I'm very close to placing an order for a UK STi. Before I do so I'd be interested in the general opinion with regard to the risk of being car jacked/stolen, etc. Many people had any experiences? Which parts of the UK are worst. Is it particulary worse for Scoobies or is it any high performance car?

Cheers y'all!

 

Dont know about geograpys but there are car jackings and if your car is worth a few bob someone is going to want it.

I dont think there are many safe cars out there to be honest I have heard about pretty normal A4's and 3 Series going as well as the really expensive stuff.

There are some good tools around to make your car safe blackjax and trackers etc well worth the investment!

 

Any half decent car is at risk. Criminals tend to go for Scoobies because they go like **** off a shovel and they have four doors - great for getaways, ram-raiders, etc.

I do not believe any make of car is specifically targeted.

I think more of a threat comes from the 'let's break into the house and nick the car keys tactic'. I have two friends who have 30K+ BMWs that have been taken in this way. In this case Cat 1 alarms, keyfob operated immobilisers and trackers can't help if you don't know that your car has been nicked and the thieves have the keys.

Get a Tracker and don't let the threat deter you from owning a nice car.

 

Defo get a Tracking device of some sort - my local car audio place swears by the RAC Trackstar - had one customer who's house was broken into, keys for a porsche stolen, came home 5 hours later, and after notifying the Trackstar people the car was recovered about an hour later.

Cost of Trackstar plus cost of changing locks on the car isn't bad in comparison to an insurance claim on a car that expensive

 

Also, the MY01 onwards cars (maybe older too) you can set up the alarm system to automagically lock the doors when you start the engine. Dead good that, means they can't pull you out of the car so easily at the lights.

Thing is, theres always a risk. But don't let the thieves win. You want a nice car, then have one (provided you pay for it).

 

Manchester seems to be the worst at the moment but seems to go around in cycles for different areas (depends on press interest), anything with a running engine that has an immobiliser seems to be a target for car jacking.

I believe the STI Type UK comes with a tracking device as standard so the next option is to go for an anti-hijack system, such as Clifford Blackjax, which IMHO is better than a tracker because the car is immobilised a 'safe' distance from you preventing the scumbags from doing too much damage to the mechanicals of the car.

Most standard alarm systems will allow the doors to be locked automatically when the ignition is switched on or allow the keyfobs to be deactivated when leaving the car unattended for a prolonged period (in the event of burglary).

Nigel

[Edited by nigelward - 6/7/2002 4:47:21 PM]