911 thefts make me nervous about buying one.

[Slippydiff]

julian987R said:

Ok, not isolated but the ratio must be for every 1,00,000 normal car thefts, 1 involves home invasion, GBH, hostage taking and attempted child murder.

i don't buy it, i think it is a ludicrous comment made, and i think the people who mention this are fear mongering.

Never heard of aggravated burglary ?

As for the comment about owners not having the “backbone” to fight for their property

I’m not sure if you’re expecting Wayne Sleep to turn up to steal your car single handedly, armed with nothing more than a handbag ?

I lived in Birmingham when Subaru Imprezas were the hot ticket to nick. Plenty of carjackings at gunpoint, many using SOS.

My 22B Type UK (one of 16) was stolen off the drive in the early hours back in 2000
They broke into the house via a kitchen window they jemmied (having trashed the patio doors trying to get in through them)
They found the keys to both the Impreza and my DD BMW in drawer in the living room (they left the lights in the kitchen and living room on)
The BMW was blocking the Impreza in, they opened it and rolled it down the road and left the drivers door wide open and the keys in the ignition, they then rolled the Impreza off the drive and took it. I didn’t hear a thing.

The police attended and said the gang was responsible for a host of thefts (some violent) from houses and carjackings in the Birmingham area.

Seemingly the problem existed back in 2018 :

https://solihullobserver.co.uk/news/gang-sentenced...

Not sure about others, but if I and the missus were awoken by 2-3 armed, masked intruders brandishing a knife, golf club or machete, I’m not going to be having a discussion about whether they can have the keys to the car they want to steal are ...

ANY car is steel, plastic and rubber, and thus is replaceable with another probably identical example. My skull, the small brain inside it, and the various squidgy vital organs to be found within the confines of my torso are not easily fixed if assaulted with a golf club, knife or a machete.

I’ll take the inevitable increased insurance premium over weeks/months in hospital and the chance of brain damage from a golf club caving in my head, or a knife to the torso ...

Rest assured, no insurance company will thank you for stopping the theft of your car, neither will they care if you were seriously injured (or worse) in the process. And if you think they’ll compensate you should you be unable to work for weeks, months, years or forever, having stopped the theft, you’re seriously deluded.

[julian987R]

Your post has really enlightened me - thank you. So what is better then, Ghost or Tracker? Track then yep?

[preamble]

I have a 992 c2s and live in solihull, its always been on my drive (cul-de-sac) with only factory anti-theft measures like tracker and I've never had an issue. My perception is that a lot of these thefts are targeted (for breaking) or opportunist. The 992 for me is not something that is high on a parts list for chop shops, so i think it's more opportunists, stolen to order or jealous vandals. If i was living on a high traffic area and more inner city I would probably think about garaging it overnight, but in my circumstances I have not. I have recently decided to sell it and in the middle of it going and I whilst it was not something at the forefront of my mind there is a sense of relief mixed with loss. Loss because its the best car I've ever owned, used as a daily and something I never thought I would be able to achieve (live goal ticked). Relief because there was always a unconscious thought at the back of my mind that it was a target on my drive or whilst I'm out for any prick who fancies to make a point Fundamentally you only have one life to enjoy, so make the most of it, take the risks you are happy to accept and live with. I would hate to own something and lose sleep every night thinking about the 'what if', its not a great ownership experience and who needs that stress in their life? I've scratched the itch and will now think about something sensible at least until the kids are at uni and maybe I will dabble again. Just sharing my experience if it helps, everyone has their own way of thinking and priorities in life, hope you find the answers you are looking for.

[mblondon]

This thread is quite interesting for me as I am about to get in to a new (8 months old) 992 Turbo S. While i have been getting all my ducks in a row before collection I have found that Porsche (this is my first one) do not like 3rd party security systems installed on their cars, so much so that warranty's can be void.
So i will be left with a steering lock, factory immobiliser and I may consider subscribing to the £200 odd a year Vodaphone tracking system.

