Tracker

[Sticks]

It's the idiots who get used to break into houses not the people further up the chain exporting them, the people who get in your house for keys get a small percentage compared to the people at the final destination, if you where a shopisticated car thief why would you need keys or risk getting battered and nicked and banged up for burglary , as for the ht lead excuse my mistake it's been a long while since I did that one and it was on a mk3 golf BUT I'm sure there are lots of other simple tricks to immobilise your car I,e run a discreet switch which connects the battery alot of people with vans do this ,

What's so sophisticated in breaking into somones house to nick keys? If I was low enough to do this sort of thing I'd rather street Rob or mug them for there keys that way I wouldn't get near the amount of HMP as if I'd got caught for burglary and I know they have the keys instead of searching a whole house for a key when the owner sleeps with it down his pants,

Like I said before if somone wants to nick watever it is that bad they will no matter what security measures u have in place.

I don't need no keys to open a car or a house door and I only do lock smithing as a hobby so these so called sophisticated thiefs need to learn new skills as criminal damage is oldskool as for engine alarm immobilser codes I'm sure theres technology out there to recieve these codes and resend them to the car simple so still no need to break in . I know of a machine which did the old BMW e46 etc's so im sure there's one for Audi .

Stay safe

[Teutonic Tuner]

So these GPS jammers are powered by the cigarette lighter socket, why not fit a hidden switch for each socket and leave off by default (I never use them anyway). They won't be able to block a signal if they can't power-up the jammer, then listen in via your cheap ebay GPS tracker to them saying how <beep> Audi cigarette lighter sockets are…

[adsgreen]

Nope - plenty with their own battery.
For 50quid you can get one that blocks GSM/3G/GPS over all bands.

As for thieves not doing this - beg to differ.
Yes, you will always get muppets who don't know what they are doing and they will not consider these things.
However many cars are stolen with people that have enough knowledge and technique to get away with it or at worst, not get caught with the car.

In addition to sending high current through the car, the most common one is to put the car into a container or similar.
Hell, We've had several (yes more than one) where they have nicked a digger and used it to dig a hole and effectively bury itself.

Not joking but we've had a case where a car transpoorter was loaded up with nice cars and just driven off to the continent. Our gps system recorded it as we use quad band GSM so it could find it but even then we lost it when they were loaded onto a container ship. We know about the transporter as GPS gives accurate timestamps so could find it on the cctv. This all took less than24 hours.

Generally though they take them somewhere local and leave them for a few days. If nobody turns up to collect it then fairly safe to say no tracker. Then send a kid round with the keys to move it somewhere for "processing".

My personal view is that the anti-hijack tech is good - the ones that let the car start and drive for a very short distance then when speed drops below a certain point cuts power and sounds the alarm. But... Thatcham won't approve them as they consider them to be "dangerous" so not likely to ever be mainstream. I think thats rubbish as the car is still controllable even without power.

For the RS4, a "poor mans" security device that is surprisingly effect is a simple hidden or rfid switch mounted inline with the starter button.

[PetrolDave]

My personal view is that the anti-hijack tech is good - the ones that let the car start and drive for a very short distance then when speed drops below a certain point cuts power and sounds the alarm. But... Thatcham won't approve them as they consider them to be "dangerous" so not likely to ever be mainstream. I think thats rubbish as the car is still controllable even without power.

+1

IMHO anti-hijack using a "dongle" (that you DON'T keep with the car keys) the only thing worth having.

I'm sure theres technology out there to recieve these codes and resend them to the car simple so still no need to break in . I know of a machine which did the old BMW e46 etc's so im sure there's one for Audi .

You're talking about the codes used to open the door, not the immobiliser. And even resending codes won't open the car doors now as they use pseudo-random rolling codes that don't repeat for literally billions of uses.

Starting a car without a key is much, much harder than it used to be - a few years ago when I worked for a car manufacturer I went to a car crime conference where a member of the Metropolitan Police car crime squad showed several ridiculously easy ways to start and drive a car - none of which work any more.

