car broken into, attempted theft?

GeX

GeX

GeX

Soldato
Joined
17 Dec 2002
Posts
7,063
Location
Manchester
Not really sure what to make of this, someone has attempted to nick my car. I live in new(ish) build apartment block and the car park is below the building. You can only get with electronic tags, or a fob to open the massive metal gates.

Not used the car since thursday, just went to it now and the door is bent back. The bonnet was open, all the relays were out, the wires were yanked out of the battery terminals and the wire that goes from the ignition to the starter solenoid was snapped out too.

I can't work out if the solenoid wire was on purpose or not, because of the non standard engine - the starter motor is not stock, and so the wiring has been altered. I dunno if they yanked it out thinking it was part of the alarm or not.

Nothing missing from the car, and there is dirty big footprint on the back seat of the car ??!
 
Could the alarm have been going off and annoying anyone without you knowing? If so, someone may have just decided to silence it.

Although that wouldn't explain why they would need to leave a footprint on the back seat.
 
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BigglesPiP said:
What was the car? Sounds like a copper theif to me.
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it's a wee fiat cinquecento, no wires are missing - they were just yanked out.

wolseley said:
Could the alarm have been going off and annoying anyone without you knowing? If so, someone may have just decided to silence it.
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no reason for it to, it's not faulty - and if that were the case then they could've looked at the floor plan of the car park and come up to ask me. Plus it wouldn't explain the footprints in the back of the car (and on the passenger side door card i've noticed too)
 
GeX said:
it's a wee fiat cinquecento, no wires are missing - they were just yanked out.
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I suspected it might have been the cinq. is that new enough to have CODE1? If so they didn't stand a chance of starting it.

Looks like it's an EPIC FAIL attempt to start it, it must be.
 
it had CODE1, but is now megasquirted with a CAT1 immobiliser on it. Just noticed they also ripped the -ve terminal that powers my amp off the battery too.
 
Wonder how they were planning to get the car out of the locked compound ? With a stolen fob or just waiting for someone to come in so they could speed out ?
 
fonzee said:
wonder why they tried so hard to nick it?
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maybe the only one in there they thought would be 'easy' due to its age

Stolly said:
Wonder how they were planning to get the car out of the locked compound ? With a stolen fob or just waiting for someone to come in so they could speed out ?
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i have no idea. also no idea how they intended to start it after ripping the main +ve out the battery terminal connector
 
GeX said:
i have no idea. also no idea how they intended to start it after ripping the main +ve out the battery terminal connector
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This sounds like a case for:

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To disable an alarm you can't just expect to disconnect the car battery. That's the most obvious trick in the book and hence well known by any half reputable alarm manufacturer. To avert this you'll notice a trip switch under the bonnet connected to the alarm and in some cases you'll get self contained batteries within the alarm unit.

Disconnection of the battery may have been a precaution taken to remove the likes of OnStar type devices engaging emergency procedures. Many recent engine management systems reset their calibration on several PIC controllers which control a multitude of the car electronics. This could expose a known fault or glitch of which the thief could be aware.

If the thief planned on stealing the car they would need security codes to get past the gate. Which would imply an inside job or a stolen handbag with the access code fob within.

The thief may have been interrupted by someone entering the garage, which can also throw the results of an investigation.

Conclusion: View the tapes, ask local questions, take photos of the shoe imprints, log times, request the security codes get switched and survey the environment after hours for seven days.

Batman out.
 
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Locked garage, nothing stolen, power pulled. no one steals cinquecentos, you can buy them in bunches of 12 for £5 off ebay - I bet alarm was going off and some car mechanic from the ground floor just yanked everything out to shut it the heck down before bed time.
 
v0n said:
Locked garage, nothing stolen, power pulled. no one steals cinquecentos, you can buy them in bunches of 12 for £5 off ebay - I bet alarm was going off and some car mechanic from the ground floor just yanked everything out to shut it the heck down before bed time.
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This really does seem plausible but it's one hell of a malicious thing to do. I guess if you hadn't touched it for a few days, that would increase the chances of this even more.
 
It doesn't explain why theres footprints in the back though.

And as you say, it's a nasty thing to do. The building I live in is a new place, and every seems friendly. Plus my alarm is not faulty, and has not ever sat there blaring away unless provoked (but then it does shut up!)

There is a fire alarm in the garage area that keeps going off, if someone is willing to break into a car and rip the wiring out to shut it up - then i'd expect them to smash the MUCH louder fire alarm off the wall too.
 
Yeah that's true... the footprints are odd. Batman remembered that one but I forgot.

This really is an interesting case. Seriously GeX, would you be able to keep us posted about what you find out. I'd genuinely be interested in hearing the conclusion.

Are they able to change the garage access codes at all? I'd make sure they do incase it was an attempted car theft.

Maybe the Police would be able to shed some light. Have you contacted them at all? Surely they've come across things like this and would be able to tell you what they've concluded in the past.
 
Depends if the other person likes what I have to say. I know you took offence at pointing out buying a Focus ST for economy was a silly idea, I'm really sorry for suggesting that.
 
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