Deep Blue Mica

I'm close to buying a P1 and naturally I'm VERY worried about these thieving scumbag *******s, but I can assure you all that Tracker really does work and can't be disabled that quickly.....my current car was recovered in 30 minutes down a quiet lane totally undamaged, but best of all............the two ****** were found hiding nearby in woods (presumably because they were not sure that Tracker was fitted! ) by smart-thinking Plod.....oh joy and happiness!
We all need to defend our property like men and show these *******s that we mean business and that we will not stand idly by while they drive off with our hard-earned dreams.......

pslewis

Hiya Spudgun - you feel better in your 'blend-in' vehicle?? this is a very serious point isnt it?? Is it REALLY worth all the agro??

Whats the best car that doesnt draw attention to itself??

I would never advise anyone to fight the scum - unless they are just a bunch of kids!! these are organised gangs 'tooled up' with a customer waiting in the middle east for your lovely shiny P1 - they have been watching you and your car for weeks, they know what they need to do to take it off you ... so dont mess with them

Pete

NeilS

I agree with you there Pete. If they want it they will get it.

I heard of someone, an employee at IM, who took a new WRX home one night recently. He was obviously followed and at 11pm a couple of to**ers broke in and got him to hand over the keys at gunpoint, you don't ask questions.

I have Clifford's anti hijack on my MY00, hopefully I will never need it.

Neil.

spudgun

actually pete, im chuffed to bits mate. its everything i wanted and more besides! i do still intend to get a cheap , early wrx 5 door later on though. this i will mod cheaply and have a bit of fun on my day off. as an 'only' car, i didnt find my scooby worth the aggro really.
im actually sleeping well at night at the moment. stupid thing is, the 330 costs the same as P1 roughly, yet people just say " yeah nice motor mate" and thats all. they dont want to steal it or joyride it.
P1 and all scooby owners have my sympathy. its ok if you can park it out of site, like we do with our my95, but if it were parked on the street, i'd never sleep at night .
have you tried a 330ci auto..it'd amaze you pete. if i'd gone through with the leather retrim, my old my00 would have cost the same as this car, but somehow the beemer seems worth the money

spudgun

exclusive P1? yes , your absolutely right, as no one seems to have rushed out and bought them all
only kidding.why is it so many people buy 3 series. it couldnt possibly be that they are an excellent car, particularly the 330, could it? wait 6 months, and we'll all be saying the same things about x types.

Chins

Spudgun

Was thinking of you yesterday when I finished my round of Golf and went to the car park. Out of 15 cars in one row, 7 were new 3 Series. The Ford Focus of Bucks !!. This was at a pay and play course not an exclusive course

Seriously though my impression was that one of the most common car to steal by the pros was BMW and Mercedes. These are then shipped off to foreign lands. We hear a lot about Scoobies being stolen because of this virtual community. As owners we tend to listen to anything with the words Impreza and post on the board. Your typical 28 year old Accenture employee driving a BMW is not like us. You must of already found that there is no forum such as this in the BMW world. The only real ones tend to be American.

Sleep well at night if you feel driving a rep car with large numbers of them out there gives you peace of mind, compared to the exclusive P1

please drop me an email

Jonathan

RichieB

Spuddy....the numero uno reason people buy BMW is snob value. Yes they are quality cars, but the number one reason is SNOB mate. SNOB SNOB SNOB...

Personally, I think its likely that 330's will be stolen in just the same numbers as Scoobies by the pros who are always one step ahead of the protecting technology.

Presumably the older scoobies are more likely be the target of joy riders as they are less well defended....???

Richie

MartinM

As I've mentioned before, I have a 328 co. car and the wife has a Scoob. Why have we made those choices? Because they are both drivers' cars. Pure and simple. I could have an s-type Jag, Merc C2xx Kompressor etc etc, but I chose a 328 with MTech suspension pack 'cos it drives v. well.

Am I a snob? Nope.
Are all BMW drivers snobs? Nope.
Are most BMW drivers snobs? Well, maybe , but please don't tar all of us with the same brush

MartinM
PS all sympathies to the scoob owner

Mike@PD

Sorry about your news. The advice to let them take it goes against the grain but is sadly right. Whatever you do, don't hit them with your steering lock or in a flash, you might end up with a large number of years free B&B with Her Majesty!

This is a serious suggestion for serious consideration.

Whilst the HPI and the police PNC are excellent, the big problem is the update time. If the said P1 is passed on immediately (which is highly likely)and the buyer HPIs it, it might well not be registered and (without prejudice)I have heard of this being the case for upto three weeks..

Why don't we start a section for 'Stolen'vehicles and parts. If that were the case, owners would be able to post incident details, details of chassis and VIN numbers along with any unique or identifying marks such as mods or scratches. Obviously, you would of course have several marks etc and would only publish a couple. That way, if someone dishonest viewed the pages, all ID would not have been disclosed.

We could also consider a group buy of Smart Water, without exception, the best product for physical ID purposes. We would not have to buy a bottle each, we could use combinations, say five spots and ID by a number of combinations ? Pete Croney could hold the stock !!!!! and the confidential register. (Thought I would volunteer you for some fun Pete! Only a suggestion and we would pay.....)

People could then keep an eye out for stolen cars/parts and as time goes on, it would be a powerful register and reference tool, especially for buyers of private s/hand vehicles and parts. Heaven forbid, if things ever get as bad as they were with Cosworths, such early action and diligence could save us all ££££s.

With a little thought and debate, this would provide a truely viable and necessary part of the BBS.

A little story worth reading............ In case you need any more convincing..

Cosworths started off as being expensive and exclusive. Everyone wanted one. The demand for cars and second-hand parts was incredibly high(as is always the case with cars that are rallied at club level or run by people on low incomes etc etc) Once the cars got under the 10k barrier, they became affordable to the masses but when they broke or got crashed, the masses could not afford to mend them or claim off their insurance.
Where did they get their parts from?
Ads in the motoring mags etc.
Where did those people get their parts from?
Probable 50% were from stolen cars.
What happened?
Insurance premiums rose to disproportionate levels.
What happened?
People could no longer afford to own Cosworths.
The bottom dropped out of both the new and second-hand markets and all legitimate businesses associated with them died and everyone lost out. Probably the the biggest issue was that used cars lost half of there value and owners were left with huge financial losses.
The Cosworth was dead, long live the Cosworth......

I personally think that this will happen to Subaru and to us, it is historically inevitable but we can do something about it.

Please think about it!

Mike@PD




[This message has been edited by Mike@PD (edited 07 June 2001).]

rapiddescent

personal defense kit.

stupid stupid idea. I spent an evening in a cell when during a routine stop & search by the police they found a penknife with a locking blade (only 2" long!) and they gave me a caution under the offensive weapons act. Now that was pre-damiola - I heard from my-mate-the-policeman that they ALWAYS prosecute now for anything found in cars.

rapiddescent
my01 wrx wagon

RonaldoH

Rapid...

Then why are Police "allowed" to carry weatherman tools (3 inch blades on these) on their belts and in their cars?

I am pretry sure that it is 6'' plus before prosecution...

Were you waving it about at anyone by chance?

Ronnie

matt d

One thing that puzzles me, aren't these thieves worried about retaliation? If someone can afford a £30k car, they can certainly afford the couple of grand it'd take to knock of a car thief who no one will miss.