House break-ins and car theft - johnnyrev
There has been a number of house break-ins around here (Sutton Coldfield) of late. The offenders break in, usually through a back door, find the car keys and take a car. It seems that SUV’s or newish German saloons are targeted.

Both of our neighbours have been victims in the last few weeks. One neighbour lost his Ford Ranger, but it was found (it was fitted with a tracker). The other neighbour woke at 5am this morning to find someone trying to open his back door with a screwdriver. The neighbour gave chase and after a brief altercation the thief sadly got away.

I’m not sure any of our three cars are at risk (Yaris, Logan, MX5) or attractive to thieves but nevertheless I have pondering the purchase of a steering wheel lock. Being a poor vicar on a posh road has its advantages, as most other houses have posher and more expensive cars, usually more than one!

But it’s still quite scary. Maybe car theft from homes are an easy target? What’s it like in other parts of the country, or further afield?
House break-ins and car theft - KB.

A Disklok is a pretty formidable thing to remove without a key. I haven't tried but feel pretty confident they'd put most thieves off. I bought mine when they were considerably cheaper but if it's something you're concerned about then there are always plenty on Ebay if you want to put something very visible on your car(s). Make sure you get at least two keys with it (them) though and get a clean looking example ... some look grubby.

House break-ins and car theft - daveyjp
Cars have always been stolen, as you say expensive ones are targetted.

Hide keys at night. Its amazing how you can give clues away as to where keys are kept and not realise.

Last year a Facebook post from a friend came up giving details of a neighbour who had had their Range Rover stolen. There was a photo of the damage to the front door.

On looking at other photos there was one of their kids in front of the same door a few weeks earlier (kids were in fancy dress, may even have been Halloween) and there in full display was a key rack next to the front door with Range Rover keys on full display,

If I could look at Facebook posts of someone I didn't even know, how many others could?

I also advise to fit sash jammers to external doors (especially uPVC onesj so when you are in you have a second locking mechanism should the main barrel lock be snapped. They cost about £2 each, two per door is enough.
House break-ins and car theft - gordonbennet

Not a problem that i'm aware of in our area but home security is something many people don't seem to take seriously, and they should because the police to be truthful are no longer worth bothering with or seemingly interested in such trifling matters as burglary, nor the protection of innocents and property, so assume you are on your own and make your home as difficult to access as possible.

Lockable gates proper ones that won't be driven through without writing the car off, wired (not wireless more trouble than its worth) burglar alarm with remote plipper so entire house is covered by PIR sensors with the room you sleep in optional switching, the professionals do this job best of all and the 4 figure investment is money well spent, that professional labelled alarm box outside flashing constantly is a big off-putter.

Good fences and if any of your borders are suitable plant thorn bushes of some sort outside, make it painful for them.

Proper door and window locks, worth investing a few ££ in putting self locking door handle on your bedroom, so in the event someone gets in the house at night they are literally going to have to break through the bedroom door to get to you because the outside handle does nothing when set inside and all this time the alarm is going off, obviously the door should be hinged outwards for best results.

Dog(s), not everyone's cup of tea but still honest man's best friend, not suggesting you should put them in danger but a couple of dogs in your bedroom with you going ballistic as they would at this point is not going to encourage the burglar.

Ouside PIR lights, these are surprisingly cheap and reliable, and keep at least one outside light on all night every night.

Thing is to make your home look as difficult or maybe even dangerous to attack as possible so these low life's go elsewhere.

Car wise i would not have a vehicle with keyless go.

House break-ins and car theft - Ethan Edwards

Video doorbell...at least you get a nice video of the yob stealing your car. Who knows it might make them go next door...

House break-ins and car theft - mss1tw

Funnily enough, my 16 year old CRV doesn't have me worried about this sort of thing.

Expensive fast cars are very nice, but does the fun outweigh the increasing downsides?

House break-ins and car theft - Ethan Edwards

Its radical I know but....I have a garage (double)...and I haven't turned it into a room or store worthless stuff in it. I use it to store my cars.. Yep unheard of.

House break-ins and car theft - Avant

A cheaper alternative to the good suggestion of a Disklock is a Stoplock - a lockable bar that goes across the steering wheel. Maybe not qute as difficult for a thief to remove as a Disklock but still a very visible incentive for a thief to go on the the next car which hasn;t got one.

Also avoid cars with keyless entry - a completely unnecessary accessory which sophisticated thieves are able to bypass electronically. I've no idea how - and wouldn't say so on a public forum if I did!

