Woken up by car alarm......yes its happened

[Nazbit]

Im so angry I cant tell you, The factory fit 6 CD changer has been stolen from the mondeo. The alarm went off about 6:20, but I was at the window like a shot, i'm a light sleeper, our road is a cul de sac and it was light by now, i saw no one and heard no engines and so I think it actually took place earlier and the alarm may have failed to go off.

Whats the record like with these? Should I look in to a new alarm?

There goes my day, got to sort the glass out and get a new cd now. Its a shame aswell as I wont be able to get another 6 cd changer now, because the ******* little ****** will just take it again. Why the hell should I be stopped from having nice things by a ******* bunch of ***** that think they can take what they want.

Im so furious.

The thing that has really shocked me about myself though, is that I got straight in my mums car and went for a drive around, I swear to god, If I had of found them I WOULD have killed them, or been killed trying, THATS how mad I am.

Who the hell do some people think that they are.

I have seen these models on ebay for near £200, so I couldnt afford a new one if I wanted one, anyone else had one stolen? What do you reckon, stolen to order or just something for ebay?

Im off to calm down and call the rac for the window. (They anygood btw?)

 

[Nazbit]

Police say they are sending a scene of crimes examiner around some time before 5:30, I doubt they will find anything, but they want to do it so may aswell let them.

The glass is sorted but my insurance..tescos, have said they will send someone to replace is on monday night, thats longer than I would have expected so Im working on that one.

As for the radio, we are arguing about that at the moment, they say it was technically a removable part of the car which therefore isnt covered, Im saying that it was a standard instaltion on the car I insured, but I can see me loosing as it wil be in the small print somewhere.

The police say 60 of this exact model of ford radio have been stolen this week alone, aparently they are using chips out of them to get free sky or something.

I would be interested to hear about the reliability of ford alarms though? (see my original)

Cheers

 

[Nazbit]

Yup Thats the model of mine Andy, I wasnt aware of the sky thing until today, looking in to its quite a big thing so it seems. The insurance have offered me a new one, but Im not sure If I want it now, now they took it from my home, they know were they can get one 24/7. Am I being paranoid by thinking If I get the same radio again they may be back?

Seems a shame to let them stop me having someting I want, but thats the world we live in.

Unlucky mate

I know the gut wrenching feeling after having my 6x9's and 12" sub stolen (it was kinda stupid for me to have them on display now i think about it ).

Is there somewhere safer you can put a new cd changer, like security screwed onto the back of your rear seats?

Sounds like your alarm didn't really do it's job til it was too late so I would consider a new one. I can't comment on what ford alarms are like in general though.

Hi mate,

Its a horrible feeling, its not real until it happens to you is it.

Its an In dash CD changer im afraid so Im not aware of anything I can do really to make it more secure, I might leave the insurance replacement though and get a different one and do something like you suggest, is it hard to do, is it secure?

Im very mift with the alarm to be honest, dont really know what to do about it, Im tempted to rip it out and smash it to bits, going to have to look in to a new one though.

 

[Nazbit]

Im just furious that the radio is £450 to replace and some little **** is smashing it apart somewhere for a chip so he can get free porn on his tv.

I dont want to risk getting the radio and having it go again though...because this is my no claims here, this leaves me with one more claim in the next 12 months....and you know what sods law says.

I will probably have to get another radio but I want to trade the car in in september, the trade in is going to be severley devalued if I dont have the standard 6 cd changer isnt it.

 

[Nazbit]

Id just get a MP3 head unit.. it will hold more than the 6disc changer will and thats on one cd.. and with removable face they dont bother stealing them. Get the raplacement one from insurance still tho (although it might not be worth it with the no claims) and when you come to trade the car.. take your mp3 on out and fit the original item back in

This is what Im thinking of now, does anyone have any reccomendations?

I think I will get a new 6006e on the insurance but keep it in the house, get an mp3 head unit with removable front and use that, they will be much less likley to have a go at that provided i take it out all the time.

