for a break in by scrotes after the keys. House has got a decent alarm on it, which is set at night, plus we’ve got anti snap locks on all doors. I’ve also used a Disklok on my current car for the past 10 years.
I’m not in a position to garage it currently so car would be parked on drive. We don’t live in a particularly bad area, but I’m a bit of a worrier & therefore am wondering whether it’s the right type of car for me.
Trouble is, the seed has been sown & even though I try & get the idea out of my head, I still keep looking / tormenting myself!
Am I being stupid???
Thinking of buying a new S3 saloon, I’ve had an itch to own one for many years & now in a fortunate position that I can finally afford to take the plunge.
However, I keep talking myself out of it as I’m really concerned about making my house a target for a break in by scrotes after the keys. House has got a decent alarm on it, which is set at night, plus we’ve got anti snap locks on all doors. I’ve also used a Disklok on my current car for the past 10 years.
I’m not in a position to garage it currently so car would be parked on drive. We don’t live in a particularly bad area, but I’m a bit of a worrier & therefore am wondering whether it’s the right type of car for me.
Trouble is, the seed has been sown & even though I try & get the idea out of my head, I still keep looking / tormenting myself!
Am I being stupid???
If it makes you feel any better, I had a similar worry before buying a hot hatch with keyless entry. After a couple of weeks, the worry went away and I just got used to owning the car. I no longer own it but nothing bad ever happened to it. In fact my neighbours car was vandalised outside and mine was left untouched. Life’s short, don’t let others stop you having fun.
Boxstercol said:
I’m not in a position to garage it currently so car would be parked on drive.
If by that you mean you have a garage full of unused junk, then get rid of the junk and park an Audi there instead.If you just don't have a garage, you could consider parking the car on the street if that's possible, at least that way they won't be coming into your house for the keys.
If you run some insurance quotes, that will give a rational statistical indication of how likely that specific car is to be nicked from your specific driveway.
Eg £100k Range Rover, £20k insurance quote, estimated probability of the car being nicked each year is 20%
£50k Audi, £500 premium uplift vs a 'normal' car, 1% chance.
Obviously insurance costs also reflect other risks, but a big premium usually reflects theft risk, if insurance seems affordable it's probably quite unlikely to go missing.
It tends to be four-door 4WD cars that get nicked more, if I were you I'd seriously consider RWD and/or a two-door as you might find something more enjoyable to drive as well as lower theft risk. But I know some people just love Audis, and the risk may not be too bad.
Thieves steal all sorts of cars and the rate of car thefts often “feels” much higher than it actually is.
Take your precautions, get the car, insure it and take a chill pill. It’s a material possession, no need to get possessed by your possessions in life.
Living your life in fear and worry is no way to live.
Take your precautions, get the car, insure it and take a chill pill. It’s a material possession, no need to get possessed by your possessions in life.
Living your life in fear and worry is no way to live.
Boxstercol said:
Looking for some advice from fellow Pistonheads folk…
Thinking of buying a new S3 saloon, I’ve had an itch to own one for many years & now in a fortunate position that I can finally afford to take the plunge.
However, I keep talking myself out of it as I’m really concerned about making my house a target for a break in by scrotes after the keys. House has got a decent alarm on it, which is set at night, plus we’ve got anti snap locks on all doors. I’ve also used a Disklok on my current car for the past 10 years.
I’m not in a position to garage it currently so car would be parked on drive. We don’t live in a particularly bad area, but I’m a bit of a worrier & therefore am wondering whether it’s the right type of car for me.
Trouble is, the seed has been sown & even though I try & get the idea out of my head, I still keep looking / tormenting myself!
Am I being stupid???
All depends on your attitude to risk. You sound like me, in that you’d worry lots. I’m not fussed about a car going missing, more that someone might break in to get it. For me, cars aren’t worth risking that kind of attention, as much as I like them.Thinking of buying a new S3 saloon, I’ve had an itch to own one for many years & now in a fortunate position that I can finally afford to take the plunge.
However, I keep talking myself out of it as I’m really concerned about making my house a target for a break in by scrotes after the keys. House has got a decent alarm on it, which is set at night, plus we’ve got anti snap locks on all doors. I’ve also used a Disklok on my current car for the past 10 years.
I’m not in a position to garage it currently so car would be parked on drive. We don’t live in a particularly bad area, but I’m a bit of a worrier & therefore am wondering whether it’s the right type of car for me.
Trouble is, the seed has been sown & even though I try & get the idea out of my head, I still keep looking / tormenting myself!
Am I being stupid???
If I can’t garage it, I don’t buy it unless I feel the car probably won’t attract that attention. Peace of mind.
Other people are more ok with the risk though, so it’s up to you. There is an older S3 on my estate which hasn’t ever been touched (that I know of). But a gang did try to nick an RS4 off a driveway recently, and a Skoda vRS was taken by a sneak thief who went in through the back door! So whilst it’s not hugely common, but it does happen.
Don't do it.
I owned a MK7.5 Golf R from new and I'd intended to keep it indefinitely. Unfortunately for us it was targeted for theft twice, once via relay and once via break in. The relay attempt failed only because I stored the (failed) faraday pouch far enough away from the car.
After the relay attempt I blocked it in on the drive with another car and exactly one year to the day, the second theft attempt happened where they broke into my house but the alarm put them off. Both attempts happened in the early hours.
