2022 RAV4 stolen

[Nick72]

20 minutes ago, Terry10 said:

Well at a grand down you may as well pay £450 for the ghost.This is all getting very complicated for your average guy in the street

Terry

Can all be made perfectly transparent. User doesn't need to know how it works. Only what they need to do which would be far easier than trying to update the infotainment system software or getting the enforcement cameras onto the built in SATNAV 🤣 And the grand is if they lose all of their phone, login details, etc.

[Strangely Brown]

That's all very well, and may even be useable at scale in an automotive environment, but if a car is desirable enough and the thief is determined enough, stealing to order etc, then the car will still be taken. Whether that is simply by dragging it onto a flatbed or, as has happened with other cars in the past, the thieves break into the house with weapons and search for / take / or demand the keys.

If they want it enough, they are going to take it.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[TonyHSD]

I am amazed how people are after their cars and forget what is more important that a 2 tons of steel that now may wort £40-£50k but tomorrow will worth nothing?! Even if you find it around the corner with dozens of hoody fella’s around, would you approach them to fight with for your property? Your life it’s most important. When you see the car been stolen, call the police , then your insurance and if any tracking devices been planted just give them the details, don’t get yourself involved. Once the police find the car, refuse to take it back and chase your insurance to pay and buy another model less attractive to thieves. Case closed, live your life, cars are here to serve us, not us to fight for them. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Similar topics merged.

[Dippy]

Commiseration to the person who has just lost their car 😞 

For the rest of the discussion which is pointing out that these are planned targeted thefts; haven’t read all 28 pages (!!) but I would say one prevention technique might be to move your old sofas and kids bikes out of the garage and put the car in it! I’m also on a Porsche board and it’s surprising how many sheepishly admit their garage is full of junk while the expensive pride and joy is exposed. 
Sure it won’t stop the determined, nothing will, but it’s a relatively simple obstacle to those who look for easy targets.  

[Yugguy1970]

My garage is already in use 😁

[nlee]

Blimey, I bet the thieves wouldn't want to get caught in the act by you 🤣🤣

[TonyHSD]

48 minutes ago, Dippy said:

Commiseration to the person who has just lost their car 😞 

For the rest of the discussion which is pointing out that these are planned targeted thefts; haven’t read all 28 pages (!!) but I would say one prevention technique might be to move your old sofas and kids bikes out of the garage and put the car in it! I’m also on a Porsche board and it’s surprising how many sheepishly admit their garage is full of junk while the expensive pride and joy is exposed. 
Sure it won’t stop the determined, nothing will, but it’s a relatively simple obstacle to those who look for easy targets.  

Most uk car garages are smaller than the size of the car 😂, perhaps they had been designed for mini’s only or by the same person who had created Fiat 500. That is most common reason why people aren’t using them. 👍

[ernieb]

I might be just able to get the car in the garage if I removed everything else but still would not be confident of being able to open the doors.

[Yugguy1970]

30 minutes ago, nlee said:

Blimey, I bet the thieves wouldn't want to get caught in the act by you 🤣🤣

Nah I'm not massive or anything, I just like lifting things up and putting them down again. 

Working in IT on complex things that don't actually exist, the simple deadlifts and squats are genuinely good for my mental health as well as physical.

[Dippy]

If you can’t, you can’t. Just adding another option to the thread 🙂 

[Nick72]

On 1/25/2023 at 8:14 AM, Strangely Brown said:

That's all very well, and may even be useable at scale in an automotive environment, but if a car is desirable enough and the thief is determined enough, stealing to order etc, then the car will still be taken. Whether that is simply by dragging it onto a flatbed or, as has happened with other cars in the past, the thieves break into the house with weapons and search for / take / or demand the keys.

If they want it enough, they are going to take it.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

True. We can however make it harder and harder for them.

[Cyker]

 

 

[Yugguy1970]

If only.

[Terry10]

Today I purchased a Stoplock Pro to compliment my other anti theft device ( Stoplock to be used when away in hotels etc.good deal in Halfords with 10% off. Tried to fit it in Halfords car park and yes it does fit but it's so tight I kept on pushing the horn button trying get it on.Got so bad people were checking if I was ok!  I had checked which one was for the Rav4 hybrid etc and I think someone on this thread said it was the one to get.Anyway I took it back and got the pro elite which is ok. At the moment Halfords have the elite on offer and if you order it online there is a code for another 10% off. Got it down to £53.00 in the end. If anyone wants one you need to get in there quick as I think the offer is coming to an end shortly.Hope this helps.

Terry

 

 

 

[Strangely Brown]

It was probably me who said which one to get.