House break-ins and car theft - dan86

I would rather a thief stole my car with a laptop or some sort signal booster than break in to my house for the keys, but in another note I don't really drive a desirable car but my fun car is kept in a secure lockup that is alarmed and has CCTV with a hefty security gate that will take some ramming to get through, you'd need a light truck to be anywhere near successful and it would probably be dammed in way to stop it from driving much further.

Edited by dan86 on 27/03/2019 at 04:40

House break-ins and car theft - Senexdriver
Easy to become carried away with ideas of extreme security measures and “What I’d do if the scum come anywhere near my house blah blah” - but just a word of warning. If thieves are determined to steal your car and they manage to defeat your attempts to deny them entry to your home, if they can’t find the keys to your car they may come and find you and threaten you unless you hand them over.

I used to participate in an online Audi forum when I drove an A3 and at one time there were several posts from owners of S3s who’d had their cars stolen from their driveways by thieves breaking in and stealing their keys. There was the case of the owner who tried to stop the intruders and died from the injuries he sustained as a result.

I’m no expert, but I wouldn’t consider either of our cars particularly nick-able. Nevertheless, our keys sit on a hall table overnight. The table is not by the front door, but at the far end of the hall where it leads into the kitchen.
House break-ins and car theft - KB.

A cheaper alternative to the good suggestion of a Disklock is a Stoplock - a lockable bar that goes across the steering wheel. Maybe not qute as difficult for a thief to remove as a Disklock but still a very visible incentive for a thief to go on the the next car which hasn;t got one.

Indeed so. It has to be said the Disklok is a beast, although it only takes a second to fit once you've got the hang of it. Storage in the car is a bit of a moot point - they recommend keeping it the boot when not in use ... which would be a bit of a faff.

Apparently the "pro" version of the Stoplock is much more secure than the standard one. I spotted this summary online ....

In the end it came down to ease of use and storage, areas where the slender design of the Stoplock Pro gives it a clear advantage over the bulky Disklok. It looks very similar to other steering wheel locks, but the Stoplock Pro is very tough, with case-hardened parts that held our tools at bay for over five minutes.

House break-ins and car theft - Gibbo_Wirral

Diskloks are only going to be useful when the thieves are using a remote device to unlock and start the car.

If they're breaking into houses to take the car keys, they'll just take the Disklok key at the same time.

House break-ins and car theft - retgwte

I had a disclok, it covered the entire inside of the car in yellow dust from the enamel paint it is covered in. Binned it because of that.

House break-ins and car theft - KB.

I had a disclok, it covered the entire inside of the car in yellow dust from the enamel paint it is covered in. Binned it because of that.

Have to say I've owned, and used, two yellow ones for something like twenty years - and never notice that.

I did have a silver one too but it went with the car when I was car jacked on Epping New Road. (clearly Diskloks have their limitations)

House break-ins and car theft - SLO76
I’ve a great security device in my house. Four legs, big nose and a tendency to eat uninvited intruders.
House break-ins and car theft - CHarkin

A report on the BBC on this subject.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47721590

Unfortunately for me the Toyota I was planning to buy is one of the most vulnerable. Its a brand new model so its a bit disappointing the problem has not been sorted.

Our young Irish terrier does a great job of telling us if anything comes down the driveway at night, even if its only a hedgehog !!!

House break-ins and car theft - Miniman777

In my part of SW Leicestershire, there has been a spate of car thefts, attempted thefts or break-ins to vehicles.

A number of cases have been on roads where the street lights are turned off at midnight (surprise, surprise), however in one case, in broad daylight, entry was made to an unoccupied house, two sets of keys located, one to move a car blocking a BMW which was then stolen - and abandoned 5 miles away.

Determined thieves may persist, and as owners of nice expensive cars, you need to make it as difficult as possible and use measures like gates, CCTV, sensor lighting, car tracking, Disklok, locking post etc or or combinations. Putting keys in a safe could render the occupants to violence, there's no easy answer.

Remote relay theft: BMW changed the circuitry in the keys of models from March 2018 so after 2 mins of inactivity, the wireless signal stops. This reduces wireless theft risk. Some cars can be retrofitted by buying new keys and reprogramming. BMW pays 70% of cost of new keys. Just had the new keys fitted and programmed for my car and it cost £168 in vat.

Dont be surprised if your dealer's reception pulls a face and says no, took me 3 visits to get it sorted. But it is possible.