Then when it comes to trade in, slot the original back in and keep the headunit.

 

[Nazbit]

A police woman has just been around, she says shes been to another 11 ford radio thefts this morning. aparently they are all going and she has just advised me not to get another ford radio because she reckons it will go again.

So thanks for the offer telsa but it looks like im going to have to invest in an aftermarket head unit of some other make.

I might still claim the ford one though as its quite valuble and then I can keep it safe in the house and slip it back in before trade in. Do you think my trade in at a ford dealer will be devalued much if I dont? (Its an In dash 6CD changer that was standard on that trim level, car is a ford mondeo 1.8 "silver" and is Panther Black)

Just waiting for the glass people now.

 

[Nazbit]

Or get a cassette player with an autochanger in the boot

I did consider that but I dont have the money at the moment, and if I am going to replace it at the end of august, maybe I will just get something cheap in the mean time. By the time I have money for something decent it will be time to sell.

I believe its coming from the police. IIRC South Yorkshire police issued a warning to all focus owners detailing the information.

Yer you were quite right when you mentioned that earlier in the thread Andy, the police woman confirmed what I thought, and what you had said, these ford radios are being stolen, smashed apart and some chip from inside them is being used to in sky boxes to get free subscription.

When she came around she had been to 11 car radio thefts already this morning, all of them fords, and she had more to go to.

 

[Nazbit]

Dont have a clue, all I know is that there is one particular model of Ford CD changer that is being stolen in huge numbers, they are being smashed apart for one of the chips within it, and its then being soldered in to sky boxes to bypass the subsciption and get free sky.

Its happening all over the country.

At least two police forces have issued advice on the matter to owners of the unit.

 

[Nazbit]

Doesnt it just telsa, I have 3 articles that I can show you,

I have a press release from merseyside police and one from West Yorkshire Police , the first issued in March, the second issued in January of this year.

Both of these press releases state that a lot of thieves are stealing the units to use with sky boxes and selling them for a lot of money and urge owners of the cd player to beware. One also says that sky is aware of the matter and is working to render the boxes useless.

(These are both print outs from the police earlier so I Can scan them in later, but I Cant show you them right now)

The third is a statement from Humberside Police who say that theives are targeting them under the false belief that they can be used to chip sky boxes. This one says that they are being taken in large numbers (Article says 70 in 22 days in hull alone) but that they cant actually be used after all and calls it a myth. click here to read

So thats 2 for and 1 against, the 2 press releases stating that this is true however, are newer than the one that calls it a myth.

Thats about all the info I got at the moment.

EDIT - The police lady who came to the house earlier did say that she was aware of it (without me mentioning it) and said that someone had been arrested in the bootle area of liverpool about 6 months ago who had a house full of sky recievers and she claims.....around 600 stolen cd changers of the same model as mine and she said it its out of control at the moment...........and to use her words "go to halfords and get something else, because they come back everytime, theres too much money to be made".

So as far fetched as it seems, I for one beleive it to be true.

 

[Nazbit]

Well the guy has just been from the rac / auto windscreens and has just left.

Big thumbs up to him, very quick to replace it and he vacumed the glass out of the car afterwards, even gave the back seats, mats and boot the once over and they were totally uneffected, (it was the front passenger side)

So thats coming off my insurance but its on the glass policy so my no claims is safe from that.

Well its been a long day, im off to get a takeaway.

 

[Nazbit]

Even if you're not planning on using it I'd still get the unit from your insurers (assuming that you don't have a huge excess or loose your NCB)

You can keep it in the house until you come to sell the car and then you'll have no problems with worrying about it being nicked again or of loosing trade-in value

I think thats exactly what Im going to do, will have to be carefull for the remainder of my policy though as one more claim and I loose my NCB.

i've just today bought a mondeo with the 6006 cd changer in, think i'll set my cctv up again.

I would If I were you, I have been looking in to some after what happened yesterday, I think I will try and find a few cameras to throw together.