Sorry to hear your bad news sandsy, and hopefully the perpetrators will be caught and receive an appropriate punishment. It’s so annoying when people work hard and save hard to have nice things and some delinquent lowlife scumbags come along and think they’re entitled to just help themselves. In your position, I’d be hoping the car’s not recovered as it’s likely the @r53h0les that have stolen it will have ragged it to within an inch of its life. There’s also been a couple of forum members who’ve had the front bumper stolen off their cars! Although not as bad as having your car stolen, there’s the inconvenience of waiting for the car to be repaired, and the longer term cost of the impact of claiming for repairs on your insurance.
Like king monkey, I always garage my car. I know that many modern cars have outgrown the domestic garage and won’t fit, but I’d urge any one who has a garage that’s big enough to get their car in to use it. I see lots of people who live near me who could garage their car but choose to lock their £200 lawn mower securely away in the garage and leave their £20k-plus car outside to tempt would-be thieves. I personally value my car more highly than my lawn mower!, although my lawn mower is also locked away - in the shed.
Don’t let the thieving b@5tards win. Get the car you want, but take some sensible precautions such as upgrading your home security (locks, alarm and CCTV), garaging your car if you have a garage and the car will fit, fitting visible physical theft protection such as a Disklok and purchase GAP cover. Don’t buy GAP from the car dealer though as it tends to be horrendously expensive and can be bought much cheaper from the specialist GAP insurers on the open market.