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Guess it had to happen eventually ...

925 views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  jomor 
#1 ·
9:45 - Happily watching the guys and girls sing for survival on fame academy (well it was a particularly dreary Sunday evening this one :) ) and I hear a car alarm in the distance ... is it mine? God yea ... eek!

Yup, for the past 9 months there's been no trouble at all (except for someone failing miserably to pinch the boot badge!) ... but tonight she's been well and truly violated ... found her wailing away with the drivers door open and what at first looked like a trashed window ... expected to find glass all over the interior. :mad:

As I approached however it became obvious that she'd been the target of professionals ... very clean job. As far as I can tell (albeit by the light of street lamp) there is NO damage at all ... no broken windows, nothing taken, not even an attempt to pull apart the steering cowl ...

Not sure if they were put off by the alarm or interrupted by a passer by ... but thankfully she seems intact.

Really given me the shakes ... has somebody been eyeing her up thinking she'd be an easy target? ... more to the point though I hope the culprits had long since fled ... with the recent upsurge in house break-ins with the sole intention of finding keys and stealing the car, i'll not be sleeping easy tonight that's for sure ... :(

Anyone know if a security test of the 147 has been performed? Are they really that easy to break into? Thankfully the immobiliser at least makes them a little more difficult to drive away ... And fortunately i'm sensible enough to make sure nothing of value gets left inside (save road maps and an umbrella which were of course still there!)

Will have to wait till morn for a thorough inspection ...
 
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#2 ·
What a horrible story Ares eek!
I hope your car isn't damaged.. I can imagine you'll have a hard time fallen asleep tonight..

The f*cking bastards !! Makes my blood boil everytime I hear something like this :mad:
Why can't people just keep their hands of someone's property ?!?
Hope this doesn't happen to you again..

About the security issue.. I've heard of storys claiming the 156 & 147 with their well-designed doorhandles are easy to break in.. It seems it just takes a good bashing on the handle to make the locks jump open.. Don't know if that's true though.. I'm not putting to much believe in it..

And no matter how much I love my car, I would rather have my car stolen then some jerk finding his way to my bedroom
 
#3 ·
Could have been much worse I think Wimster - seem to have gotten away lightly this time, but it's definitely a bit of a wake up call.

Worse thing is where I live it's very difficult to park close to home (as in much of London!), so I was lucky to hear the alarm tonight as the car was a bit of a way up the road ...

I'll be sleeping light tonight with a heavy object close at hand! :D

(BTW, I'm being a little alarmist, but it is becoming increasingly common over here for organised gangs to suss out the owner of a car, break into their house and steal the keys - often quicker than trying to get around the imobiliser and alarm ... eek! )
 
#4 ·
so sorry to hear that ares... that really does scare you!!! I always consider whether i should invest in a tracker??? It might be worth it...

Our neighbour's got a scooby, and the burglars walked into their house while their in (watching tv) and tried to find the keys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
eek!

So i always try to block my car in with my dads!! :( Still, doesnt help u when u need to sleep! frown
 
#5 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Ares:
<strong>Could have been much worse I think Wimster - seem to have gotten away lightly this time, but it's definitely a bit of a wake up call.

Worse thing is where I live it's very difficult to park close to home (as in much of London!), so I was lucky to hear the alarm tonight as the car was a bit of a way up the road ...

I'll be sleeping light tonight with a heavy object close at hand! :D

(BTW, I'm being a little alarmist, but it is becoming increasingly common over here for organised gangs to suss out the owner of a car, break into their house and steal the keys - often quicker than trying to get around the imobiliser and alarm ... eek! )</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ares,

Sorry to hear what happened to your car man! I hope they only damaged the window and nothing else. I had the same experience a couple of times (I life in Amsterdam) and I know the feeling :(

About your remark of gangs braking into your house and steeling the keys......same happens here in Holland. Looks like it's the new fashion in gangs world :mad:
 
G
#6 ·
Ba$tards!!

It makes me feel lucky to live in the country.

One thing I would say if you have heard of ways that people can break into our alfas DO NOT write them down here I have seen this before, we are not the only people who read these forums, those stealing retards do too! use your common sense please.
 
#7 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Nicola Romeo:
<strong>Ba$tards!!

It makes me feel lucky to live in the country.

