Car broken into

A neighbour chapped on the door this morning to say our car had been broken into. Went out to look and car was unlocked, bonnet had been popped and the panel holding the ultrasonic detectors for the alarm had been disconnected. They'd rifled through the glove box and broken part of the hands free kit (but not taken the easily removable display), but don't seem to have taken anything.

Am waiting for the police to show up and just wondering how they got in as there were no signs of damage to locks. I guess it's possible that it was left unlocked but also don't understand why they would rip the alarm sensors or open the bonnet.

[maviczap]

What make of car?

Sound like they knew what they were doing, rather than the smash & grab type

[Sir Trev]

All of the companies on our business park have been warned by local Rozzers about gangs targeting cars being locked by key/fob remotes (vast majority these days). They are recording the signal and using it to get in on the hunt for laptops, phones and satnavs. Without the immobiliser chip (built in to most keys these days) they cannot start the car but it's no comfort for those suffering the rummage.

Do you have a satnav holder in the car Terah, or a tell tale mark where the suction cup normally fixes one to the window??

[Littlepeahead]

What a bu99er. They'd have been very disappointed if they'd broken into my glovebox, I tried to find a torch I thought was in there the other day - which would have been useful, but instead it is stuffed with baby wipes, nail files, hand cream (Mr LPH's), 2 bags of Whamm Bar minis (also Mr LPH's), a joke book, 2 packets of Nurofen, 1 sock (?) an emergency urine/vomit sealable bag (for the nephews) and a map of the Brecon Beacons (we live in Essex). May be I should leave the car unlocked in the hope someone will nick all that junk and then I can fill the glovebox with things I might actually need on a long journey.

Sorry Sir Trev but that just isn't possible. Except for a very small number of very early keyless entry systems, all fobs generate a rolling code sequence, it would be nearly impossible to guess the next in the series having only recorded a handful of lock / unlock codes.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/lockcode.asp

[joshwalker094]

Scum!

Funnily enough, my dad went outside this morning and the passenger door behind the drivers on reanult espace was open a few inches ?! How I don't know. I lock all of our vehicles everynight and check them. Both keys in our house. Nothing touched or anything to do with the car.

It's an 08 Vectra. No sat nav holder but it does have a phone holder and a Parrot hands free kit - which is probably what they were after. The only thing missing is the remote for the hands free (which sits on the steering wheel). Having looked at it again the panel they ripped out with the sonic sensors is also where the mic cable for the hands free feeds into, so looks like they were trying to get the whole hands free but gave up when they realised they couldn't easily get to all the cables. They also had a rummage around in the boot compartments.

Fortunately there's nothing of value in the car so all I'm out is the remote for the hands free, and hopefully a quick job at the w/e to fix the wiring to the sonic sensors. Still a PITA and half a day's work lost.

[carelesschucca]

Ah Neil thats a F-ing nightmare... Hope you get things sorted soon with the insurance and things.

This was sent out at work today:

Vehicle Safety Warning
· Police have passed on information of recent thefts of items left inside parked vehicles with radio remote locking.
· The thieves are able to stand near the car and block the locking signal from the remote control using a strong radio frequency blocker. If the driver does not check that the car is locked, the thieves are able to steal items left in the interior and/or in the boot.
· ***(Company) are not being specifically targeted, but you are asked to check that you vehicle is locked when you walk away, ensuring that the door lock buttons drop down and the LED alarm indicator subsequently flashes slowly.

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by Serdna

This was sent out at work today:

Vehicle Safety Warning
· Police have passed on information of recent thefts of items left inside parked vehicles with radio remote locking.
· The thieves are able to stand near the car and block the locking signal from the remote control using a strong radio frequency blocker. If the driver does not check that the car is locked, the thieves are able to steal items left in the interior and/or in the boot.
· ***(Company) are not being specifically targeted, but you are asked to check that you vehicle is locked when you walk away, ensuring that the door lock buttons drop down and the LED alarm indicator subsequently flashes slowly.

Memory starts to work again... This was the message sent around to us - not recording the signal, blocking it!

Part of me is now wondering if this is a "good times" type of hoax.