Another stolen GTI

[Pixwix]

Very sorry to see your post, have some inkling of how you are feeling. Hope you get sorted without too much fuss.
My experience has made me a bit paranoid, only yesterday I was keeping a close eye on a leaflet deliverer who seemed to be checking out my security bollard, of course he might legitimately have been tying his shoelace. 
Frustrating thing for me is the not knowing how they got onto the car and yeah the fact they've have been in your house is the worst.
My insurance assessor was the best and his parting words were 'don't let the buggers stop you getting another'.

[golfdave]

glad you are ok, no garage then?

Start looking at all locks & beefing up actual toughness of doors etc.

get sacrificial snap (called anti snap) locks..ie even if they break the lock it still remains locked..

I got new euro cylinders (ABS) 3star versions from

http://www.barnsleylockandsafe.co.uk/

if worried about the door being weak then surface metal reinforcing plates.

http://www.kickstop.co.uk/

[dave7268]

Thanks for the comments everyone. As I mentioned you are great peeps on here and the encouragement is fantastic.

Nah, no garage and not even enough room on property to have one built.

Wasn't until now that I've realised how much hassle it is not to have a car after over 30 years of ownership and never once had a car stolen.

Being a 1 car family now poses difficulties in all aspects, from getting to/from work, doing the weekly shop, etc. You all know what I mean and then there is the increased financial side of matters..... if and when I decide to get another car I will have lost my full no claims discount and my insurance will go sky high 

How they go through the back door was so easy.... The basically pried up the cylinder cover and pulled the cylinder lock out in one piece. No drilling or such and that meant the door handle could be used to open the door!


Quick question if anyone can help. Obviously I have notified the insurance company and I take it that they give it around 30 days for the car to be recovered before paying out. I also have GAP insurance covering me till 29th Oct this year. I take it if my car insurance is going to take over 30 days to get sorted out then I would not be able to claim on the GAP as it will have expired?? I am right in thinking this?  If that is the case then this is gona hurt (financially) big time...

[Pixwix]

Assuming you don't get the car back Dave7268 or,especially if it is written off (sorry) don't forget to tell your insurance company that you want to keep your plate, then it's just a case of waiting the year out till you get the opportunity to it back, went quicker than I thought.

I know it will be no comfort to you but I felt really guilty about the upset to the rest of my family that resulted from the damage caused  by them not gaining access via a lock but by heaving a paving slab through the patio door onto a wooden floor.

By the way my insurance on renewal was not too bad, original insurer would not reinsure but still got similar quotes to previous years. Just made sure I got quotes that provided a courtesy car for a decent period if insured car stolen, not all policies have that.

[phope]

Really sorry to hear this, but glad you're all physically OK

[Moots]

Complete bastards. Hope they catch them, glad everyone is ok.

[I wanted a GTi]

If the want the car bad enough they will try anything. This happened very close to me recently http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-birmingham-41414772/motorist-attacked-in-attempted-car-jacking-in-shirley

[dave7268]

Thanks for the advice Pixwix - never thought on about the cherished number plate - that's a pain in the butt too!

Just checked my insurance policy and I am not covered to get a courtesy car - damn 

CSI have just been out but didn't manage to get any prints - too smudged and nothing was captured on the CCTV in the area (camera pointing in other direction).

If the want the car bad enough they will try anything.

This is so true - no matter how secure you can make a place they will get in if they really want to and don't care about the mayhem they leave in their wake.

[golfdave]

How they go through the back door was so easy.... The basically pried up the cylinder cover and pulled the cylinder lock out in one piece. No drilling or such and that meant the door handle could be used to open the door!

Yep plenty of vids on utube of this, standard euro cylinder locks 15secs to get it...You need anti-snap (sacrificial) locks...a fews secs to install & stop them from getting as the outer part rips off leaving a solid protected inner part:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYh371UjbEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkGfQ-UA2Ps

Oh & the ABS locks were updated a couple of years ago just after the key bump tools for these locks exploited a weakness (see utube vids), so they are even more secure & about the best 3star out there...

[Mark V GTD]

Very sorry to hear this :-(

But please contact your GAP insurers now!  The incident has occured within the policy lifespan so you should be covered.