The day the feds came knocking...an old story...

[Nasher]

Brilliant. I love stories like this.

So the police were able to see your car, or pinpoint it's location within 50 yards, was that using their equipment or the thieves? Just wondering why the theives were so bad at actually finding the car if the police were able to. Still puts the scares up you huh?

Probably lost the signal when the car was garaged. Plus most satnav type GPSs will only show the location by the nearest road, so if your quite a way from the road it can be hard to pinpoint. Hence why they were sitting at the end of the long driveway looking confused.

 

[paradigm]

Outright value has little to do with it. It's all about desirability and demand in the 'market' at the given time. I'd sleep more comfortably having a 200k Rolls Royce in my driveway than I would a 40k RS or S Spec performance Audi.

To be fair, you just have to come to terms with the fact that it's a possibility for it to go walkies. Cover yourself with the appropriate levels of GAP insurance, and other than obvious deterrents (I have CCTV for example) just make sure that the keys can be taken without the need for anyone to come upstairs and assault me/my family.

 

[TS7]

To be fair, you just have to come to terms with the fact that it's a possibility for it to go walkies. Cover yourself with the appropriate levels of GAP insurance, and other than obvious deterrents (I have CCTV for example) just make sure that the keys can be taken without the need for anyone to come upstairs and assault me/my family.

There does seem to be a real 'demand' for RS Audis more so than other marquees for car thieves. In the last month, a lady in Birmingham got car jacked in broad daylight and she had a baby in the car for her RS6. My friends neighbour has had his Audi RS7 stolen from outside his house during the day. It's difficult to describe where he lives but you have to go down about 3 streets in to a small estate and it's then right at the end of a cul-de-sac so can only imagine he must've been followed home one night and then they monitored him for a few weeks and established the times the house would be empty with the car still on the drive. A few weeks ago someone shared CCTV footage on Facebook of their TTS stolen from the drive. On Instagram whenever someone shares a 'have you seen this car - stolen' - 90% of the time it is a performance Audi.

Of course this is area specific. What I've mentioned above has been Birmingham entirely.

 

[Nasher]

Yep, it's what put me off an S3 when I was last car shopping (most stolen car in Britain). I can't imagine it's helping insurance premiums on them either.

 

[DereksDontRun]

crazy story and it's good to hear the police got to them before they finally got your car.

I think anything "performance" is a potential target, irrespective the badge. Arguably, a hot hatch is more at risk than say a Bently as it can blend in on a busy street, and it's probably just far too easy to search Autotrader/eBay for a similar car and copy those plates, to blend in even easier.

Once I got my M135i I soon read of stories from fellow owners having their houses broken into to get car keys. I'm sure it's the case for similar sized hot car like Focus RS, (R)S3/4, A45, etc. There was even some story of a gang threatening/torturing the homeowners in the middle of the night with a boiling kettle to get car keys...

A couple months into ownership the gf and I were eating and she spotted a couple lads parked over the road pointing at my car, when they spotted me looking at them they sped off, only for me to spot them again over the road 10mins later (again, they sped off when they clocked me looking at them - annoyingly before I could get a numberplate). So now we have cctv, not that I would expect it from stopping anything from happening. I bumped into a local policeman and asked his thoughts and he said he recommend leaving the keys out and visible downstairs so if they did break-in, then they would be on their way quickly. I can see the argument, but screw that, my keys are now left upstairs and out of the way, so I will hopefully be able to phone 999 and I can get hold of a baseball bat. At times I really wondered why I "rewarded" my hard work with a nice new car and whether the piece of mind of a 5 year old mid-range banger would have been less stress.

 

[paradigm]

Yep, it's what put me off an S3 when I was last car shopping (most stolen car in Britain). I can't imagine it's helping insurance premiums on them either.

~£300 for me, not exactly pushing my premiums up!

 

[Firestar_3x]

I bumped into a local policeman and asked his thoughts and he said he recommend leaving the keys out and visible downstairs so if they did break-in, then they would be on their way quickly. I can see the argument, but screw that, my keys are now left upstairs and out of the way, so I will hopefully be able to phone 999 and I can get hold of a baseball bat.

