Have you ever had your car stolen?

[Drago]

Does anyone remember those prize draws where they would randomly send you a key through the post to tempt you into entering? I seem to recall a bit of a hoo haa when someone discovered these keys worked in a noteworthy number of Cortinas, and hundreds of thousands had been sent out...

 

[I like Skol]

Colleague of mine had his car stolen from east Manchester about a month ago, broke into his house and took the keys while he was working the evening shift. It was a sporty Hyundai hot hatch, equivalent to the Focus RS.
It just turned up this weekend in Bradford being driven by Crims going equipped for a job. They hadn't even changed the number plates and ANPR picked it up which resulted in a police chase and ended with a crash and apprehension of the offenders. Sounds like the car is a write-off!

 

[davidphilips]

Never had a car stolen but remember my dad telling me about always locking his (old type but new) mini cooper with a big lock and chain the chain fitted around the seat frame and then through the steering wheel this was before battery angle grinders and it was considered a great anti thief device?

My dads views where changed one day when he returned to a car park and met a mini driver who told him some one had stolen the steering wheel from has car, then my dad realised his car was gone and they must have stolen a steering wheel of another mini to enable them to take his cooper.

 

[BoldonLad]

A slight diversion from the thread topic. Many years ago, my Cousin (now, sadly deceased), drove to town with her baby and folding pram in the car. She parked the car, unfolded pram, placed child in pram, walked around shops (leaving pram and child 'parked' as people did in those days). She then drove home, and, did not realised until she was putting car in the garage, that she had left child and pram, in town. Fortunately, no harm done. Although, when the child grew into a teenager, the subject of his mother "abandoning him in town" was regularly raised (jokingly, I think).

 

[Cavalol]

Some illegitimate stole my motorcycle once. Luckily for me it'd had an ignition problem, so I used to pull the fuse. He tried to screwdriver the ignition, it didn't work so he just left it in an alley way up the road, and the police found it.

Randomly, when I used to set the after market alarm on my Ford Cortina, it used to knock off the alarm of a fella over the road's Astra van. One day he gave me a knock to say someone had stolen it overnight and he couldn't understand because the alarm didn't sound. Sort of forgot to mention my remote

 

[Gunk]

Does anyone remember those prize draws where they would randomly send you a key through the post to tempt you into entering? I seem to recall a bit of a hoo haa when someone discovered these keys worked in a noteworthy number of Cortinas, and hundreds of thousands had been sent out...

A screwdriver used to open and start most Fords of that era

 

[Drago]

A McDonalds straw would probably do it.

 

[Time Waster]

I heard of a friend of a Liverpool uni guy I knew who lived in Toxteth but had a cat he lavished a fair bit of money on. Nothing special as a base car but the extras were where the money was. That and every security you could get including key hole protection, better/unpackaged locks, bars over the base of the windows so you couldn't get anything down there, etc, etc.

Then he left the keys in the car and it deadlocked automatically. He had RAC, AA and the police out. Neighbours and mechanics from local garages. They gave up.

Anyway the guy I knew passed and saw the commotion. Forgot to say the locked car guy had an interview for a good job he had a great chance with in Manchester and was running late by this time.

Anyway the guy I knew, a bright academic, asked for a screwdriver. In complete disbelief he carefully and without damaging it, removed the windscreen with just a screwdriver in a matter of minutes.

It ended up with the car guy driving to Manchester with his windscreen in the passenger side of the car and wearing sunglasses for protection!

There was a thing about certain VW cars I believe that could be opened with a large screwdriver jammed into the lock and turned like a key. It was the more expensive models not the golf and below I think. Because it turned the lock the alarm and immobiliser weren't triggered.

As a kid in the 80s we got our cavalier car passenger's side lock broken by a chance trying to pick it. It was in a car park for a famous Parisian visitors attraction.

I've never had a car nicked but my bike was. From a security fenced yard in front of people watching from an office overlooking it. Apparently they thought it strange to see a guy wheeling two bikes out of the yard. One claimed he thought it was lone guy wheeling a tandem. As if! They were just too lazy to get up and confront the guy. I wasn't bothered despite no insurance payout. I didn't get on with it and the sympathy and encouragement I got to buy a bike I'd been wanting anyway... well it just worked out OK from my pov.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Anyway the guy I knew, a bright academic, asked for a screwdriver. In complete disbelief he carefully and without damaging it, removed the windscreen with just a screwdriver in a matter of minutes.

It ended up with the car guy driving to Manchester with his windscreen in the passenger side of the car and wearing sunglasses for protection!

I can see how that could be done, but I’m amazed someone didn’t just break a window and put him out of his misery sooner.

 

[Drago]

I used to love jobs with dogs trapped in cars during hot weather. One, two, three....smash!!!

Actually had to smash a tailgate window on an Audi after a lady closed it on her kids fingers. The tailgate then wouldn't open no matter what we tried and I was starting to become concerned by the lack of circulation in the childs fingers so did for the glass. Smahed it, and because it was surface mounted and went right tl the edge the fingers were free.

 

[Time Waster]

I can see how that could be done, but I’m amazed someone didn’t just break a window and put him out of his misery sooner.

I think there was a reason for that. The guy had a lot of security extras, possibly not all legal. Who knows, toughened glass side windows or something like that? All I know is that the only weak spot was the seals of the windscreen apparently.

 

[BrumJim]

I used to love jobs with dogs trapped in cars during hot weather. One, two, three....smash!!!

Actually had to smash a tailgate window on an Audi after a lady closed it on her kids fingers. The tailgate then wouldn't open no matter what we tried and I was starting to become concerned by the lack of circulation in the childs fingers so did for the glass. Smahed it, and because it was surface mounted and went right tl the edge the fingers were free.

@stranded motorist:
"Ah, glad you are here, officer, you see I've got my dogs in the car and...."
@Drago
"No problem! Your friendly bobby is here to help."
Smashes glass
"There you go - dogs are no longer trapped."
@stranded motorist:
"No, that's not the problem. I've got the key here. Its just that I've run out of petrol, but there's a fuel station just down the road and I don't want to leave the dogs here whilst I go to fill this can up...."

 

[Badger_Boom]

@stranded motorist:
"Ah, glad you are here, officer, you see I've got my dogs in the car and...."
@Drago
"No problem! Your friendly bobby is here to help."
Smashes glass
"There you go - dogs are no longer trapped."
@stranded motorist:
"No, that's not the problem. I've got the key here. Its just that I've run out of petrol, but there's a fuel station just down the road and I don't want to leave the dogs here whilst I go to fill this can up...."

That is exactly what happenned when I locked the keys in a work van late one friday.

The fleet guy finally arrived at my site at about 6pm on a dark and stormy November evening and asked me if I was sure the keys were inside, and I pointed to them on the seat. He returned to his van and I assumed he was going to get some cunning device to opent the door, but no he produced a lump hammer and smashed a side window. I had access to a shed full of hammers etc and I was so stunned that I wasn't even angry.