[Sticks]

Well if what your saying is the only way to steal a good newish car is to break into a house for keys then I'd say don't buy any security for your car and invest that money on home security but still if nicking a car is as hard as you say invest some more money in a panic room for your house or a gun because if they break in and can't find the keys then I'm sure they would wake you up all nicely with a cup of tea and ask you where the keys are

I don't think a trackker would put off a car thief , I mean how would they know it even had one fitted I've rarely seen a car with warning trackker fitted Stickers or even alarm Stickers

I'd like to see the stats for cars stolen from house compared to stolen off street ,
All this breaking In for keys started about 10 years ago when one clever burglar couldn't carry everything so loaded up the car, thiefs will take anything of value so once they got your laptop etc why not take the car and sell it and or use it to get away and rob some more houses with it, even if they give it to there mate down the scrap there gonna get £250 scrap price and these people who rob houses are normally funding a crack or brown habit so every little helps

What I'm trying to say is a majority of cars nicked from houses are not ordered they just happen to be outside at the time and nick able so these are not sophisticated car thiefs at work just some crack or brown head BUT saying that if your car is on a specialist car theif shopping list it will go even if it has every type of trackker etc on it FACT!

[adsgreen]

Trackers are like chip and pin for credit cards - they have absolutely no benefit to the ower of the car/card.

If you lose money and the card was used with the pin then YOU have to prove it wasn't you (good luck with that).
Likewise, with car trackers they only protect an insurance companies investment.

Trackers are not a theft prevention technology. Hence the comments regarding the anti-hijack which is incredibly effective.

[PetrolDave]

What I'm trying to say is a majority of cars nicked from houses are not ordered they just happen to be outside at the time

But the RS3 is not "just another car" like all RS models it tends to attract a different and all together more professional type of car thief, so you have to try and think more what will make a professional thief go and find another RS3 that's easier to steal.

[John Johnson]

I've got a tracker on mine and it's only kept live for the insurance co, it's got anti hijack guff and which I would put more faith in tbh

[Fatneck73]

A question I'd like to ask is should you hide your car keys somewhere inside your house or leave them out so that if some scroat does get in your house, they get out quick (but obviously don't leave visible from outside). I suspect we all agree that rs's are specialist cars so there's a possibility / probability it's stolen to order rather than an opportunist??. Assuming this...they're there for business and are gonna get it one way or another!

[Sticks]

I've got a tracker on mine and it's only kept live for the insurance co, it's got anti hijack guff and which I would put more faith in tbh

exactly what im trying to say, i wouldnt dismiss any additional security help i.e a cheap gsm a cut off switch etc as who knows the the intelligence of the thief at you house to nick your car and having all bases covered surly is the way foward ,id even suggest getting a replica audi key from ebay and stick a couple of other keys on with it and plot that near wherever you think might be a hotspot in your home, if you make the job hard and long for them it gives you a bettter odds in your favour rather than the element of surprise which they hold over us.

my take on this is simple im no big man but if i hear somone in my house who shouldnt be there in the middle of the night watever and is a potential threat to my family i will feel no way at all by protecting myself and family using watever is needed BUT if they creep your house while your asleep i wanna make sure my sitting duck of a car outside is fully secured so i know there was nothing more i really could of done and they beat me while i snored,

its good to hear your ideas its all constructive stuff im sure we all want to protect our cars with all angles and levels of security

[adsgreen]

Zoned house alarm - so can enable downstairs but disable downstairs.
Dog - any is ok... Even the little ones make a lot of noise.

[John Johnson]

If your getting that paranoid about where to put the keys at night take em to bed !

[PetrolDave]

A question I'd like to ask is should you hide your car keys somewhere inside your house or leave them out so that if some scroat does get in your house, they get out quick.

Ask yourself this question - do I want some scroat threatening me or my family in the wee small hours if they can't find the keys?

If the answer is no, then leave the keys in an easy to find place.

If you fancy your chances, then hide the keys well.

[Dave_Hedgehog]

A question I'd like to ask is should you hide your car keys somewhere inside your house or leave them out so that if some scroat does get in your house, they get out quick.

Ask yourself this question - do I want some scroat threatening me or my family in the wee small hours if they can't find the keys?

If the answer is no, then leave the keys in an easy to find place.

If you fancy your chances, then hide the keys well.

My keys live in a safe bolted to the floor

I also got a 5 foot broadsword