[foggyjames]

Hi all,

Sad that we have to give this kind of advice, but here goes...

We have been made aware of a spate of thefts of 240s in the South-East, specifically the south-east London area. They are being stolen to order for banger racing. We aren't sure of exact numbers, but it is thought that at least a dozen have been taken by the same group in the past 12-18 months or so. So far, the police are reluctant to do anything about it, sadly.

The rogue team long-suspected of being involved in this have now been caught with a stolen car on their property, but "they just bought it down the pub", naturally. I'm not here to talk about the sort of lowlife scum who are stealing and destroying tidy cars, and in the process bringing the generally good name of the banger community into disrepute. I'm here to issue a security warning.

We now know the modus operandi of these pond-dwellers. They are levering out the tailgate locks of a target vehicle, then making a key to fit the lock at their leisure, then returning and simply driving the car away with a suitable key. I suppose it's a less obtrusive than a Hanoi Burglary, but it's still not nice.

There are two possible routes to assist with securing your car. Firstly, install 'personalised security measures'. I'm not going to disclose possible techniques, just in case the individuals involved manage to lift their knuckles from the floor for long enough to operate a computer and locate this thread, but I'm sure you can think of ways of disabling the car, which only you would know how to correct in a hurry.

Secondly, you could get the ignition lock changed for one from a different car. Record the VIN number (preferably retaining the VIN plate) should you need to order keys from the dealer in the future...or you could just get additional spares cut.

Both can be overcome with the luxury of time, but the fact that these weeping sores on the face of humanity are getting keys made suggests that they don't like hanging around at the scene - so buy yourself some time by making life difficult.

Finally, you could install a silent alarm which sends you an (SMS, etc) alert if someone tries to gain unauthorised access. That should give you just enough time to get all Tony Martin on their cowardly backsides while they stare moronically at a rev counter that just won't spring into life.

cheers

James