Have you ever had your car stolen?

[Drago]

My olde Nova GSi was broken into and they'd started work on the ignition...but it seems to have dawned on them rather late in the process that the bright yellow disklok on the steering wheel wasn't going to be something that would be going anywhere in a hurry and they abandoned the attempt. New ignition barrel was about 40 quid (those were the days!) and a new column cowling and door weatherstrip were pennies from t'breakers.

 

[Drago]

The boot was crammed full of booze and porn mags...

...which were thankfully still present when you got the car back.

 

[presta]

I had my Honda Accord stolen from outside this B&B in Ribblesdale in 1994, not exactly your typical inner-city sink estate. After I got back home the police called to say that it had been found abandoned outside the home of a cave rescue guy in Stainforth, he'd reported it because he thought it might belong to someone who'd got into trouble whilst caving. The only damage was a forced door lock and smashed ignition switch, but I lost the luggage from the boot, including an £80 fleece jacket that I'd worn for the first time that day. When I went to collect it from the body shop in Settle they said the police had been round fingerprinting it because they thought it had been used as the getaway car in a robbery.

In about 1974 we had some contents stolen from my dad's Mini van when it was broken into whilst parked in a multi-storey car park in Leeds. They must have been in a hurry, because they missed the valuable stuff, and grabbed some fairly worthless stuff instead. They had levered the sliding window that Minis were famous for, but I remember the copper at Millgarth telling us that at that time you only needed 6 keys to unlock all the Fords in Britain.

 

[gbb]

Not sure I've ever had a car worth nicking; I did have one towed away in Central London years ago. That was painful enough.

Dont worry, some car thieves have no depths they wont plumb...early 90s i had an attempt on my Austin Maestro . Not sure if they were disturbed mid act but i found the car in the iddle of our road one morning...door lock caved in, steering lock overcome...but otherwise, ok

 

[gbb]

Similar to some stories up post, guy went to see a Forest match mid 1970s,parked up a nearby side street, came out after the game....car gone. Reported, claimed, forgotten about. Around 2 years later, they found his car in the next street, dirty, dusty....like it hadnt moved in 2 years

 

[slowmotion]

Mrs Slowmotion's company car was taken from outside an eaterie in Maida Vale and was found by the police a week later in a pretty rough part of Tower Hamlets. We went to have a look at it, fearing the worst. It was down amongst the rubbish chutes of some walk up flats but it wasn't burned out. The local kids seemed to have been playing in it. All the stalks on the steering column were broken off and there were a few drinks cans inside. Every single thing in the glove compartments, door pockets and boot had disappeared.........apart from a pair of green Hunter wellies. They must have lacked street cred .

 

[BoldonLad]

My (then) company car, a Ford Orion Ghia, was stolen three times. Recovered each time, with various degrees of damage, which was repaired by insurance company. Other than it’s propensity to be stolen, it was one of the most reliable and comfortable cars I have ever had.

 

[Sharky]

When I joined CU, as part of my induction they told us of some amusing claims :-

The claimant who lived near a station, woke up to find his car missing. However, the next morning, it was back. It had been given a clean and polished and filled up with petrol. Inside there was an apologetic note, saying that he had been on the last train home, his child was ill and he was desperate to get home.

As way of an apology, please find these two tickets for a West end show.

So the claimant and his OH decided to forgive him and went to the show. On their return, they discovered that their house had been burgled!

 

[Drago]

That chestnut is older than Accy's wardrobe!

 

[Gunk]

Back in 1988 I had my week old Golf GTi 16V stolen from Leicester city centre, a week later the Golf GTi loaner also got nicked.

They recovered my 16V minus the wheels and stereo, the car thieves had also conveniently dumped it in a field with the sunroof open. All the foot wells were full of water.

 

[slowmotion]

That chestnut is older than Accy's wardrobe!

I think that urban myth stands alongside some story about burglars hiding in the loft water tank.

 

[oldwheels]

There was an attempt on my van up a side street in Largs in Ayrshire which I thought would be a safe place.
They just got a rock and smashed the passenger side window. The van had an assortment of goods inside including a lot of silver jewellery which belonged to a silversmith friend which I had collected for return from an Edinburgh Woollen Mills private show.
I was asleep in the back of the van and the tourags ran for it before I could get my shoes on.
Had to rouse a window repair guy out in the early hours to fit a new side window and bits of glass lingered for months. Window washer stalk was also damaged but we were able to divert the rear window one to the windscreen as I still had a couple of hundred miles to do before getting home.

 

[Ridgeway]

Yes my RS2000 was borrowed using a universal key (screwdriver), found 15 miles away ran out of fuel, so fitting the Webber twin 48's was a great security measure. Bought a VW Polo after that as i didn't want the hassle of fitting various security devices each time i parked up and wondering if it would still be there when i came back.

Then had my Escort estate also borrowed, standard car and nothing flash. Again found few miles down the road with minor damage.

If i was living in or near a large UK city then it probably would influence my choice of car, here i can leave my ABT S4 with the keys in and it would still be there a week later.

 

[Archie_tect]

Our M-reg rusty Escort estate [--- ---M] was parked in a Newcastle car park overnight in 1983... you could open any lock with a 10p piece. Someone had opened it and left the passenger door open- they'd rummaged in the glovebox only to get covered in sticky toffee papers and an apple core which were on the car park tarmac. They'd also left the tailgate unlatched but if they'd tried that they've got a nasty headache as the dampers and springs had gone so you had to hold the tailgate up while someone gingerly climbed in to unload stuff!

It would have started too if they'd tried it with their trusty 10p...

 

[FrankCrank]

Not had a car stolen, but a couple of them were broken in to. Never considered myself much of a car person really, just a means to get from A to B, but I do have a recurring dream where I've parked my car somewhere and can't find it. Most strange.