Do police ever find a stolen car

Perhaps a question to ask the candidates standing in the General Election - whether they are going to restore police numbers back to Pre 2010 levels even, let alone fund the additional officers needed to combat crime currently.

Oh, and what they would do about the justice system and the fact there is not enough space in prisons, so that when police do catch criminals, they are given the proverbial rap on the knuckles and released to offend again.

Yes. Sadly, if it’s an older car, the methods used to steal it often result in a write-off though…

Unfortunately 3 of our Cars has been stolen/taken away by breaking in the conservatory Door’s lock and found the keys for 3 of our cars (2 Cars BMW-X4 Reg- OV17 XBR & Merecedes E-Class) was taken in the early hours of 21st of May-24 and despite securing the vehicle with putting steering lock our 3rd Car (Honda Jazz RF12 EMX) was taken away after 2-days!
We’re completely shattered as This has happened 1st time to us since (5 years) the time we move in to Uk from Abudhabi-Dubai where u can’t imagine such things.
i am still hoping for any of our cars to be recovered but the police’s response similar to nothing as it has now been 10-days passed and we haven’t heard anything from them.

They found mine this morning, dumped with fake plates just three miles away from where it had been nicked, broken window and damaged ignition.

This gives zero confidence in the police.

That's fucking awful. I'm so sorry.

Mines been nicked today. I'm in pieces.

My exH had his car stolen from outside our flat. He reported it stolen, the police said it had been reported abandoned to them by a security guard the during the night. We went to pick it up but it had no wheels!

Years ago mine was found after being stolen. It was sat in the police compound for 6 months before they bothered to let me know.

Well for starters it could mean that the insurance is invalid.

As soon as the keys were gone she should have informed the police of stolen car keys. If she found her keys in the door without her car key on that was a big clue someone was planning to steal her car. It's like writing your PIN down and then someone steals your card, it's often classed that you didn't take reasonable precautions to secure your stuff.

If only a certain number of people can access the place where the keys were left, that massively narrows down the suspects though.

Has she informed the police of this information?

Also, my mum's car was stolen and they recovered it safe and sound so it can happen but at that point it was an insurance write-off so we were still without a car. If your friend is insured, it might pay out some money unless they decide the key situation invalidates the claim.

Mine was discovered after about a month, as it was used in an armed robbery! Insurance had already paid out and I'd bought a new one by then. Couldn't have faulted the police really, they were very thorough and kept calling me to update me on the court case months after the event (which was very good of them, although I'd sort of lost interest by then!).

My dad had a fairly unique car stolen (not many of them around anymore) and we found it using a social media appeal, 48 hours after it was stolen, outside someone’s house with an identical car on the drive. They obviously wanted parts. The police did nothing, other than turn up to recover it when we told them where it was - they wouldn’t let us steal it back with the keys 😂😂😂.

We've had 3 cars stolen. Only one was recovered, and I think that was because the whole thing was bungled and they messed up.

My friend's car was stolen and parked up in another part of the city (waiting to see if a tracker is fitted). A resident became suspicious and reported it to the police - obviously it was reported stolen so she was lucky and got it back.

If they've taken the car with the keys, then there will be a different set of circumstances than if it's been stolen by force.

I twice had old but necessary cars stolen many years ago. The first one was found burnt out which was bloody annoying as it was a decent car even if old.

The second time the car had car seats, my glasses and various children’s Christmas presents in the boot. The car was found parked not far away in perfect ( well no worse!) condition and they had even folded my glasses and put them into their case. So there can be decent endings even if not that often.

I reported a Range Rover which had been left for several months in the car park at my block of flats. The registration was showing as no tax or MOT. The police weren’t in the slightest bit interested. Not even when the car’s registration number suddenly changed a few days later and it miraculously had a new MOT despite not moving from its parking space for nigh on 5 months!

Mine was found around 6 months later by which time the insurance had paid out so I was no longer the registered owner of the car so all I had was a letter from the police informing me they had found it which I had to then pass on to the insurers. I had no details about how the car was found or its condition.

When it was stolen the police didn’t do much just registered it and gave me a crime reference number. The thieves had driven it to a petrol station so good cctv would have been available but the police never bothered to investigate it. Bigger issues to deal with than stolen cars unfortunately.

Police found ours when I was a kid but it was total coincidence because the number plate contained the number 999 and the officer who took the report spotted it and checked because the reg stuck in their mind

Changed plates are the norm for stolen cars unless it's stolen for a joy ride laugh and it will have been dumped somewhere! Unfortunately police don't have the resources to drive round the streets of the UK searching for cars. If they're found from the latter example it's normally because they're reported abandoned somewhere.

If police had the resources to track every stolen car the service might not have as many complaints as it has but unfortunately it doesn't.

Is your friend going through her insurance?

Years back my friends car was stolen. Reported to police. I was walking home from work and spotted it. Told my friend who told the police. They said to leave it and they would send forensics to get fingerprints etc.

A week later he gets a call from the police "great news! We've found your car!" Left hand, meet right hand. 😂😬 his car was badly damaged and had been joy ridden. Stupid expression, where's the joy in it ?

Agree with PP re putting local appeal out there for the special car seat. Also worth talking to insurance Co re them funding an urgent replacement / hire car so your friend isn't stranded.

Some people are such bastards.

Our Range Rover was stolen from the supermarket car park. The video form the cameras showed a white bmw driving behind. As soon I left the car a man jumped in and drove off. This was around 6pm. Around 11pm I had a call from police that the car which looks like yours was found not too far with a different number plates. The offerer checked the plate against the VIN and it didn't match. So we went to pick it up, it was left with a different number plates and the computer disconnected so the trucking system could not locate the car. My husband slept in the car and in the morning connected the computer and drove off.
My advice is to disconnect the easy access button when it unlocks itself without you pressing. That's how criminals can use your fob to send a signal to the car.

When a car is stolen generally its identity is changed within minutes (false plates stuck on) so it doesn't flag up on ANPR cameras and a majority of stolen cars literally don't exist within a week as they're chopped up for spare parts and sold on gumtree and Facebook market place.

Neighbour's car was found about 4 weeks after it was stolen. This was about a year ago; and he got it back and is still driving around in it today. So it can happen.