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Original poster

Will dh's £90K car make us a target for crime?

232 replies

idratherbeincognito · 07/09/2008 00:26

Have changed my name for this to avoid accusations of being ostentatious.

Dh has a £90K sports care. There is a waiting list of 12-18 months....

I hadn't considered this before but a friend has suggested that we step up our security at our house (we are semi rural - not many neighbours) eg CCTV, and our alarm should be linked to a rapid response security firm rather than a just a simple auditory alarm (as per now). He suggested that dh might be followed in his car and our house targetted (with car theft in mind). The miscreants then might, seeing that our house looks 'promising', be tempted to break in rather than just filch the vehicle.

Has he watched to many police dramas or does he have a point?

(Feeling all sort of nervous and vulnerable atm, not helped by a murder in the village yesterday - aggravated burglary)

OP posts:
WendyWeber · 07/09/2008 21:07

The TT's lights are even weirder

Heated · 07/09/2008 21:56

The richest person I know doesn't own a car, in fact he doesn't drive. He does however pick up a phone and one magically appears.

Owning a supercar ought to be a pleasure. Wonder how petrol-head Clarkson manages? Phone him for some advice

TheNaughtiestGirlIsaMonitor · 07/09/2008 21:59

I haven't got the will to read an 8 page thread about cars, but if anybody hates your dh, it may bring their feelings to the surface.

I fully intend to spray "deadbeat" onto my x's Porsch sometime in the next month when I have a good alibi set up.

colacubes · 07/09/2008 23:10

Cam dont blow a gasket!

And you were being a tit!

Heated · 07/09/2008 23:11

Cam, shaft it

colacubes · 07/09/2008 23:12

Oh funny!

serin · 07/09/2008 23:31

Morning paper are you really suggesting that everyone in rural areas should have cctv!!

We live in a rural area and have nothing to nick but we have friends who live on nearby farms who have £200k tractors/harvester thingies parked in their yards and they are not even locked up!!....then again they are hardly likely to make a fast getaway.

A buisness man in the next village did have his helicopter nicked a while ago so I guess if they really want something....

By the way if ever you need someone to look after it for you I have a very good driving record.

stroppyshopper · 07/09/2008 23:33

Can I borrow your car for a downpayment on a house? Sorry, not much help, but am v. jealous.

Cammelia · 09/09/2008 08:20

Thanks to Cod we all now know who idratherbeincognito is

SmugColditz · 09/09/2008 08:22

There is a house selling for 90 grand around the corner from me - consider that when thinking of how tempting your car is for thieves/

Hulababy · 09/09/2008 08:32

How sad that people can't own a nice car without others feeling the need to pull them down for it.

And even more sad that people feel the need to turn their homes into high security prison types in order to keep their property safe.

What a world we live in eh?

FWIW I don;t think the OP was bragging at all. Just asking a question about something of concern to her.

NomDePlume · 09/09/2008 08:36

Gawd, there seems to be LOTS of sour grapes on this thread.

OP - Yes I would step up security for a little peace of mind but I wouldn't go for the full-on paranoid Fort Knox approach. You'll end up too terrified to answer your own front door.

NomDePlume · 09/09/2008 08:37

I agree Hula.

kerryk · 09/09/2008 08:41

my cousin was hit over the head so that someone could steal her c reg nova.

another cousin parks his ferrari in his garage (my family covers all classes ) and has never had any bother.

you could always be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

would the kind of people who would be out to steal this car know that it had the cut of security thing in the engine?

btw i would sell my dh to get that car

Nbg · 09/09/2008 08:42

I think you definately need to sort some security out.

Having a car like that will make you stand out, so if someone did have the intention of stealing it, you would be very easy to follow.
As you pointed out, there arent many of these on the roads.

Where I live, its quite a busy town and every night I see one of the R8's drive past my house.
It wouldn't take much to jump in my own car and follow it.

Deffo clear your garage out and I would install some kind of cctv.
Your local police station maybe able to offer you some advice.

Hulababy · 09/09/2008 08:44

Anyone stealing such a car like this to order would know that the car has high security features. That is why newer cars are, statistically, stolen far less than older cars.

You are actually safer owning a new model car than an old car, according to car crime stats.

Cammelia · 09/09/2008 08:51

Those statistics probably also reflect the fact that most people would take much more care of a new expensive car, hula. eg. where they leave the car etc (high security paying car park rather than free back street spot when in town).

FioFio · 09/09/2008 08:55

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NomDePlume · 09/09/2008 08:57

@ silly string

Hulababy · 09/09/2008 08:57

Possibly. But it does take into account cars stolen by the stealing of the keys befoehand, etc. New cars are harder to steal though - they have far more security features on the cars themselves. Older cars just didn;t have these.

Also a rarer car stands out more. So once a car is reported stolen it could be spotted more easily - someone stealing such a car has to be part of an organised planned theft as they need to get it out of sight asap. With older or less rare cars this is not the case, as there are more on the road so stand out less.

FWIW there is one of these cars on our estate. It is usually left out on the driveway, and as far as I am aware there has been no problem. There are others with similarly priced, and far more expensive too, around - again not been an issue so far.

wannaBe · 09/09/2008 09:18

presumably though the stats also take into account that rarer cars are less likely to be stolen because there are less of them. I haven't read the stats but am guessing they are quoted in numbers rather than percentages? If that was changed then perhaps they would be different.

Also, a lot of the older/less expensive cars are stolen by the local joyriders on a saturday night, whereas more expensive cars are often stolen to order by gangs of serious thieves who will often stop at nothing to get what they want.

Cars stolen to order are usually taken out of the country and are never seen again, whereas cheaper cars are often found abandoned/burned out.

I used to work for an insurance company, and of all the stolen vehicle claims we dealt with, the cheaper cars usually were found, the more expensive ones never were.

bundle · 09/09/2008 09:19

next door neighbour of a friend was held up at gunpoint a few months back - they asked for the keys to their car (prob £40k+) and threatened to rape the heavily pregnant wife if they refused

posh cars v silly imo

WendyWeber · 09/09/2008 09:41

I thought that too, wannabe - about the numbers - but they do actually go by percentages. Hula's link says:

(I'm still going "Vauxhall Belmont? Vauxhall Belmont???? When did you last see one of those???")(In fact I have no idea what one looks like!)

WendyWeber · 09/09/2008 09:44

Oh, here it is - it's an Astra with a boot - they stopped making them in 1992.

FioFio · 09/09/2008 09:46

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