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Car's been stolen- I know where it is!

282 replies

SalomeNotThatOne · 31/03/2022 16:28

Just wondered if anyone had been through this?

My car's been nicked. I have a tracker in it and located it at an address about half an hour away. I drove round and it's there!

Tried to start it but I wouldn't recognise my electronic key.

Reported it to 101 but they have said that there is nothing the police can do- I need to get my insurer to collect it and fix whatever has been changed. Currently on hold to the insurer.

Just wondered if anyone had been through this?

OP posts:
RedRobin100 · 01/04/2022 03:04

We had two cars stolen at once years ago. My mum found one of them and went and brought it back home with spare key.

Sorry not sure about the electronic key - treat it like you have lost yours? Call your insurance to get someone out to override it or something?

Could you block it in ijnmeantim?

nalabae · 01/04/2022 04:04

[quote SalomeNotThatOne]@nalabae I’m not but the car is.[/quote]
I know who took your car. Please check your pm

Im2022 · 01/04/2022 04:28

Bloody hell… how do you know who took it @nalabae?

Smidge001 · 01/04/2022 05:27

I believe they work if anyone with an apple phone is nearby. Not just yours.

Smidge001 · 01/04/2022 05:29

Doh, sorry, seems I hadn't refreshed the page and was replying to a very old message!

dollardollardollar · 01/04/2022 07:36

@nalabae WTF?! How do you know who took the car?

This thread has taken a turn.

DuchessofAnkh22 · 01/04/2022 07:43

@MurmuratingStarling

Disgusting that the police don't wanna know about it.

Glad I don't live in the area the Met covers.

Also, how on EARTH did @nalabae know that the OP's car was near Woodford and Chingford? Confused All the OP said is that she's in London.

Cars basically get stolen then driven and left for a few days to check they haven't got trackers on them

There is an area near me that is used a lot for stolen cars, because its very near 2 major motorway junctions and before any anpr cameras...if anyone said my area I'd know where their car was!

Shade17 · 01/04/2022 07:45

Eh? As I understand this , a tag uses Bluetooth to talk to any iPhone within range (about fifty feet) that phone reports back to the Apple cloud so the tag owner can see where it is anywhere in the world. So if your tag is in San Francisco as long as there’s an iPhone somewhere close you can still locate it even if you are in Pago Pago

Yes, but they send an alert to the phone that’s providing the tracking and make a noise so you can find it. They’re not the best way of tracking your car as they’re easily found and disabled.

wdtaBruno · 01/04/2022 07:53

Wow! Hope you get the car back op.

CecilyTheWake · 01/04/2022 07:58

Interesting.

Iheartmysmart · 01/04/2022 07:59

It’s not just the Met that can’t be arsed to investigate car crime. There was a black Discovery in the car park at the flats where I live for absolutely months. Being nosy I checked the registration number to find it didn’t exist. Let the police know but they weren’t interested. They were still uninterested when the licence plates were changed and all of a sudden the car was legit with a brand new MOT despite not ever being moved. It vanished a few weeks later.

Zonder · 01/04/2022 08:10

Wow @nalabae that's amazing!

saleorbouy · 01/04/2022 08:10

Would have thought the police would take this case. It's a solved "stolen and recovery" and would be good for the crime statistics.
Take pictures of It's location and call 999, why else do you pay council tax if they don't get involved when a crime is committed.
Don't forget to run checks for traffic violations and report the time it was out of your possession or you could have points on your record too!

fiftyandfat · 01/04/2022 08:21

The organised theft of landrovers is well known. They are stolen overnight by copying the key code, driven a few miles away, plates changed, collected and taken apart, parts shipped abroad. All done very quickly. Everyone knows who, where and how. The police just give a crime number.
The other huge problem is the theft of catalytic converters. They do it broad daylight, takes a couple of minutes. Mine was stolen recently. The police didn't even respond to my report. It cost £1200 to replace.
My local next door site is full of ring doorbell videos of people stealing cars.

Pyri · 01/04/2022 08:24

[quote dollardollardollar]@nalabae WTF?! How do you know who took the car?

This thread has taken a turn. [/quote]
Indeed! Please come back and update us @SalomeNotThatOne!