Q. Does anyone have the Porsche tracking system? is it any good worth it? Can you remotely immobilise the car once its nicked?

[Charlie_1]

preamble said:

I have a 992 c2s and live in solihull, its always been on my drive (cul-de-sac) with only factory anti-theft measures like tracker and I've never had an issue. My perception is that a lot of these thefts are targeted (for breaking) or opportunist. The 992 for me is not something that is high on a parts list for chop shops, so i think it's more opportunists, stolen to order or jealous vandals. If i was living on a high traffic area and more inner city I would probably think about garaging it overnight, but in my circumstances I have not. I have recently decided to sell it and in the middle of it going and I whilst it was not something at the forefront of my mind there is a sense of relief mixed with loss. Loss because its the best car I've ever owned, used as a daily and something I never thought I would be able to achieve (live goal ticked). Relief because there was always a unconscious thought at the back of my mind that it was a target on my drive or whilst I'm out for any prick who fancies to make a point Fundamentally you only have one life to enjoy, so make the most of it, take the risks you are happy to accept and live with. I would hate to own something and lose sleep every night thinking about the 'what if', its not a great ownership experience and who needs that stress in their life? I've scratched the itch and will now think about something sensible at least until the kids are at uni and maybe I will dabble again. Just sharing my experience if it helps, everyone has their own way of thinking and priorities in life, hope you find the answers you are looking for.

You dont usually get common sense on here but I think your post is very true

[Chamon_Lee]

Lexington59 said:

Range Rover, golf R, Audi S3 maybe an issue if you live in the outer suburbs of Birmingham otherwise don't sweat it.

What does always amaze me though is the amount of pussies quite frankly on here who would prefer to put their car keys by their front door along with a friendly note saying “take the keys and please don’t hurt me” rather than having the backbone to actually fight for their possessions.

Anyway nothing that a tracker and a good gap / insurance policy can’t mitigate, and not a major issue with Porsche tbh.

Quite a statement you've made there and one I've pondered over many times, key upstairs or downstairs, locked away or not. I kept them upstairs for years with a baseball bat in the cupboard. Eventually I just thought they can take the car if you want to.
You under estimate how fecking crazy some pople can be and the number of crackpots out there. one on one sure take your chances, 1 on 3-4 and you got a bigger issue as they are likely to be armed/weponed up and running on adrenaline. I honestly think you'd have to be a total fecking idiot of the highest order to sit and try and fight and for what? A car thats insured, risk having your child grabbed or hurt or injured or worse your partner raped because you went nuts yourself then got grabbed by two of them? I mean F the car, sure if you can then why not but at the risk of you trying to be a hard man, hell no.
Not to mention the stupid legaility of getting into trouble hurting some idiot your trying to protect your house from.

OP everyone will have the same concerns as you. Just make sure you have solid insurance and a brilliant tracker; these cars are usually taken without damage and parked 2-3 miles away to check if they have a tracker locating it, Once located its returned to you and nothing logged insurance wise. Personally leave the keys downstairs in the kitchen or table, doesnt matter if your a UFC fight or built like a tank. Try wake up from the sleep wondering what the F is going on and thinking right I now need to save my family and car etc. As others have said porsche sit lower in the scale of being taken

Oh and enjoy the car!

[FarQue]

That 'backbone' comment is in pretty poor taste.

A serving Police Officer (traffic and armed-response) friend is very much of the opinion that it's far safer to leave your car keys accessible than under your pillow should some scumbag decide that he/she wants your car.

[nunpuncher]

It wasn't for car keys but many years ago I had 2 instances where people forced entry into my house. In the first instance I armed myself with a baseball bat and smacked one guy square in the side of the head. I was then set upon by a second guy wielding some sort of long metal pole. I was on the ground being smashed almost instantly. Thankfully they ran off leaving me with only a few cuts, bruises and a pretty badly broken right hand. I'm not ashamed to admit I pretty much begged him to stop hitting me.