One thing I would say if you have heard of ways that people can break into our alfas DO NOT write them down here I have seen this before, we are not the only people who read these forums, those stealing retards do too! use your common sense please.</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nicola,

Good point!
 
#8 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Nicola Romeo:
<strong>Ba$tards!!

It makes me feel lucky to live in the country.

One thing I would say if you have heard of ways that people can break into our alfas DO NOT write them down here I have seen this before, we are not the only people who read these forums, those stealing retards do too! use your common sense please.</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Tah! I was almost going to tell have to easely berak into a 156 :(
Perhaps this also works for the 147, because it is a very clean job ...

Shoot the basterds I say :mad:
 
G
#10 ·
Are there any leads (HT?) that you can disconnect for the time being? When I go on holiday I leave the car with almost no petrol etc.

Fortunately in Finland there is very little car crime and most cars don't even have alarms.
 
#11 ·
Sorry, wouldn't dream of asking people to actually mention how to break into our cars on an open forum! I guess my original post was asking exactly that though! :rolleyes:

Anyway in the light of day I can still find no damage or anything missing at all - not even the tax disc has been taken. Guess they must have been disturbed early. Lucky this time.

No, a clean shot is too good for these people ... perhaps entrapment and slow torture would be more enjoyable ... wink
 
#13 ·
Its very hard to steal a 156 or any late Alfa, they all have transponder chips in the keys which are linked directly to the ecu, i.e even if a thief got in its very unlikly they will start it, actually probably impossible, unless they got a ecu, keycode unit and key and broke the steering lock, for a 20k Alfa? I doubt it, professionals only steal big motors that they can sell quickly, like porsches and mercs.
 
#14 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Nicola Romeo:
<strong>Ba$tards!!

It makes me feel lucky to live in the country.

One thing I would say if you have heard of ways that people can break into our alfas DO NOT write them down here I have seen this before, we are not the only people who read these forums, those stealing retards do too! use your common sense please.</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nicola, off course you're right about using caution when posting, but I found this info in a car magazine !! eek! It was one of their readers who asked them if ths was true or not...
 
#15 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Wimster:
<strong> <blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Nicola Romeo:
<strong>Ba$tards!!

It makes me feel lucky to live in the country.

One thing I would say if you have heard of ways that people can break into our alfas DO NOT write them down here I have seen this before, we are not the only people who read these forums, those stealing retards do too! use your common sense please.</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nicola, off course you're right about using caution when posting, but I found this info in a car magazine !! eek! It was one of their readers who asked them if ths was true or not...</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wimster, that was execatly the tip I was thinking of, I can remember posting it here already weeks ago. It was in the AutoWeek, one of the most read Mags in Holland eek!

brrrr....
 
#17 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Wimster:
<strong>That's why I didn't mind to much posting it here.. If it's in a car magazine, scums can read it too..</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wimster,

You're forgiven wink And you're right guys.....it was in Autoweek a couple of weeks ago!
 
G
#18 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Wimster:
<strong>That's why I didn't mind to much posting it here.. If it's in a car magazine, scums can read it too..</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No way man!

They only magazine they have contact with is the big issue, scum sucking morons :mad:
 
#19 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Dr_M:
<strong>hmmm ,when your car isn't in front of your house asked your dealer if he can install a pager ,so that you will be noticed when the alarm goes.</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">How does this work?
 
#20 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Dr_M:
<strong>hmmm ,when your car isn't in front of your house asked your dealer if he can install a pager ,so that you will be noticed when the alarm goes.</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think I've already read something about this, don't know where... interesting system.
 
#22 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Wimster:
<strong>Nicola, off course you're right about using caution when posting, but I found this info in a car magazine !! eek! It was one of their readers who asked them if ths was true or not...</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes but if someone is stupid (no offence pls) this doesnt mean that we must be stupid also. Editing our posts and remove any stealing info could be helpful imo.

About alfas security i read an article testing about 40 cars but i cant remember in what rating was the 147. I remember that it was at (or above) the average though. Measuring how much time was needed to brake in etc.

Insurance on stealing might be a good idea, i ve done it on mine. Also installing a notification device is useful for those parking far from home(dont know the english word, it triggers from the alarm avtivation output and sends a signal to a small receiver on your keys).
 
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