Parking on a drive

[ferrelscent]

Some good thoughts here thanks.

It's not so much the loss of the car but waking up to some tossers in the house having broken in to get keys.

 

[Hilly30si]

My two main cars are left on the drive, I never worry after all it’s why we pay insurance

 

[KevBrowne]

I live in a road with only semi detached, ex-council houses, none of which have garages. The road is full of mercs, bmws, audis etc, prob all on pcp but still all expensive cars. Just take normal common sense precautions, don't leave anything on show etc and go for it.

 

[Armscarf]

[ref]ferrelscent[/ref], Lets get down to it, what's your postcode? I used to live in southeast London and Bexley is very different from Dartford. I appreciate that you might not want to put your postcode on the forum, alternatively you could put all your details into Compare the Market or Confused.com and get insurance quotes for leaving the car on the drive and anther set of quotes for having it garaged. I know you dont have a garage but the difference in costs between the two sets of quotes will give you a good idea of the risk based on previous claims in your area.

 

[Ewazix]

Keyless entry systems on cheaper cars are the big concern with Fiesta being the most pinched and vulnerable,
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/four-of-uks-best-selling-cars-at-high-risk-of-keyless-theft-study-a4050346.html

also the obvious premium targets, most of which on this list will be above the £35k mark in a desirable format TBH, where scrotes are also likely to put your house door in to get the keys.
https://www.confused.com/on-the-road/safety/uk-most-stolen-cars-revealed

I think you will have it covered as best as possible with a RFD pouch and good driveway post.

 

[gIzzE]

A £35k year old Volvo estate is also very different to a £35k RS3.

I got followed home twice in my M3 CSL which was a bit worrying, It does make you wonder if nice cars are worth it.

 

[Roberltd2]

Don't think I've ever seen a lowlife in a stolen Z4 being chased by the cops on Police Interceptors for example. Perhaps the old Zed is not so useful in the county lines business. :|

 

[ferrelscent]

What do think the main targets are...high end cars stolen to sell, or just anything high performance to use in crime ?

Or a bit of both ?

 

[Mr Tidy]

From what I have read the most popular targets seem to be newish Golf Rs, Audi S3s, BMW M cars, Audi RSs, etc.

But valuable classics like Sierra Cosworths, RS Escorts and Mustangs still seem to be targeted.

With most other cars it seems to be more thefts from the car than theft of the car.

The only one I know about first hand was a few years ago when a neighbour had left the front door unlocked because he was expecting his son to come home late. The scrotes nicked his VW key, but didn't realise it was for his 2000 Golf VR6 not next door's current plate GTi. :lol:

 

[scootr]

The Honda civic remains the most stolen car in America. I guess we know now who is buying the most stolen bits :roll:

 

[Ewazix]

According to the UK Insurance industry, the UK's top ten most stolen cars are basically the things you would expect see an East European gangster driving, with room in the back for girls/minders and a boot big enough for a body ......

1. Range Rover Sport
2. BMW X5
3. Mercedes-Benz C-Class
4. Range Rover Vogue
5. Land Rover Discovery
6. BMW X6
7. Range Rover Evoque
8. BMW 3 Series
9. Range Rover Autobiography
10. Mercedes-Benz E-Class

92% of high-end cars were stolen without keys with keyless entry being a big problem, most went abroad.

 

[groovy_hippy]

Ultimately if someone wants to nick something or break in, then they will find a way...it’s all about making your stuff harder to nick or simply less noticeable, or just not worth the risk/reward trade off...or something that’s too hard to move on after it’s been pinched. Would you pinch an anonymous rep-mobile that you could put on fake plates and export, or something noticeable, rare and challenging to drive? ;-)

 

[Dark Diggler]

I used to have a 335D touring, std msport with 18’s in grey, nothing flash about it really. I used to park it on my drive nose in badge facing out.
Got woken in the night last year to 2 chaps in balaclava’s making their way into my house. We had a run round the garden for a bit and a bit of a wrestle at the side gate, they kept shouting for the keys and tried to screwdriver me through the gate as I was bolting it for good measure. I thought they’d go after that but then went round to the front and tried kicking my front door in, they smashed the glass and asked for the keys again and reminded me they would stab me for them. When they worked out that they definitely weren’t getting the key they did 1.5k of damage to the rear of the car and left, leaving me in my hallway surrounded by glass in my undies and my wife and son very distressed upstairs Apparently they did another house a few miles away straight after mine and had already done one before mine.

I would imagine that they cruise around estates late evening scouting and select the easiest pickings.
Visible deterrents are better than none, posts and steering locks are good as it complicates the job, 3 keys to find is more time and risk. Cameras in my opinion would not deter the team that visited me, stealth would have probably been preferable but they really weren’t bothered about the noise and hung around long after it got rowdy, they were keen.

The car was leased but I couldn’t wait to get rid, It’s taken a long time to get over it in all honesty and it still lingers. I now have a 3 year old Caddy on the drive that hopefully isn’t attractive to the organised groups breaking into houses for newish fast cars In my area (Now a big problem where I live).
My advice is just my opinion after my event, I would say park it away from your house so they don’t know where to look for the keys.
Insurance covers broken stuff and stolen stuff, the rest of what follows is worth avoiding if you can.
I have heard many stories of worse situations than mine, some were way worse.

Better to not be selected for the crime in the first place is my last comment

 

[Armscarf]

[ref]Dark Diggler[/ref], Horrific, we shouldn't have to live in a fearful society but yet here we are. I wish I had the answer.