Some ( expletive deleted) little thief disappeared with all four wheeltrims off my company Vectra on Sunday night from outside my house.
Its not the cost although its around £80 to replace , its just the principle.Why can't they keep their theiving mitts to themselves.
Is it worth even bothering the police with something like this or should I just pay up - and whats to stop them coming back and nicking 'em again ? GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
|
Make the scumbags life a bit harder by fixing the new set on with cable ties.
Just remember to keep some snips in your tool kit if you need to change a wheel on the roadside.
HTH
Charles
|
|
It isnt always the little ones that do it.cable ties dont make it more difficult for them to nick em ie snip/snip pull gone-leaving cable ties broken and hanging from wheels albeit no trims.
|
|
|
|
Clean the black steel wheels up and enjoy making people think you're unmarked plod.
But seriously, I had the same a few years ago, replaced the full set and fastened them on with a couple of zip ties each.
Just remember to make sure you've a small knife or blade to get them off at the roadside if need be.
The alternative is to buy a cheap and nasty after market set that probably won't appeal to the thieving toerags!
PP
|
toe-rags may not come back again now that they've saved themselves £80!!
ask company very nicely for some nice shiny alloys with locking nuts.
|
|
|
"fastened them on with a couple of zip ties each."
Can't see how this traditional method is any kind of deterrent, since "a small knife or blade to get them off at the roadside" is not exactly rocket science, is it? Does stop the trims falling off by accident, though.
|
Granted it won't stop the determined thief, but it would slow them down a bit and would put off an opportunist.
PP
|
|
|
|
|
I would urge you to report it to police ... although I fear that there is very little chance it would rank as high enough priority to investigate :(
However, at at least it would get recorded as a crime. Recording crime has all sorts of benefits, not least in setting future policing priorities
|
|
NoWheel(trim) is right - you should report it to the police in order to get it recorded. Aside from the statistical benfits theirs a chance that plod will catch these people in another incident and recover your trim
|
NoWheel(trim) is [snip]
thanks for giving me a laugh!
actually, my all-time favourite car (I mean favourite one I owned) was an 80s Peugeot. It had no wheel trims: steel wheels, but painted shiny. Looked fine, and no trims to nick, I wonder why makers don't still fit that sort of arrangement.
|
|
|
|
|
I'm dubious about doing this. Over the last two months I've had two people in my car looking for the front to my radio. The first used a screwdriver on the lock, the second took out the back quarterlight (F plate Golf). I've not reported either incident, and fixed both myself. If the reported level of (motor) crime goes up in an area, aren't insurance premiums going to as well? What do others think?
|
I've reported it and we'll see what happens. Very nice lady in W Sussex Police HQ gave me a crime number and some sympathy, I've also let our local neighbourhood watch co ordinator know. I'm not holding my breath for the flying squad but the police did promise to contact me within 48 hours.
I'll let you know what happens.
|
|
|
If the reported level of (motor) crime goes up in an area, aren't insurance premiums going to as well?
I thought preimums would be based more on claims experience than on police figures?
|
You might want to try looking in the hedges a small way away from your house. Often the local yobs steal stuff like this because they can and then just chuck it.
I would still have their hands cut off and thief branded on their stupid low foreheads though.
|
|
You can report anything you like if want to swell the stats and records. My partner had £5000 worth of equipment stolen from her garage, oily handprints on the white paint of the garage door. All she got for reporting it was a crime number and a letter personally adressed to "Dear Victim" from Victim Support who at least made an effort. She complained to the local force Superintendent and got a letter regretting the level of support she had/had not received and then a Crime Reduction Officer called on his way to work (at 10am!). They can't call themselves Crime Prevention Officers because they can't prevent crime, only reduce it. I hasten to add that I am not mocking the police, it is just an example of the silly PC stuff that pervades our lives.
|
I have often seen wheeltrims with tie wraps on them and thought they were there to prevent the wheeltrim coming off at speed. I never knew they were put on as a measure of theft prevention, mainly because I don't think it is. The thief who has no respect for other people's property and/or the law likely isn't going to be too worried about carrying a blade with them which they can use to cut the tiewraps off.
I would go without hubcaps rather than pay to replace them and have to lose sleep wondering when they will disappear again. As for reporting it to the police, if you honestly don't feel that they can do anything for you, then reporting it is only going to cost you time, effort and possibly frustration in realizing that they are no help when previously you only thought they would be no help.
|
|
Tie-wraps on your wheel trims are like burglar alarms on houses - they don't make it impossible, just more difficult than the one next to you.
|
This might cheer you a little, helicopter (with indulgence from the mods)
Airshow conversation overheard between Pleasure Flight Helicopter and passing Chinook pilot:
PFH: Give us a lift.
Chinook: Inside or outside?
|
Couple of things to add to this - definitely report it. Some neighbours in my estate were wanting some action done re quad bikes and teenagers hanging about vandalising etc. However, the police response was that there had never been a single complaint made, which was true as the residents felt there was no point!
Secondly, do wheel trims not provide a small protection against some ned coming along with a wrench and loosening off some of your wheel bolts, just for a laugh, as they do. Yes, I know if they want to do it they will do it, but as previously mentioned, maybe don't make it too easy for them?
|
|
|
|
|
Problem is Mark it is no more difficult than pulling trims off.as I said before.tensile strenght is fantastic on them but sheer strenght well?
|
|
|
|
|
|
NoWheels is right.
We can't (collectively) whinge about the police never doing anything to help but then never tell them about crimes that do happen.
You never know, they might act on this type of thing one day if we keep telling them about it.
|
Well, let me tell you one problem with reporting this crime. The police will be VERY unhappy about it and will do everything in their power to stop you doing so.
A crime reported and not solved is a black mark for their statistics.
I have direct experience of this from a couple of years ago living in Milton Keynes and running a company car. Under the company policy all thefts had to be reported and a crime number obtained otherwise you were personally responsible for the loss. The hubcaps on my company Vauxhall Cavalier were ALWAYS being nicked and I always had to report it.
THE POLICE DID NOT LIKE THIS!
|
I can see why they don't like it, because they are drowning in paperwork anyway ... and if they don't think they can solve a crime, then recording it messes up their clearup rates.
But the clearup rates are a bit artificial, because crime reporting is so low. That's why govt uses the British Crime Survey instead.
And they really should be getting civilians to handle the reporting of petty theft like this.
So don't feel guilty when they moan about you reporting crime :)
|
A bit like your GP moaning at you because you got ill, isn't it?.
Or getting told off by the bin men because you put your wheelie bin out rather than take your rubbish to the tip yourself.
I wonder how my manager would react if I told him that I don't want to be assigned any work, but still expected to be paid?.
|
Had a phone call back from a PC within an hour of ringing them , very friendly , polite and sympathetic , took the details - why do they want to know your age?? and gave it a crime number. He advised there had been a spate of this sort of thing locally.
I don't hold out any hope of getting them back but I do feel better for reporting it.
It could have been worse. I was reminded of Les Dawson talking on television about Liverpool where he'd had his hubcaps nicked - whats unusual about that says the interviewer, its quite common in Liverpool-- Yes Sez Les but I was doing 70mph at the time...
|
|
|
|
|
