Stolen…. Kings Red CS45

[Foxy367]

Sorry to hear this,

I have a disklok on mine but then if they came in for the keys they'd have undoubtedly got the key for that too.

It annoys me that the cars have the capability of being tracked but are so easy to reset or turn off and disappear.

I'd be interested to see how a muffled Apple Airtag might work let us know if you do it and its inaudible that would be really helpful though as I understand they would still get a message there was one there if they had an Apple phone?

[WelshGolf]

Awful, after not having a car for a year, I don't think I want the anxiety of worrying about a brand new one now.

[king monkey]

Bloody hell Carl! I’m so sorry to hear this. Our cars were neck and neck from ordering to delivery. Wish I had some words of wisdom. I’ll post it on Twitter if you like.

[Boothy1979]

Really sorry for your loss mate. Sounds like I’m saying someone has died but you must be gutted. One of my favourite cars on here was yours. I hope you get some good news, you never know.

On the subject of tracking. Can you still reset the settings if you have the pin code option on start up? I had it on for a while but took so long to start up I turned it off.

[Carl_45]

Cheers all.

So, we’ve got home from holiday this afternoon, checked the entire house thoroughly, not a single thing was taken other than my car key. Forensics have been out this evening and it definitely sounds like a professional job targeting the car.

The police have been good and taken it much more seriously than I first thought they were, I’ve sent images to the assigned detective and they’ve issued to “on beat cops” and motorway patrol incase they spot it on false plates or parked on a side street whilst the lowlife confirm it’s not being tracked.

I am gutted truth be told, I think it’s the whole waiting for so long and the fact it can’t be replaced easily. I’ve looked at the ones on auto trader in white, I do like white and I wasn’t even sure on red when I ordered it, but red really grew on me. I’m really not sure what I’ll do yet if it’s not recovered, I’m seriously considering a cheap thrills Ford streetKA for a few months and if the second hand market settles I’ll consider something then.

I have been considering a little mk3 MR2 as a track day car for a while, it’s something I’d like to get in to, but that’d not be practical as a sole car due to the school run.

[fredgroves]

On the subject of tracking. Can you still reset the settings if you have the pin code option on start up? I had it on for a while but took so long to start up I turned it off.

Yes because it's a German car and they are obcessed about privacy. It wouldn't be allowed to stop someone from disabling the location transmission....

However I suspect that the bad guys this time simply deployed a signal jammer that killed the mobile signal and probably any other tracker that might have been fitted. Until they have it inside of a container and can sweep for transmitters.

[Carl_45]

When I spoke to VW We connect in Germany, he told me they had performed a master reset of the infotainment system, this is done by pressing a sequence of buttons in the correct order, I’ve not googled it but I suspect you can find it somewhere. They knew to do this as I got an email 25 mins after the CCTV shows the car being driven away saying services have been deactivated.

My app basically shows me as no longer “connected” to the car and says to reactivate the services via the infotainment system.

He said they’ve had requests before, but they’re “not allowed” to switch the services back on remotely.

I presume they could with the correct warrant, however, even the my assigned police detective says it gets very tricky as soon as you have to start dealing other countries legislation. She says the best hope is an ANPR trigger of a potential false plate.

I’ve learnt a lot recently about security and especially how easily the cheaper door locks can be broken but also how cheaply that can be replaced yourself to much better ones, so, I’ll write a long detailed post with my advice and learnings in a few days time. We (or at least I thought we did) live in a relatively nice area, yet the way it’s happened has thought me this could happen anywhere to anyone. I thought we were quite security conscious, but the way these people brazenly operate really has shocked me.

[SRGTD]

@Carl_45; it’s always awful to hear about experiences such as yours. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that you weren’t at home, as you and your family members are all safe which is the important thing; a car can be replaced, but family members can’t. Hopefully the perpetrators will be caught and get their just deserts.

I know hindsight’s a wonderful thing, but do you have a garage that you could’ve put your car in while you were away? Out of sight is out of mind and if the low life’s that took your car hadn’t been able to see it parked up, then you might still have it.

Many people these days just use a garage as a dumping ground for unwanted clutter, but I keep mine clear so I can garage my car while I’m not using it. My garage is only a ‘standard’ 1980’s size which is quite small to accommodate many modern cars, but a mk7 Golf will fit even though it’s a bit of a squeeze - I tried it a few years ago when I had one as a courtesy car for a day while my car was being serviced. As a mk7 / mk7.5 would fit, I’d expect to be able to get a mk8 in my small standard sized garage too.

Anyway, glad you’re OK, and hopefully you can put this awful experience behind you and move on. Take care.   

[joe6]

Really sad for you Carl. People on this site are enthusiasts and take care of their cars so you must be really gutted especially as a like for like replacement could be almost impossible. You seem very sanguine about it. Not sure I would be as calm. Glad the family are all ok.

[phope]

I suppose VW don't market the We Connect as an insurance approved tracking system, and instead more as a convenience tool for remembering where you parked the car

For something insurance approved, you'd need to step up to a Ghost type immobilising system and/or a full blown remote tracking & immobilisation service like this https://www.vehicletrackingtech.co.uk/vodafone-protect-connect-s5-vts.html and https://www.vehicletrackingtech.co.uk/vodafone-protect-connect-6.html