Presumably given the correlation of the dates, it was the same organisation that must have had eyes on my house for the year in between. Seriously consider what that statement means.
The next logical attempt to take it, in my opinion, was car jacking.
I've got a wife and three year old. The police were useless throughout so make no mistake, you're alone in defending yourself and your family if the worst happens to you and you'll need to be prepared to swing a bat at an actual person if you want to sleep at night.
None of the above was worth owning the car for.
I owned a MK7.5 Golf R from new and I'd intended to keep it indefinitely. Unfortunately for us it was targeted for theft twice, once via relay and once via break in. The relay attempt failed only because I stored the (failed) faraday pouch far enough away from the car.
After the relay attempt I blocked it in on the drive with another car and exactly one year to the day, the second theft attempt happened where they broke into my house but the alarm put them off. Both attempts happened in the early hours.
Presumably given the correlation of the dates, it was the same organisation that must have had eyes on my house for the year in between. Seriously consider what that statement means.
The next logical attempt to take it, in my opinion, was car jacking.
I've got a wife and three year old. The police were useless throughout so make no mistake, you're alone in defending yourself and your family if the worst happens to you and you'll need to be prepared to swing a bat at an actual person if you want to sleep at night.
None of the above was worth owning the car for.
Jimjimhim said:
If you're worried now then imagine what you will be like when it's on your drive at night!
This. A nice car is meant to bring you pleasure, not stress and worry. Just forget it. Save the money, have a car you don't care about, and enjoy your life. I know this is PH but it's only a car. You don't need the extra anxiety in your life. Don't bother with a faraday pouch, personally I'd rather wake up in the morning, look out the window and see an empty space on the driveway, than be woken up at 3am by a couple of tooled up scumbags demanding I give them the keys.
I'd also leave the keys somewhere obvious near the front door, that way if they want the keys rather that using a relay then at least they have less reason to come too far into your home.
Just my opinion...
I'd also leave the keys somewhere obvious near the front door, that way if they want the keys rather that using a relay then at least they have less reason to come too far into your home.
Just my opinion...
samoht said:
If you run some insurance quotes, that will give a rational statistical indication of how likely that specific car is to be nicked from your specific driveway.
Eg £100k Range Rover, £20k insurance quote, estimated probability of the car being nicked each year is 20%
£50k Audi, £500 premium uplift vs a 'normal' car, 1% chance.
This, plus if the S3 quote comes back as a lot of money, then perhaps run a quote for a Cupra Leon 2.0TSI?Eg £100k Range Rover, £20k insurance quote, estimated probability of the car being nicked each year is 20%
£50k Audi, £500 premium uplift vs a 'normal' car, 1% chance.
Zetec-S said:
Don't bother with a faraday pouch, personally I'd rather wake up in the morning, look out the window and see an empty space on the driveway, than be woken up at 3am by a couple of tooled up scumbags demanding I give them the keys.
I'd also leave the keys somewhere obvious near the front door, that way if they want the keys rather that using a relay then at least they have less reason to come too far into your home.
Just my opinion...
I've always been of the exact same mindset... it's insured at the end of the day. I'd also leave the keys somewhere obvious near the front door, that way if they want the keys rather that using a relay then at least they have less reason to come too far into your home.
Just my opinion...
Zetec-S said:
Don't bother with a faraday pouch, personally I'd rather wake up in the morning, look out the window and see an empty space on the driveway, than be woken up at 3am by a couple of tooled up scumbags demanding I give them the keys.
I'd also leave the keys somewhere obvious near the front door, that way if they want the keys rather that using a relay then at least they have less reason to come too far into your home.
Just my opinion...
Agreed. Why would anyone want to increase the risk of a thief breaking into the house whilst you and your family are there, in order to get the car keys? I'd also leave the keys somewhere obvious near the front door, that way if they want the keys rather that using a relay then at least they have less reason to come too far into your home.
Just my opinion...
It doesn't make any rational sense. It's just a bloody car.
LayZ said:
This far and no mention of dominating the stairs? We're slipping, come on PH.
No domainting the stairs for these folks. They may as well leave the keys on top of the car at this rate. As for me? I live in the middle of nowhere, they would have to cut the padlock off the gates (I would assume my dogs would start to bark at this point), break through two deadlocked doors and get past the dogs to find which bedroom I'm in (true PH style, there's a pick of five to choose from) when they could just nick something in the nearest town a lot easier.
Tenacious said:
No domainting the stairs for these folks. They may as well leave the keys on top of the car at this rate.
As for me? I live in the middle of nowhere, they would have to cut the padlock off the gates (I would assume my dogs would start to bark at this point), break through two deadlocked doors and get past the dogs to find which bedroom I'm in (true PH style, there's a pick of five to choose from) when they could just nick something in the nearest town a lot easier.
I often sleep in the guest wing of our house. As for me? I live in the middle of nowhere, they would have to cut the padlock off the gates (I would assume my dogs would start to bark at this point), break through two deadlocked doors and get past the dogs to find which bedroom I'm in (true PH style, there's a pick of five to choose from) when they could just nick something in the nearest town a lot easier.
It’s a good five minute walk from the main entrance and hallway and would confuse the hell out of any prospective scallies.
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