What have you done to your car today?

Orifice said:
Agreed, not really that fussed about that car, its annoying but ultimately replaceable. The fact that somebody broke into the house in seconds and was rummaging around whilst me and the missus slept is far more disturbing. Her take on it is, if the car is returned what's to say they wont try again.

Surprisingly the advice from one of the CSI team was take your keys upstairs. No chance, if they want them, take them from somewhere obvious downstairs and leave me alone.
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Yeah I'd be beefing up security, at the very least an alarm would make some noise etc.
 
sparton_SPA said:
But if they cannot find them easily downstairs they are unlikely to come upstairs where you are?

Do you have the ability to arm just the downstairs on an intruder alarm for the nights.
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Are they or will you end up woken up by some scrote waving a hammer/screwdriver/your own kitchen knife around politely asking you where the keys are?

If they're already breaking in to physically get the keys then they're almost certainly prepared to come up against some resistance every now and again.
 
tom_e said:
Are they or will you end up woken up by some scrote waving a hammer/screwdriver/your own kitchen knife around politely asking you where the keys are?

If they're already breaking in to physically get the keys then they're almost certainly prepared to come up against some resistance every now and again.
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True - so the correct answer is to have no security and put the keys on the door handle?
 
tom_e said:
Make it a pain in the arse to get in the house but once they've crossed that line make it as easy as possible for them to get the keys and leave.
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Thats where I'm heading, the door they broke into was the only one we'd not had replaced, new front/back doors both have Ultion locks so snapping would have done nothing, but the conservatory door had a no name lock that was allegedly anti snap but clearly not. Hence why that was their chosen entry point.

Once in the house they can take the key from the table in the hallway, first logical place they'd look. Its not on show but in a drawer. If CCTV, security lighting and people being at home isnt a deterrent to trying to break in then not much else will stop then.

The police have actually identified a suspect, currently wanted for recall to prison, suspected of three other similar burglaries/thefts in the last week. His phone was identified in Chester the night of the crime, and in the location the car was found dumped. Long list of previous for similar offences so another arrest warrant issued in Liverpool.
 
Orifice said:
Agreed, not really that fussed about that car, its annoying but ultimately replaceable. The fact that somebody broke into the house in seconds and was rummaging around whilst me and the missus slept is far more disturbing.
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That was the worst part and it affected me far more than I thought it would. I was broken into twice at my old house and had my car taken, one time when I was asleep upstairs, the second time, I came home to my house ransacked. I'm now paranoid about security and the thought of leaving the house for extended periods and coming home fills me with dread. If they offer the chance to speak to someone about it, it's probably worth doing. I didn't take them up on the offer, but in hindsight it might have been worthwhile.
 
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Long jaunt up the country, 4 people with a boot full of luggage, not bad imo!

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Orifice said:
Audi S4, they snapped the cylinder on the conservatory door and forced it open.

Audi connect was active so the car was found yesterday in some dodgy estate in Warrington, so its been recovered. Not sure I want it back, or what state its currently in. This clearly wasnt an opportunistic theft as we live in a cul-de-sac.
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They tend to drive around "Nice" area's glancing towards driveways I would imagine.

Did you have the bog standard Cylinder locks? Same thing happened to us, luckily we woke and looked out which disturbed them but they had successfully snapped the lock. When we replaced the locks we went for the Anti-Snap / Approved by etc... which we never even thought about prior to this happening.

It took some time before we slept easily again.

Edit: Ignore me, I can see it's already been discussed. Oops!
 
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Just to update, car is still in for forensics but the guy was arrested and remanded back into custody yesterday. Fair play to the police, they have been excellent. Didnt expect much given burglaries tend to have a low priority, but they identified the guy in a couple of days.

Most of the evidence is circumstantial (CCTV, phone records, and a taxi collecting/dropping him off one street away from where the car was found), however he also stole a watch that I'd completely forgotten I had in with the car key. He had it on when he was arrested, and admitted he'd nicked it from ours, so fairly banged to rights. Surprisingly the watch was returned the same night.

He was charged with 11 burglaries and 7 driving offences in the Cheshire area.

Now upgraded all locks to 3 star with 2 star handles, slight overkill but it wont happen again.
 
Orifice said:
Just to update, car is still in for forensics but the guy was arrested and remanded back into custody yesterday. Fair play to the police, they have been excellent. Didnt expect much given burglaries tend to have a low priority, but they identified the guy in a couple of days.

Most of the evidence is circumstantial (CCTV, phone records, and a taxi collecting/dropping him off one street away from where the car was found), however he also stole a watch that I'd completely forgotten I had in with the car key. He had it on when he was arrested, and admitted he'd nicked it from ours, so fairly banged to rights. Surprisingly the watch was returned the same night.

He was charged with 11 burglaries and 7 driving offences in the Cheshire area.

Now upgraded all locks to 3 star with 2 star handles, slight overkill but it wont happen again.
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Good outcome from a bad situation.

On a more positive point, have you considered what car you would like as a replacement?
 
Just had someone force me into cones on the motorway. Overtaking me on the M6 in 50 average limit, just pulled over into me and my lane. Swerved to avoid as couldn’t brake with a lorry up my backside.


Damage to front bumper, bonnet and left side of the car.



Car didn’t stop, police called and they’re going to respond.



Still got 4 hours of my journey back from Scotland to go. Fuming with the guy - he made no effort to stop at all, completely oblivious.
 
Went to put something in the boot, only find the boot wouldn't open :(

Still opens via the keyfob rather than the handle, so have ordered a new handle / boot trim.
4 screws and one connector - even I can manage that


Thankfully BMW (mini) just stands for "Broken Most Weeks" rather than "Bring My Wallet" on this occasion - £30.51 for an aftermarket part.
 
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