My insurance company offers a discount for a fitted Cat 1 immobiliser and rather less for a fitted Cat 2.
I could not steal a car with an immobiliser, I wouldn?t know to begin, but it made me think 'is it possible?? Obviously any car can be stolen just by means of a lift, or a suspended tow, or even, given enough time by replacing components.
Are immobilisers secure, do any BR's know of the theft of an immobilised car, are aftermarket security devices worth having, if so which ones?
Just curious really, as I have not personally heard of an immobiliser fitted vehicle being taken.
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If they want it, the vermin will have it.
Any system - physical locks, tracker, alarm or immobiliser - can be beaten.
Depends on how much the scum want your car.
The main advantage of having devices on a desirable model is the scum try it, and give up, and go look for a softer target.
Scumbags aren't all braindead weasels, some have very very good technical theft skills, often learned at one of the Windsor Group of Hotels...
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>>The main advantage of having devices on a desirable model is the
scum totally destroy the car whilst they're nicking it, so when it's recovered there's no risk of your having to take it back.
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I have seen a few quite sophisticated security devices beaten over the years on particularly desirable cars which goes to show that if they want it they will take it. But the thing that they nearly always have in common is that the security devices were pretty much always aftermarket fitment jobbies. Hence they have been 'added on' to the vehicle and therefore they can be overcome with a certain level of skill.
Moving on to the modern car (forget the early examples of manufacturer standard fitment immobilisers), think about the ones with chipped keys etc, where the actual ECU of the vehicle needs to 'see' the correct key in order for the electronics to allow the vehicle to run. As far as I am aware, thefts of these vehicles without the keys is nigh on impossible, not without towing them away at least. That is why the thieves have moved on to breaking and entering in order to gain access to the keys before they can steal your desirable car.
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Scumbags aren't all braindead weasels, some have very very good technical theft skills, often learned at one of the Windsor Group of Hotels...
Hotels? More like a academies of crime. An expensive way of making bad people worse.
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And how exactly do the ' scum" referred to , know that you only have a cat 2 instead of a cat 1 so as to make their choice. ?
Just another way for the greedy insurers of Great Britain to milk the motorist . Only got a Cat 2 sir, that will be £200 extra.
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The weasel breaks in, tries to do the 'scrote's course in car theft' attempt to defeat the category 2, realises he isn't getting anywhere with the car and moves on, leaving you with a pile of glass and some hanging wires in the footwell.
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The weasel breaks in tries to do the 'scrote's course in car theft' attempt to defeat the category 2 realises he isn't getting anywhere with the car and moves on leaving you with a pile of glass and some hanging wires in the footwell.
Which is nasty, but a lot cheaper to repair than if the tealeaf gets the car started and drives it off for a spot of so-called "joyriding" before burning it out somewhere.
Insurers are in the business of of pricing risk, and the point that Mr X seems to misunderstand is that if a car poses a lower risk of a big bill, they can insure it at a lower premium.
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Are immobilisers secure do any BR's know of the theft of an immobilised car are aftermarket security devices worth having if so which ones?
You answered this in your opening sentence. Your insurer will give you a discount if you have one.
Best ones tend to be the ones which are Thatcham approved. Cat 2 can be easily by-passed though.
I had a Group 19 car which had a Thatcham 2 alarm/immobiliser. The override switch was in the glovebox which could not be locked !
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Cat 1 or cat 2? Some misunderstandings here.
See here:
www.thatcham.org/security/index.jsp?page=75
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When I had my Westfield it would of course not lock. If I needed to leave it unattended I would remove and pocket the rotor arm. If it was to be left outdoors overnight, on holiday for example, you could unclip and remove the steering wheel as well. The third cunning device was a tap in the fuel line which could be turned off.
Immobilisers pah !
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Only going off the documentation that came with the car.
Must have been a Cat 2 Immobiliser with the manufacturer adding an alarm at the dealership rather than the factory. Either that or the definitions have been updated in the past 10 years.
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How much discount will you get for having an immobiliser other than standard fit?
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Can I take it from the above, that no one has heard of a car with an immobiliser fitted being stolen without nicking the keys first?
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I used to commute in a nice MK2 Fiesta and had to leave it for 12 hrs overnight. Like Humph, I found the best way of making sure it didn't go walkies in the night was to take off the steering wheel and take it in the office with me. Got some funny looks at first.
Of course it was an easy car, column had a hexagon end so putting it back right wasn't hard and there was no horn push on the wheel. I don't think there are many cars you could do that with now. On our old M reg Escort, I like the visual effect of a stout chain padlocked round the seat runner and wrapped roundc the wheel and padlocked again. I always make sure I leave enough loose chain at the top to drape over the ignition lock to stop them ripping the barrel out before they see the chain.
Ted
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A neighbour of mine used to remove all ignition leads at night...
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A neighbour of mine used to remove all ignition leads at night...
He must have been suffering from paranoia.
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