Stolen Car

[Petrol Pete]

How about a system that if the car is broken into then after 1 or 2 minutes all the doors lock and a canister of phosgene gas is released.

Two fold benefit, a reduction in car theft and also the prison population.

I don't know why this is not common (except for the gas bit..I wish) , 'Anti hijack' was common in South Africa even 30 years ago. Usually a simple timer that cut the fuel pump off a set time after the drivers door was opened with the engine running. The idea was that if the driver was ordered out of her car at gunpoint the door would be opened ,the timer would start and the bad guy would be sitting 5 miles away in a dead car within minutes. There were also simple versions of the now widely acclaimed Ghost software. Silly things like the indicator stalk had to be in the left position and foot on the brake before the car would start etc. Ghost is nothing new.

 

[Rory]

I don't know why this is not common (except for the gas bit..I wish) , 'Anti hijack' was common in South Africa even 30 years ago.

Didn't people in South Africa fit flame throwers to the side of their cars to stop hijacking?

 

[rf065]

How else are you supposed to secure your car?

By double clicking the key fob when you lock it for the night, which disables the keyless go, which in turn renders their attemps to hi jack the signal from your key 100% impossible.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Didn't people in South Africa fit flame throwers to the side of their cars to stop hijacking?

There was a guy that designed one that flamed from under the sill. Another was a steel blade that swung out (from under the sill) and smashed shins.....I'd hate to own one of those cars and be getting in or out when it misfired. I had a system that called out a chopper with armed responders - they guaranteed to have the car back in 2 hours - however the hijackers got to know about it so they just shot the driver before he could activate the tracker. Back then, I could not get insurance unless the system was fitted - bit of a 'Catch 22'.

I believe the boys at Autowatch who developed the Ghost are from SA.

The problem remains that nothing is fool proof / guaranteed to save your car if the thief is determined enough especially, if teh car is being stolen to order.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Didn't people in South Africa fit flame throwers to the side of their cars to stop hijacking?

Yes, but that was a bit of a novelty. They messed up by using gas instead of a liquid propellant that would actually stick to clothing , think Napalm as a better solution, a guy comes at you with an AK47 with the intention of stealing your car, burning his eyebrows and melting his best trakkie bottoms while at the same time leaving him still able to rob you is not a good idea. He might get angry.

 

[Teego]

Used to be the case in Italy that rich people drove shabby cars. The reason was not to avoid highjacks but to hide from the tax police. Same with their houses. Shitty looking apartment block in Rome but a palace inside. Those people don't have to display their wealth. Other rich people know who has the money and they don't care to impress the proles.

 

[Maxi4]

I had my E220 cabriolet stolen of my drive yesterday 28/01 despite all the security gadgets. Was wondering isn't it high time Mercedes invested in better security for their cars. When I spoke to the dealership, they told me that 5 had been stolen this week alone. How else are you supposed to secure your car?

Sorry to hear this and I hope you recover the car intact. Its a scarier world we live in today

All the best

Pete

 

[Maxi4]

By double clicking the key fob when you lock it for the night, which disables the keyless go, which in turn renders their attemps to hi jack the signal from your key 100% impossible.

I do this every time I lock the car (wife's has the keyless go) in the belief that this would stop the key transmitting. I hope that's what double clicking does! One little step in stopping these types of robberies!!!

Pete

 

[Bellow]

Used to be the case in Italy that rich people drove shabby cars. The reason was not to avoid highjacks but to hide from the tax police. Same with their houses. Shitty looking apartment block in Rome but a palace inside. Those people don't have to display their wealth. Other rich people know who has the money and they don't care to impress the proles.

Except here we'll more likely follow the methods of say Brazil, where the wealthy live in gated compounds and never venture out without armed guards.
Save a fortune on tax and have no police, spend two fortunes on personal security.

 

[Petrol Pete]

As Bellow says , the rich in many countries like South Africa and Jamaica live in prisons of their own making for fear of being robbed/killed/take hostage.

But they have to come out sometime. Its quite a sad way to live, but in South Africa it's not just luxury vehicles that are taken. Spare parts are needed for even the lowliest of Toyota's (not often because they hardly ever break down !, but you get my drift) as a result driving around in an old car does not make you immune from car jacking.

