Potential theft attempts ...

[JxT]

Another car on our road was stolen before Christmas by a gang bouncing the key signal from the keys inside their house using keyless entry.

Unfortunately our alarm has now gone off on multiple occasions over the last few nights in the early hours, so I've been suspicious over whether someone is trying something similar to us. Now today a neighbour has told us that some guys have been asking which house owns the RS6 - and they then jumped in a car and sped off when they were challenged as to why they needed to know.

I am pretty sure someone is trying to nick the car unfortunately. Other than putting a hefty steering lock on is there anything practical I can do to deter them? Biggest concern is them breaking in to try to steal the keys in the night, given we have young children.

[stevo55]

Lots have been written about this including by myself-search function is your friend. But to give a few points:

1. If you feel your car has been targeted and you don’t want it to be an easy grab then make it a pain in the arse to steal. Mixture of tech and physical measures-enough so it’s not a pain in the arse to put on/take off and enough for peace of mind. Don’t over rely on tech as it can fail. Common sense methods and make sure you put them in place every single time-no exceptions. Sods Law waits for all of us round the corner and the one time you chin it off and think ‘it’ll be ok’ may be the one time you need it the most. If you have other vehicles block the RS in with them. I did that with an old Range Rover and basically they would have had to drag 3 tonnes of pig iron out to get at the car. Make it a pain in the ar5e to steal.
2. Unless the car is mega special and there aren’t any underlying issues why you would be targeted then there are plenty of other cars out there to be nicked. They want the car with minimum fuss, if it’s going to take them 30 mins to access and get away they will divert to steal the car they have identified (there is always a period of surveillance by gangs prior to a strike unless you’re really unlucky) that will take 5 mins.
3. The whole ‘what if they come into my house’ thing is a possibility of course and everyone makes their own choice on where they keep their keys. Just remember that for individuals to break into a property to steal keys they are increasing the risk considerably. Risk of getting caught. Risk of leaving evidence. Risk of increased charge from theft to aggravated theft or robbery with menaces/violence ++++
All that takes time and also puts extra time on their criminal charges if they get caught. Most people are at home now and they want easy trade not grief. That’s not to say car jackings don’t happen so be wary of being followed home etc.
4. Don’t live in paranoia! If you lie awake at night jumping at every sound that will wear you down very very quickly.


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[Adamsdad289]

I had my RS6 stolen in 2019. They managed to open the front door via the letterbox then helped themselves to the keys.

We now have a tracker fitted, keep the car in the garage and have CCTV.

I'd leave the keys near the front door so if they want them bad enough they can have them.

All you can do is make it as difficult as possible for them. A Stop-Lock on the steering wheel is a good visual deterrent. A tracker should ensure you get the car back quickly. I wouldn't put any security measures in place that only you can disable as they may wake you up in the middle.of the night to disable it.

The camera won't really put them off but may help the police identify them. Also consider getting an aftermarket immobiliser so they can't start the car remotely.

Best of luck mate, it's not a pleasant experience but your families safety is more important than a car.

[Saudirick]

Keep your keys in a faraday pouch (a really good quality one, not a cheap one as they will fail after a month or so) and keep them in a faraday box inside the house also. They don't need to be expensive, you can get a shielded electrical box from RS components that works very well. Be careful that the potential thieves don't follow you out in the car and grab the code whilst you are in a Shop etc, hence the good quality faraday pouch. Busy motorway services used to be a hotbed of relay theft. Can you fit a removable bollard in the ground?

[114uyc]

AutoWatch Ghost, Google it.

[Nige_RS4]

Don't leave your keys near the front door if you're keyless - they will pick up the signal easily. Put them in a tin box in another room, that's all you need to prevent keyless theft.

As above, not many thieves are willing to break in these days, but keep your doors and windows locked at all times, even if you're home.

Buy a hidden cctv - there's some good wireless / battery powered ones around for under £100 (Blink XT2?).

Barstewards!

[ab54666]

Have a look at my old post, mine was stolen 2019.

Unfortunately the RS6 if targeted is usually targeted by serious criminals. I was lucky, they came to mine mid evening knowing we were in and were prepared to break in and challenge us. As luck would eventually have it I'd put the bins out not long before and hadn't locked the back door. Despite being in the front room they came In the house via the back took the keys (to three cars) and the first I knew was hearing mine start. Had they have had to break in (which I've no doubt they would have) all hell would have broken loose and god knows what would have happened.

A local police friend of mine said about 12 months later they caught a gang trying to steal a C63 about 15 miles away and believed it was the same gang, there was 7 of them and 4 were armed (firearms).

You can make it difficult (as I thought I did) but sadly these days there are people around fully prepared to use whatever means to get the keys.

If I were you, I'd be parking the car far away from my house for the time being.

When you say alarm keeps going off, I assume you mean car alarm rather than house alarm?

[stevo55]

Have a look at my old post, mine was stolen 2019.

Unfortunately the RS6 if targeted is usually targeted by serious criminals. I was lucky, they came to mine mid evening knowing we were in and were prepared to break in and challenge us. As luck would eventually have it I'd put the bins out not long before and hadn't locked the back door. Despite being in the front room they came In the house via the back took the keys (to three cars) and the first I knew was hearing mine start. Had they have had to break in (which I've no doubt they would have) all hell would have broken loose and god knows what would have happened.

A local police friend of mine said about 12 months later they caught a gang trying to steal a C63 about 15 miles away and believed it was the same gang, there was 7 of them and 4 were armed (firearms).

You can make it difficult (as I thought I did) but sadly these days there are people around fully prepared to use whatever means to get the keys.

If I were you, I'd be parking the car far away from my house for the time being.

When you say alarm keeps going off, I assume you mean car alarm rather than house alarm?

That’s a sad story there mate and sorry it happened to you. Unfortunately gangs carry out a period of surveillance to identify targets via a variety of methods including using their ‘day job’ (delivery driver for example) and hide in plain sight. If challenged they have a reason to be there. Another method is to put a ‘lump’ (GPS tracker which are cheap now) under a target vehicle (whilst at a car park or car wash for example) so that they can stand off and ‘house’ it to know where it’s kept.
Street view doesn’t do anyone any favours either. Trouble is there are gangs that are prepared to take the risk and use extreme violence to get what they want and Police numbers are limited. As we all know a performance car in the hands of someone that doesn’t want to get caught is going to be rough to catch.
Parking the car away from home is one method but a faff depending where you live. Put a mixture of sensible physical and tech methods that extend to your house as well. You’re after peace of mind not constantly worrying but also raise your awareness (which is half the battle) of the baseline around your area. You know (or should know) what’s normal and what’s not. Showing awareness can be a good deterrent as well. They want to get away not get caught.
PM me if you need more.


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