The second time I armed myself with an iron (I think I saw this in a film and thought it was a good idea. It actually worked pretty well). I got a few shots off but again there was more than one of them and I ended up on the deck after being hit several times with something. I later found out it was some sort of bag filled with nails which made a pretty good mess of my arm and head.

I'm not a hard man but I'm no stranger to violence. My advice is that if your stuff is insured and replaceable and you're not extremely handy then let them take whatever. Those that claim they would batter anyone trying to take their st probably couldn't fight sleep.

Edited by nunpuncher on Monday 16th May 15:42

[Demhcs]

Think I’m going to take up car theft targeting Porsche owners around the Birmingham area. They seem really keen to make it as easy as possible to help criminals take their cars….

[Kickstart]

I really think this comes down to bad luck
When I had a boxster a few years back, I used to park it outside the house opposite my flat - there was a spate of car thefts and the gang beat up the old couple who lived in the house trying to get my car keys…
Felt v guilty
Same gang attacked another neighbour for his VW Golf
Shortly after 2 burglaries we decided to move out of Manchester suburbs into the countryside

[anonymous-user]

Personally I would of thought the money was better spent on a house in a nicer area of country.

Beggars belief that you would risk your familys safety for any car

[Mikebentley]

nunpuncher said:

It wasn't for car keys but many years ago I had 2 instances where people forced entry into my house. In the first instance I armed myself with a baseball bat and smacked one guy square in the side of the head. I was then set upon by a second guy wielding some sort of long metal pole. I was on the ground being smashed almost instantly. Thankfully they ran off leaving me with only a few cuts, bruises and a pretty badly broken right hand. I'm not ashamed to admit I pretty much begged him to stop hitting me.

The second time I armed myself with an iron (I think I saw this in a film and thought it was a good idea. It actually worked pretty well). I got a few shots off but again there was more than one of them and I ended up on the deck after being hit several times with something. I later found out it was some sort of bag filled with nails which made a pretty good mess of my arm and head.

I'm not a hard man but I'm no stranger to violence. My advice is that if your stuff is insured and replaceable and you're not extremely handy then let them take whatever. Those that claim they would batter anyone trying to take their st probably couldn't fight sleep.

Edited by nunpuncher on Monday 16th May 15:42

Was it for something you did down the local Convent? Username checks out.

[julian987R]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Surely it would more than living in Moss Side Manchester or Bootle Liverpool (or maybe anywhere in Hull). Bound to help surely.

[ATM]

I see a lot of people here trying to use logical arguments about what thieves and scum might be thinking or might be prepared to do. The best advice I can give is never try to understand the mind of a F'íng idiot. Sure some thieves are not idiots and will think in a way which a reasonable person might understand. But some are just complete T'wats.

Any reasonably new expensive car will always be a target. Lets not forget some of these are shipped abroad to be just driven around as is. You can still find crash damaged Porsche cars for sale and everyone of these presents an opportunity for a thief to steal someone's pride and joy to get access to cheaper parts. I'm sure the price of 2 fancy 992 headlamps and maybe a front bumper is enough to incentivise an idiot to steal your car before we start totting up the price of airbags etc.

I have experienced 2 car jacking attempts and both of which were unsuccessful but I am not bragging about that. I would tell anyone to give the car up quickly but unfortunately some primal instinct kicked in and I wasn't thinking logically. Until you have experienced a situation like this you dont know how you will react. Now I am always aware of my surroundings when getting in or out of my car. I have decided that the solution for Me is to drive a Porsche no one else wants. I'm hoping that a tired old Porsche doesnt look so inviting to thieves and scumbags but maybe I am just fooling myself.

[Slippydiff]

Demhcs said:

Think I’m going to take up car theft targeting Porsche owners around the Birmingham area. They seem really keen to make it as easy as possible to help criminals take their cars….

That sounds a logistical nightmare when you live nearly 4000 miles away in Toronto...