The device test that I posted said to get the Stoplock Pro Elite because it has the deeper bend in the shaft for cars with a larger steering wheel centre. I tried both the Pro Elite and plain Pro in Halfords car-park and, personally, I felt that The Elite was a bit "large" while the plain Pro was a better fit. I have never had a problem  with fitting it in about 5 seconds without sounding the horn.

The lock end is placed on the right steering wheel spoke with the lock hoops around the rim either side of it. The shaft passes through the steering wheel above the left spoke. If anyone wants to remove it they will have to make at least 3 cuts. 2 to the wheel rim and 1 to the spoke.

YMMV ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ETA: I also use a small piece of high density foam for the shaft to sit on so that the weight does not put a dent the left spoke over time.

[Roy124]

A useable garage is a mandatory item on our house purchase. Had a second garage built in Scotland.  Had a double garage in our last house, work benches at the end. 

This one had a Land Rover in it before we bought it.  We could get the E Class estate in and set up racking and work bench on the side. 

Yaris Cross is easy, all the patio furniture in too. 

PS, when we moved in, as fast as I cleared space the Missus dumped more stuff in it. Continual battle to get the car space. 

[Hybrid21]

On 12/19/2022 at 1:13 PM, Hybrid21 said:

I bought this Stoplock in 1987 for my brand new Golf GTi which I still have. It must be the first model of this security device ?

I've retrieved it from the back seat as after reading this post I may need to fit it to my RAV4 😃

I tried my old Stoplock on the RAV4 and it doesn't fit, unable to lock without blowing the horn ☹️

[Terry10]

36 minutes ago, Strangely Brown said:

It was probably me who said which one to get.

The device test that I posted said to get the Stoplock Pro Elite because it has the deeper bend in the shaft for cars with a larger steering wheel centre. I tried both the Pro Elite and plain Pro in Halfords car-park and, personally, I felt that The Elite was a bit "large" while the plain Pro was a better fit. I have never had a problem  with fitting it in about 5 seconds without sounding the horn.

The lock end is placed on the right steering wheel spoke with the lock hoops around the rim either side of it. The shaft passes through the steering wheel above the left spoke. If anyone wants to remove it they will have to make at least 3 cuts. 2 to the wheel rim and 1 to the spoke.

YMMV ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ETA: I also use a small piece of high density foam for the shaft to sit on so that the weight does not put a dent the left spoke over time.

Good idea about the foam, thanks for that tip.Really not sure where I saw that about the pro, but not going to trawl through 28 pages again. Yes the elite is a bit large! I am waiting for the wife to say " Have we got to take that thing with us in the car?🙄)  she will have 2 choices and one will be that we won't go then! I won't use it at home as there is no way that that will happen every day.Anyway I have done all that I intend to and what will be will be.Only other extra may be razor blades on my under bonnet unit! 😝😝😝

 

[nlee]

19 minutes ago, Terry10 said:

Good idea about the foam, thanks for that tip.Really not sure where I saw that about the pro, but not going to trawl through 28 pages again. Yes the elite is a bit large! I am waiting for the wife to say " Have we got to take that thing with us in the car?🙄)  she will have 2 choices and one will be that we won't go then! I won't use it at home as there is no way that that will happen every day.Anyway I have done all that I intend to and what will be will be.Only other extra may be razor blades on my under bonnet unit! 😝😝😝

 

I couldn't get the Pro to fit without sounding the horn either so ended up with the Pro Elite. I fit it exactly the same as strangely brown describes. That seems to be most inconvenient to remove it without keys.

I'd maybe think again about not using it at home as that seems to be where most of the reported thefts are happening.

[NASY]

Yep Terry, same experience outside a branch of Halfords blowing the horn trying to fit the Stopcock Pro, exchanged it for the Pro Elite - works a treat and super easy to fit in moments.

[Puglet]

We have a very old stoplock, but still used it on a few vehicles where it fouled the airbag/horn, the main lock part still straddled steering wheel spoke, so still tricky to remove. Not ideal but better than nothing. 

[ColinB]

I bought the Elite, it is a bit loose but still managed to toot the horn taking it off. At 6:45 in the morning

Fortunately I've managed to avoid doing this again 🙄

[D Buck]

Hi All

I had my car stolen off my drive in the middle of the night. When I woke up in the morning i could not believe it had gone. I am shocked how easy it was for thieves to steel a car of this age considering all the new technology. However I am not to  bothered about the car it was the fact that a lot of my stuff was in the boot things like certificates, aftershaves and other valuables. If anyone spots a car of this kind please get in touch as I am struggling to get over this, and I am quite a strong minded person. I have reported this to the police but still they have not been in touch. What is this world coming to if things are like this i would prefer not to continue in this way!

[TonyHSD]

Hi and sorry to hear that happened. We had a large discussion about these issues and seems like these cars are an easy targets. And it is the technology that actually let’s all of that happens so easily.
Here more information.