I hear some tell the driver to get out , shoot him dead thereby leaving no witness and keeping blood and brains off the interior trim, which would greatly affects the car's re sale value.

 

[sonnenschein3000]

I hear some tell the driver to get out , shoot him dead thereby leaving no witness and keeping blood and brains off the interior trim, which would greatly affects the car's re sale value.

Its almost unbelievable that sections of the human race could be this low. What a crap world we live in.

 

[Thrash]

When reading about the Tesla Model 3 I saw there was a 'PIN to drive' feature, I'm surprised it's not a feature on more cars these days.

 

[sonnenschein3000]

I remember BMWs in the late 90s/early 00s having a immobilisation code that you could set via the central MID screen or Navigation screen (depending on equipment), so the next time you come to start the engine it'll ask you for the code. However, if I remember correctly, you had to manually set it up after each successful ignition cycle.

 

[ShaunB]

By double clicking the key fob when you lock it for the night, which disables the keyless go, which in turn renders their attemps to hi jack the signal from your key 100% impossible.

Indeed that does work.
But the newer model now have movement sensors in the key.
My key disables itself after a short period of time, but I used to do the double press trick on my previous E63

OP, sorry to hear about your car getting taken.
What year was it?
If it wasn't a very new model, I assume you didn't know about the double press trick

 

[219]

Not directly related, but this reminds me of something that happened a few years back to Mrs MJ.

After repeated theft of worthless items (toys left by the kids) from her car that involved smashing a side window, she decided to simply leave the car parked in the street unlocked at night, on the premise that there wasn't anything worth stealing anyway but at least the thieves won't be breaking the glass again.

This arrangement seems to have worked well for a while, until one fine day when she was about to drive the kids to school and found a homeless person fast a sleep in her car, sleeping bag and all. I came outside and had a word with the chap, turns out he was a young Irish lad that left home to try his luck in the Big Smoke. He had a five pound note and a mobile phone on his person... I wished him well and off he went.

Back to the OP... sorry to hear this. We live in a sad world where some people just can't be bothered to engage in productive work and try and better themselves through gainful employment, instead they try to feed off the hard work of others. On the plus side, it's only metal and plastic (yes, I know, I love my car too..) and will get sorted by your insurer. Life goes on...

I have a friend who does leave his cars unlocked with the keys in , but he tends to run bangers no one would steal , if they could get them to start .

Re leaving cars unlocked , when a previous employer opened a Glasgow offfice the boss was over one day and came out to find the window of his BMW smashed and the stereo gone - on reporting it to police he mused ‘ but it wasn’t even locked ! ‘.

 

[219]

Used to be the case in Italy that rich people drove shabby cars. The reason was not to avoid highjacks but to hide from the tax police. Same with their houses. Shitty looking apartment block in Rome but a palace inside. Those people don't have to display their wealth. Other rich people know who has the money and they don't care to impress the proles.

Most rich people I know didn’t get rich by spending money frivolously ; one never fills the kettle full before boiling and will walk to the other end of a shopping mall to save a penny !

 

[rf065]

Re leaving cars unlocked , when a previous employer opened a Glasgow offfice the boss was over one day and came out to find the window of his BMW smashed and the stereo gone - on reporting it to police he mused ‘ but it wasn’t even locked ! ‘.

I parked a van in Glasgow ans left it unlocked, came back and both front door locks and the rear door locks had been butchered with a screwdriver.

 

[219]

I parked a van in Glasgow ans left it unlocked, came back and both front door locks and the rear door locks had been butchered with a screwdriver.

Somehow the ‘like’ button seems inappropriate

 

[Deleted member 126251]

I parked a van in Glasgow ans left it unlocked, came back and both front door locks and the rear door locks had been butchered with a screwdriver.

Back in the 60s my friend's dad worked at a clothing wholesaler in Johannesburg. The store cat died and they didn't know what to do with the body. The packer took the body put it in a cardboard box, wrapped it in brown paper and tied the parcel with string. He then got the manager's car (plenty street parking in those days) keys and left the neatly wrapped parcel on the front seat with the window open and car unlocked. The parcel soon vanished.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

I’m still waiting to hear how they jammed the cctv!?