Gordo

Had am amusing and alarming visit from local CID the other afternoon - they had spotted my P1 (which lives on the road) and stopped by to give me some advice.

Apparently a common problem in Manchester at present is for car thieves to break into houses next to the car they want to get the keys. They know they can't nick it with the tracker etc on it so they either bang on the door with a shotgun and demand the keys or break in.

The advice from the plod was as follows:

- park outside someone else's house up the street (they'll get robbed/ threatened instead!)
- fit a full steering lock cover and keep that key hidden in the car, i.e. not on the main keyring
- be watchful for people who either nudge the back of the car to then steal it from you or follow you home to see where you live

all nice advice - time to keep it in the garage then! apparently many cars are crated abroad and they need circa half an hour to remove the tracker (using a monitor to walk round the car to locate it once activated!)

Good luck out there!
Gordo

Avi

Or.. how about being sat at a set of lights in Manchester when a fist and a knife come through the window !!

This happened to me Christmas Eve, two years ago!!.. Just got out and watched em drive off, Recovered in Salford Written off , smashed into a skip a few days later.

Wasn't a scoob tho'

You wanna see someone who's paranoid now.. just try and nick my mota!!!

<I><B>Andy</I></B>

chiark

Gordo, just to put your mind at rest a bit, the P1 doesn't use the "Tracker" device so your clued up thief couldn't find it by scanning with their "special device".

Still, a bit of paranoia is a healthy state of mind for the scooby owner. Just don't let it get to you.

Gordo

Thanks Chiark - now have neighbours up the road from my house trying to work out why I keep parking next to their black TT outside their house! I shall of course feel a bit guilty when the TT goes missing .......

bigmalc

Unusual advice from Mr Plod there - just thought I'd share my experience with y'all...

Having changed the Scoob for a Mitsubishi 3000GT about 12 months ago, I had all the usual Thatcham kit installed (no Tracker) and was confident that it wouldn't get nicked.
Wrong.
Car thieves know that the days of hot-wiring are gone, so what do they do?
Simple
Break in to your business premises when they've watched everyone (except me) leave, and, complete with balaclavas and baseball bats, proceed to kick the crap out of you until you let them have/show them the keys.
(Later used in bank robbery)

No real solution or prevention for that.

Could suggest a gps tracker or a delay-activated ejector seat.

It's getting silly now chaps - so silly that I've had enough and picked up my Shogun yesterday.

Don't have sleepless nights.......

555 BOY

"It's getting silly now chaps - so silly that I've had enough and picked up my Shogun yesterday."

Was that a typo ? Shotgun

The Clifford Blackjax system is certainly a step in the right direction,for once theres something I'm glad to be several years behind the Yanks

cryptwalk

There was a gang going round my mum's estate doing this She was unlucky enougth to have first hand experiance of it:

Late one night when my dad was out doing the night shift, my younger brother heard a load bang outside, he looked only to find 2 guy's at the neighbours front door (he own'd a m3 cab) they grabed the key's which were in the lock.

Lucky enougth for him the key's belonged to the discovery parked behind the bmw.

My younger brother woke up my mum who put the bedroom light's on in the hope that this would scare them off. Unfortunatly this backfired. The scumbag's decided to kick my mothers front door in and ransack the house. My brother was on the phone to the police telling them while this was happening, he shoved his girlfriend in a wardrobe and stood between my mother and the scumbag who came upstairs and was shouting "where's your diamond's b**ch" eventually they went with various item's from the house.

Of course the police arrived about 15 min's after the occurance and the neighbour didnt hear a thing(yea right)

This truely was a terifying ordeal for my family and i only hope these scumbag's get there deserve's (back with the death penalty).


Same estate week after the same gang broke into the home of a guy with a cossie, as the guy ran downstair's he was hit with bottle's and a bat. After refusing to give them the key's to the cossie they grabbed his 12 yr old daughter and put the broken bottle to her neck, at this point he gave them the key's.

The car was recovered in a hour due to trackback 10 mile's down the road abandened.

My advice is if you are unfortunate enougth to be in any positon like this, is give them the key's it's only a car.

Thank god for my clifford 600 and tracker!.

chiark

Oh God, awful stories. Fit a tracker, fit something with Clifford Blackjax (either a concept 500, 600 or separate unit for 200 quid!) then Give them the keys. Phone police for backup...

stevencotton

Dunno if it's been mentioned already but there's a rather interesting (and alarming) two-page article in this months Top Gear mag giving advice to Scooby and Evo owners on how to combat car jacking and how to park your car. This BBS is also mentioned.

Steve.

whip

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by chiark:
<B>Oh God, awful stories. Fit a tracker, fit something with Clifford Blackjax (either a concept 500, 600 or separate unit for 200 quid!) then Give them the keys. Phone police for backup...[/quote]


What's the score with the Blackjax unit? What's special about it???

cryptwalk

See below for clifford's explination of Blackjax!!

Edited cos you never know where stinking theive's may look.

[This message has been edited by cryptwalk (edited 11 July 2001).]

cryptwalk

Here's what clifford say:

With BlackJax, now you can. BlackJax instantly recognizes carjacking attempts. First it ensures that you need do nothing except get away from this life-threatening situation. Then it sets the trap. Shortly after the carjacker drives away, BlackJax dynamically shuts down the engine and immobilizes your vehicle when it's at a safe distance. Even if your vehicle is stolen out of a parking lot by a thief or joy-rider, the same scenario will occur.


Your car is totally immobilized, no tampering or attempt to restart it will work. With the lights flashing and the siren blaring, the thief has no choice but to run. Once he's gone, you walk a block or two to your car, enter your secret code, and safely recover your car with or without police assistance.

Sabotage-Proof Operation
UltraSecure Coded Valet Mode
$2,000 Vehicle Theft Protection Guarantee
Lifetime Warranty

chiark

Just as a point of order, being paranoid, could we keep discussions of blackjax to the "functional" level rather than detail? This is, after all, security through obscurity...

I've been guilty of spilling the beans, but it would be much better if we just described it as an anti-hijack device and used clifford's standard description.

cryptwalk

Agreed, better to keep it under wrap's, I'll Edit my explination and e-mail it to the person whom asked.

However my little keypad is so well hidden, any tea leaf would have major problem's finding it.

ed the dead

Any idea's how much this system costs?

cryptwalk

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by ed the dead:
<B>Any idea's how much this system costs?[/quote]

Where you been Ed???

Mine was 550 fitted!! That's a full Clifford concept 600.

ed the dead

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by cryptwalk:
<B> Where you been Ed???

Mine was 550 fitted!! That's a full Clifford concept 600. [/quote]

I've been working... too hard to post on here, I think I'll have to conceed

Can you get the blackjax bit on its own, coz I've already got a cat 1?

chiark

Yes, Blackjax on its own is 200 quid fitted. Or at least it is at Maximum Impact - tel 0113 244 1448. (No connection, other than satisfied customer )