thining its stupid taking the car keys upstairs at night, as if someone breaks in to get the car, i dont want them coming upstairs

[carriedapumpkin]

dh insists on taking the car keys upstairs at night, incase someone breaks in to delibertly steal the car

this has happened to someone we know 6 miles away, with the same car

the police were convinced they were broken inot purley to get the car.
i have not idea how or why they've come up with this idea though

anyway personally i dont want crooks coming upstairs looking for the key

and last night before we were in bed we heard the car alarm go off.
there didnt seem to be anyone outside, but it just put a bit of fear into me that someone was creeping about and i couldnt sleep
i kept hearingnoises probably the fridge AND the house just making noises etc.
it was still there in the am

but me and dh are aguring where to keep the keys

where do you keep yours?

Where is your car parked? If it's not outside the house then its unlikely anyone would know which is yours anyway. If it iss on a drive or outside your house then I guess you do need to keep the keys safe. I have read that when they break in, its often because the keys are in plain sight downstairs. I'm not certain if they wanted your car that they would go upstairs so in that respect it may be the right thing to do.

PS: Ours are kept in a drawer in the hallway but luckily our cars are not outside our house so it would be hard to figure out which are/were ours anyway.

I think you'd have to have a really determined car thief and a very special car.
Our car key (only the one in this house) is on my set of keys which also contain the house key and post box one. They are pushed into the yale one the door is closed.
We don't have a letter box so nobody would be able to look into our hall.

I think your DH might be right. If burglars are looking for car keys, they're surely most likely to want an easy pick, not to have to scrabble around upstairs and risk waking you up.

Also, if car alarm goes off you only have to walk to your front window upstairs to turn it off with your keys upstairs!! :o

Downstairs, but I think that probably it's better to take them upstairs, or at least hide them somewhere.

I got the impression that car key theft was more opportunistic - they might steal your car during a burglary. However, I haven't got a car anyone might want to steal, so that's probably why I think that

On the floor next to the front door as they have the house keys on and I'm paranoid about being able to get out in a fire.

Can car thieves not hot wire these days?

We could keep ours in the ignition and be ok, but when I was young and Mother had decent company cars, they left them in the kitchen.
Our house was burgled and the car was trashed inside when they ripped the stereo out, wrecking all the dashboard wood stuff etc. They didn't actually take it and we wished they had and we never had to see it again as it meant both the house and car had been 'invaded' iyswim?

I would imagine, they would come in and if they couldn't find the keys quite quickly, leave again.

What sort of car is it?

Oh I live on my own and leave EVERYTHING downstairs for the burglar! Car keys, purse, etc. (I take most of the cash out.) I leave them on the sofa, in the living room, so it would be the first thing they'd see.

The LAST thing I want is someone coming upstairs.

Someone I know has a 'fake' purse which she leaves downstairs - it has just a few coins in and old credit cards.

its kept on the drive, and because our house is l shaped iyswim you can't see it that well from the house.

A friend of mine had his patio doors smashed and they walked through the house to find his keys (which were downstairs, fortunately). Knowing he was awake, but would stay upstairs through fear. Which he did.

And a friend of a friend was also burgled for their car keys, again, while they were in the house. They too stayed upstairs although they heard the break-in.

Afraid it isn't an urban myth. Always leave them out of sight of windows but easily accessible once someone is in the house.

If someone's willing to break into your house while you are there, I'd not want to take a chance that they'd then turn and leave just because I had the keys in my bedroom. And they are unlikely to be alone.

Theft of the vehicle by stealing the key from the house is a common way to steal it....new cars are too difficult to break into. There are organised gangs that will steal newish prestige cars in this way. They do not want to faff around looking for keys so will target those who leave their keys visible or near the door.

I always take all car keys upstairs at night two cars on the drive. Oh and we lock the bedroom door too. We once left a blackberry and wallet on the kitchen counter with the curtains open. Kid smashed the window and took them at 5am.

We have been told to keep them out of sight from the windows so not on a hook etc but to leave them on the side so the thief doesn't end up wanting to search upstairs.

We now keep the keys in one of the first draws in the unit.

The first time it happened to us they woke me up creeping about & I wandered downstairs half asleep in my maternity knickers

That scared the buggers off with no doubt & they only managed to grab my handbag & the wrong set of car keys.

The second time they not only took the car but got all of the fathers day present's that were in the boot, our camera & our baby bag.

Apparently the cars are stolen to order & the thieves just spend a few nights at a time chancing doors not being locked properly etc.

I wouldn't feel comfortable with them being upstairs & I do now keep a baseball bat under my bed.

My folks were burgled a few years back and their car was used to drive all their belongings away as the keys were hanging up in the kitchen.

The police said afterwards that they advise keeping carkeys in an empty margarine container in the fridge so the thieving scoundrels can't find them.

I think I'm safe, unless anyone has a penchant for a scratched 55 plate Vectra. :o

I would hide them downstairs i think. But then i suppose if they are hidden the burgulars might come upstairs looking for them

I have the same dilema about carrying money and such incase i am mugged. I hardly ever carry my bank card or cash arounnd and worry that if someone mugged me and demanded them, they would probably think i just wasn't handing them over and do me in.

It is so scary.

It does make sense (to me now after reading this thread!) to keep them somewhere that can't be seen from a window/through letter box but somewhere they would be seen if broken into- I would rather someone take the car than rummage around my house or come upstairs....

cherrybea I don't think anyone would be interested in our car either!

Ours stay downstairs in the hall table, in a dish. The front door keys stay in the front door too - I am paranoid about being able to get out in a fire.Our front door has a glass window and a glass porch too, so anyone can look in

my mum locks all her doors and takes the keys out and puts them on a table, I keep saying to her "if it's dark smoky you won't find them"

I can never find our sodding car keys, so gawd knows how anyone else could!

The empty margerine tub idea could go badly wrong in this house, DH is known for putting comedy things in the fridge at the best of times.

True story - My mum and dad live with my two brothers and sister, all adults. 4 cars at the household (excessive - yes).

One night at about 3am, someone climbed over the garden fence, over on to the patio, through the kitchen window which was ajar, through the downstairs to the front door where they took 4 sets of car keys and then stole 3 cars (my mum was nightshift). All were hanging up together.

No one heard a thing which was quite surprising as my younger brothers car was a banger!

Now, they live in a small town and its common knowledge that the street is a "police" street, and one of the cars they took was an unmarked police car. So needless to say the police were on the case pretty quickly and all cars were recovered very quickly!

The funniest thing is, the front door was open all along as my parents have never, and still don't, lock the door!

oh and the keys still hang in the same place. My dads theory is, that's what you pay insurance for and cars can be replaced.

God forbid they crept upstairs and had a knife etc.

I don't really have a set place where the car keys are put.