I'm sure that the partners of those who have been killed trying to stop someone stealing an insured and replaceable car wish they hadn't bothered.

The risk is simply not worth the reward.

 

[paradigm]

The risk is simply not worth the reward.

Exactly. When GAP insurance is so cheap, why would I want the risk. These guys, if they want your car, will take your car.

It's the same reason I don't buy into the whole key-coded startup procedure, or steering wheel locks. All that means is you'll likely be held until you give in anyway. Take it away, and hopefully write it off, as I don't want it back.

 

[grudas]

The risk is simply not worth the reward.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/24/man-arrested-death-ex-royal-navy-officer-run-car/

agreed;

 

[Dup]

I'm sure that the partners of those who have been killed trying to stop someone stealing an insured and replaceable car wish they hadn't bothered.

The risk is simply not worth the reward.

Indeed. At the end of the days it's just a car. They have been known to do harm over stealing one even if it's just a freak accident as a result of.

 

[Dunks]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/24/man-arrested-death-ex-royal-navy-officer-run-car/

agreed;

"His black Audi S3"

 

[grudas]

"His black Audi S3"

yup, always audis, rangerovers, bmw etc... high end luxury cars that are common yet expensive and in high demand.

you dont see 458s etc stolen do you.

 

[Glanza]

Also depends on the area you live in, Bradford for example it's always s3 that are getting nicked to the point where police attempt to pull them over as soon as they spot one.

 

[dowie]

So the police were able to see your car, or pinpoint it's location within 50 yards, was that using their equipment or the thieves? Just wondering why the theives were so bad at actually finding the car if the police were able to. Still puts the scares up you huh?

well OP explained that it was in the garage I think so presumably they managed to find his house and his neighbours houses, or sort of, after going down his rather massive driveway but then they're going to be a bit stuck as they don't know which house/garage it is in

 

[grudas]

well OP explained that it was in the garage I think so presumably they managed to find his house and his neighbours houses, or sort of, after going down his rather massive driveway but then they're going to be a bit stuck as they don't know which house/garage it is in

Am I the only one here who has no problems understanding houseys post ? the car was in the garage and gave out no signal. Police only found the area/location by last signal and traced it back to that, same as the crims. But they did not know which house it was and left after speaking to op who then pulled out his car from the garage and had a call from the feds when the signal returned.

 

[dowie]

Am I the only one here who has no problems understanding houseys post ? the car was in the garage and gave out no signal. Police only found the area/location by last signal and traced it back to that, same as the crims. But they did not know which house it was and left after speaking to op who then pulled out his car from the garage and had a call from the feds when the signal returned.

well I had no problem understanding it and you just quoted me so no, you're not the only one

 

[Housey]

The RS4 was a sought after car by criminal gangs as it was very fast, relatively mundane in the looks department and had 4WD so could go off road should it need to. I believe the way this group worked is 'people' would provide a list of cars they wanted and the gang would head out to a nice car park (mainline station or airport) and find the right cars, put a tracker on it and try to catch up with the owner within a few days. They device was battery powered and would only last 10ish days I believe. You have to wonder how many cars are driving around with these devices fitted, no more battery life without the owners having the slightest clue.

 

[kindai]

*grabs screwdriver*

 

[Housey]

Am I the only one here who has no problems understanding houseys post ? the car was in the garage and gave out no signal. Police only found the area/location by last signal and traced it back to that, same as the crims. But they did not know which house it was and left after speaking to op who then pulled out his car from the garage and had a call from the feds when the signal returned.

I was the 2nd door they knocked as their opening question was "do you own a high performance car" and the neighbour pointed them to me. You can imagine my response to that question, who the **** are you and what business is it to you. Followed by some badges, me making a phone call to validate who they were whilst they stood there and then a discussion. They did reassure me many times that I had nothing to worry about, but I am a distrusting sort mainly due to all of my friends in the force telling me to be distrusting and say nothing.

 

[Macky]

Followed by some badges, me making a phone call to validate who they were whilst they stood there and then a discussion. They did reassure me many times that I had nothing to worry about, but I am a distrusting sort mainly due to all of my friends in the force telling me to be distrusting and say nothing.

Who would you call in a matter like that to validate who they were? Crimestoppers?