Keladrythesaviour · 01/04/2022 08:27

I worked in retail and had teenagers in the shop stealing, shouting abuse at customers and smashing bottles on the floor. Police said I could report shoplifting via an online form.
We then reported the same kids stealing from the shop opposite, and were told as that shop hadn't reported anything they couldn't act on it Confused. We had three more bouts of abuse, shoplifting and criminal damage before finally getting a visit from the local PCSO. Nothing was actually done until one of the teens assaulted an old man in a bus stop and left him with life changing injuries, when they finally got arrested.

OverByYer · 01/04/2022 08:29

@Yellownightmare

When my aunt died (she was elderly and had a heart condition so no great surprise) they spent hours hanging around, checking her pills, questioning me suspiciously (I wasn't even there when she died!). Weird they have time for that but no time for actual crimes, and yes, it was the Met.
This is completely different. In this case they are acting on behalf of the coroner at an unexpected death, even if The person has been unwell can still be unexpected if haven’t been seen by a Dr in previous 48hrs. To that end police have to remain for the undertaker to attend and escort the deceased to the mortuary. That’s the procedure.
CaptainMyCaptain · 01/04/2022 08:35

@herethereandeverywhere

Just to add to the 'police can't be arsed with car theft' anecdotes:

approx 5 years ago a neighbour witnessed someone IN our X5 attempting to nick it. Police did come out, with dogs at 3am and found the scumbags hiding in a hedge with the laptop they use to reprogram the cars.

Did they successfully prosecute? Hell no!
Months of taking the same statement multiple times from said neighbour, case being handed over through multiple officers, each of whom knew nothing and started from scratch. In the end apparently the evidence wasn't;t strong enough to prosecute (I can only assume that hiding in a stranger's hedge with a laptop for of car software is a trendy night out...) nothing happened and those scumbags are no doubt still robbing cars, in London, with aplomb.

OP, sorry this happened. 10/10 for finding your car!!!

The Police don't decide whether to prosecute it's the CPS.
TheirTheyre · 01/04/2022 08:52

Seriously mn, of all the comments on here and MINE was the one removed?!?

ButterfliesAndPancakes · 01/04/2022 08:55

Can’t you just get the RAC to collect it because your key ‘doesn’t work’. You’ve got all the details that it’s yours.

Im2022 · 01/04/2022 09:21

[quote dollardollardollar]@nalabae WTF?! How do you know who took the car?

This thread has taken a turn. [/quote]
I know!

I carn’t believe it…it would be wheely good if OP finds out who took it.

😆

Toomanyradishes · 01/04/2022 10:58

*WhyBeMeanLikeThat

Have a look at the crime stats for the Met police LINK HERE Looks like are quite busy 😅 but the 'sanction detentions' for car crime seem amazingly low. Interesting to look at some facts rather than anecdotal moaning.
I was googling ways in which members of the public can become involved with helping the police become more effective at tackling crime and there looks to be plenty of initiatives. Maybe it's something that people should get involved with if they think they can help. Better than just complaining. 🙃
One scheme that I hadn't heard of and that I wish I were eligible for is the Met Police Ride-Along-Scheme. It looks amazing.*

I mean we arent just moaning because they wont come to a stolen car, we are moaning because they dont have time to come to a stolen car but they do have time to rape women, take photographs with dead ones and assault young black girls. So telling women to voluntarily get involved with the met police with thier current culture seems naive

22Newnames · 01/04/2022 11:26

@Notanotherwindow

When someone broke into our house, I had to tell the police I was going to kill him before they came out. We had him cornered in our kitchen by a very large, very protective dog. Phoned police and were told to hold him there until they arrived but could be up to 4 hours!

In the end I told them that the dog was getting more and more aggressive with him and that if he made a move towards me I was going to stab him.

They arrived in 10 minutes after that and yes the dog did bite him.

ShockShock - blimey that must have been scary for you.

Good luck OP!

DarkBlueEyes · 01/04/2022 11:39

I am now SO invested in this thread and want to know if @nalabae is right about who took the car! @SalomeNotThatOne please update us, I'm gagging to know!

And also devastated about the comments about the Met, it is so sad that we have lost all trust in the police. If only the Met Commissioner was on Mumsnet, they'd get a shock.

Someone I know had BOTH their cars stolen last night from Oxshott in a similar theft. It's just devastating.

BrimFullOfAsher · 01/04/2022 11:50

Even is PP finds out who took it, I wouldn't expect any more interest from the police sadly.

Hope you had it recovered though OP?

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