406 Break-in

[sirwiggum]

Some scumbag has been into my 406, stole the sat nav and ipod (yes, I know, stupid place to keep sat nav and ipod in an unlocked glovebox).

Thing is, they didn't break a window / punch a lock. The only thing I noticed was this morning the central locking on the plip didn't make the usual sound of the locks opening.

I once read that a 406 can be opened via a strategic thump to the bootlid? Is this the case for a 2002 model?

Perhaps I forgot to lock it rushing around last night. My bad.

[steve_earwig]

That's a bit of a bastard Can you claim them on your home insurance?

[mjb]

Would you have heard the alarm if it went off?

[sirwiggum]

Can't get on home insurance unless the home itself was broken into.

And it doesn't seem to have an alarm. This didn't bother me at the time as alarms I used to think of as things that go beep-beep-beep-beep in the middle of the night, wake everyone up, then get cancelled as the owner goes back to bed. Starting to rethink this.

Had CSI out, less glamourous work dusting a 406 for prints than what it shows on the TV!

I'm just baffled, did I forget to lock it last night or have they found a way of breaking in without breaking anything?

[Welly]

Sorry about that wiggy

My bet is you forgot to lock it, it will have an alarm but it won't sound off if you haven't locked the car. The interior sensors can be switched off but the alarm will still work on the doors, boot etc.

The boot lock thing was to do with the boot not locking when the remote was pressed and owners finding that the boot was still open despite thinking it was locked (why wouldn't you?). Of course, once in the boot you can pull the release handle on the seats and get into the car

[sirwiggum]

Cheers Welly.

Sounds like I forgot to lock it.

Boot was open, but probably just for a nosey, doesn't look like they crawled through the seats in.

[mjb]

If you lock it without deadlocking, then I believe it's pretty trivial for a locksmith/crook to open the car via the window seal. I also think that the alarm's not activated unless the car's deadlocked?

[Welly]

Something worth bearing in mind is that these thieves are opportunist and will notice the circular 'sucker' marks on the windscreen and assume the sat nav's in the glovey

I wipe away any marks on the glass before leaving the car.

Or you could do what my Dad did and leave the sat nav holder on view ........que broken glass

[mjb]

When I used my sucker satnav (ipaq!) holder, I'd keep it attached to the screen.... with a mini notebook in it showing a few scribbles. Seemed to work...

[sirwiggum]

I always wipe the sucker circle away, hadn't used the sat nav in months anyway.

How do I deadlock? If I click lock once, it locks. If I click it again, the indicators go mad.

[highlander]

Your remote central locking will be like mine

Press once to lock (indicators go solid for a second)
Press again to unlock (indicators flash for a couple of seconds)

I had thought that the act of locking would engage any deadbolts present. But then, mine's an LX and has no alarm and probably no deadbolts either. It's just got the standard Pug immobilizer.

[sirwiggum]

I think mine is similar to yours, Highlander. Rapier spec, the indicators do the same thing on lock / unlock. Pressing lock twice causes the indicators to flash rapidly.
No alarm that I know of.
Maybe time to invest in security.
Cheers.

[Welly]

My exec's remote had two buttons, a big one and a smaller one under that. The small one was pressed very shortly after the big one to activate the dead locks.

[sirwiggum]

Mine is of this type



Big button locks, small button unlocks.

[turbolag]

There's a big rise in 'theft from' at the moment, same way theres a rise in car-key thefts. Modern security systems and locks are so good the villains just wander round trying car doors, safe in the knowledge that 1 in 10 or 20 will be insecure.

The only consolation is that the drugs they will buy with the proceeds will take them a little bit closer to death.