I hate VW.. I really do. :-(

JR Hartley ( snipped-for-privacy@dsl.pipex.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

All cars are easy to get into, some are worse though, the trick is to make sure there is nothing visible inside to tempt them. VW places sell a lock reinforcement thing to make a breakin harder, but all they have to do is break a window.

mrcheerful

"mrcheerful ." wrote in news:aPyWe.109666$ snipped-for-privacy@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

I find it hard to blame a car manufacturer if the hateful thieving bastards that we have to share a planet with refuse to just FOAD.

The message from "mrcheerful ." contains these words:

What, no deadlocks?

That's the annoying thing though, nothing was on display because I knew that would risk a break-in. There was absolutely nothing worth taking! The things they did take were an unopened Wrigley extra 5-pack of chewing gum and a folded strap (what was it for anyway?) that was in the centre arm rest console.

This is the second attempt already, and the first successful one.

I'd love to know why the other cars on the road weren't targetted.

Any advice on what I should do now? All I can think of doing is fixing it and selling it on quickly.

I really want to write to VW UK expressing my disappointment about their poor security standards - even the police were aware of the particular 'quirk' that allowed the thief to drop the windows and disable the alarm.

:-(

JR

I'd love to help those b*stards to FOAD.. wish I had CCTV... or maybe a rottweiler or two.

Time to think of something... I have a feeling those b*stards will return.

JR

What amazes me is how few people with garages actually use them for their cars. They leave their expensive cars on the drive - and lock away junk in their garages. I've been driving cars now for over 40 years and I've never ever suffered a break in. I always lock my car away in my garage overnight - and when I'm parking somewhere at night I always find somewhere well lit, make sure there's nothing on view in the car and *always* remove the fascia from my radio/cd. Taking simple precautions much reduces the risk - but so many people just don't give a damn.

Kev

Uno Hoo! ( snipped-for-privacy@dropthisbigfoot.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Very few flymos or barbecues have central locking and alarms, and a car is much less likely to suffer from the weather over the course of a couple of years than a box full of stuff that you're storing for Auntie Doris while she moves house.

Or the garage is full of tumble dryer / chest freezer and motorbikes, in my case.

This is mainly because modern houses are built with kitchens that are too small to put all your appliances in [1], and garages are too small to fit anything but a car by itself. Grrrr!

[1] I'd happily have paid more money for a 3 bed house with abig kitchen and double garage, but it's assumed that anyone who wants these also needs a 4-6 bedroom house.

Fair comment, except the place where I'm living doesn't have a garage. Its times like this when I wish we had one....

There's also a lamppost right outside the drive... so it's well lit anyway. Nothing was on view... but unfortunately the standard VW Gamma headunit doesn't have a removable facia :-(

JR.

Much as I like my Gamma head unit, I'll be the first to admit that a removable panel isn't a problem as they're not worth nicking.

I am sure the fact you have mentioned that all the windows are down points to something to do with the locks on the car and a possible 'valet mode' or something. This was a well known problem with mk4 Golf's I believe. You have to take it to a dealer and get them to deactivate this mode. Do a google search. Others on this newsgroup may be able to tell you more, I stick to mk2 Golf's.

Chris

The message from "Uno Hoo!" contains these words:

Where else am I supposed to put the welder, the drill press, the woodworking machinery, the trailer, the rowing machine, the camping equipment, the timber stocks and so on. All in all they're worth far more than an elderly Audi.

I use it for one of my cars. Usually the one that's being restored.

Unfortunately the other 11 have to stand outside ;-)

CCTV is not terribly expensive, especially compared with a 51 reg car. I have a dual-camera PIR system which records to a standard remote-control VCR, which cost under £500. I haven't had an attempted breakin since I fitted them a couple of years ago. New systems dispense with the VCR altogether and record to a hard drive. For example

What's your car, your NCD and your peace of mind worth?

Which are fairly trivial to break into...

But worth bugger all.

Then have the factory alarm disabled and put on a different one....

That's not why people try to break into cars IMO. It's for the stuff inside or to drive the thing around. People seem to want to drive my MK2 GTi...