Hi all

My Range Rover Sport PHEV MY21 was stolen while I was in holiday in a London hotel. They had taken out our Land Rover Telematics tracker however we had hidden a Samsung Smart Tag+ under the false floor which we used to track our car. The police used the location and we recovered the car from a dodgy car parky in East London after 30 minutes since the theft. I had a steering wheel lock fitted onto the steering wheel before the theft, I removed any expensive items out of site from the windows (including my dash cam) and I placed my keys in a signal blocker pouch. The way the thieves managed to gain access into the car was making a large hole in the boot and cutting some wires which would disable the central locking system. They then opened the boot and removed the tracker while cutting numerous other wires behind the fabric lining, which made the car loose its electrics including the plug in hybrid battery and they cloned a new key. they drove a few miles through London with a steering wheel lock damaging the car and the steering wheel. My insurer is questioning whether the damage is repairable or if it would be better to write the car off. I used nearly every preventative measure to stop any thieves taking my pride and joy but they always seem to find new ways of stealing cars. I have attached some photos, do you think this damage is repairable or will the insure write the car off? hopefully we can find a way of preventing the thieves from stealing cars by just cutting a hole in the boot!

Not sure you want to put a tutorial on how to steal a RRS out there. Not that they don’t already exist, but it’s the same reason I don’t post how I removed my wheel locks after losing the key. All it takes is a halfwit cruising the net and get the brilliant idea to try it. 2011 RRS HSE Luxury 3.0 TDV6 Fuji White on Ebony/Ivory
Born and raised in So Cal. Moved to the UK in 2018 for a few years. Now in Poland and looking at moving back to the UK.

Not having been to London in probably the best part of 25 years, I take it the Hotel didn’t have its own car park?. Irrelevant I know but just asking.

Regarding taking your car, there is the saying that if someone is determined enough they’ll take it. If you’re old enough to recall in the 80’s when car alarms became a popular thing. Then it was so common to hear them going off they got ignored!, almost becoming a nuisance. Then immobilisers became the next thing. Your car won’t start sir without this key = wrong . I had a few colleagues back in the day with fashionable hot hatches, and they just reverted to disconnecting the battery.

With it being a new model surely it’s not a right off?. 2006 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Cairns Blue.

How do these people learn these techniques? Which wires? Where to position the hole etc etc.
I'm a big fan of the South African flame thrower, its what these crooks deserve. RRS HSE Dynamic SDV6 2014

Nemo mortalium omnibus horus sapit

Could not figure out what you meant by cutting a hole in the boot until I saw your pics If they go to that extent plus the damage to the wiring, no car is safe. Normally seeing the steering lock would make them go to another car. Be as well leaving the keys in it.
I would not want it back. Hope you get the insurance resolved to your satisfaction. Range Rover Sport: Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe: 992 Porsche Carrera 4S

that is hectic!

ps. I can't see any pics? --
2010 Defender Puma 90 + BAS remap + Alive IC + Slickshift + Ashcroft ATB rear
2015 Range Rover Sport Supercharged V8 HSE Dynamic



Defender Puma Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zZ1en9
Discovery 4 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zXrtKO
Range Rover/Sport L320/L322/L494 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zc58JQ

From the OP's gallery:



 "Every Day is a School Day"

Now 2014MY RRS SDV6 AB
Now 2018MY Ford Fiesta ST Line 140bhp
Gone 2006MY BMW X5 3.0d Le Mans
Gone 2001MY BMW 530d Estate

Grimble wrote:

How do these people learn these techniques? Which wires? Where to position the hole etc etc.
I'm a big fan of the South African flame thrower, its what these crooks deserve.

Stevepd wrote:

Not having been to London in probably the best part of 25 years, I take it the Hotel didn’t have its own car park?. Irrelevant I know but just asking.

Regarding taking your car, there is the saying that if someone is determined enough they’ll take it. If you’re old enough to recall in the 80’s when car alarms became a popular thing. Then it was so common to hear them going off they got ignored!, almost becoming a nuisance. Then immobilisers became the next thing. Your car won’t start sir without this key = wrong . I had a few colleagues back in the day with fashionable hot hatches, and they just reverted to disconnecting the battery.

With it being a new model surely it’s not a right off?.

Hi,

Sorry for the bad news - what a bummer.

What steering wheel lock were you using? did it provide enough "wiggle room" to steer the car right and left?

Hope you get everything sorted out with insurance.

cheers.

The steering wheel lock did allow some movement (maybe around 3cm each side) however the thieves forced the steering wheel lock into the wheel tearing off the leather at the top and bending the metal in the middle.

Sytner Land Rover Wakefield quoted the costs to over £17,000 which I will send to the insurance to see if they will pay that amount or write it off. It is crazy how much damage thieves can do in under 30 minutes. Not too happy with my insurance right now, they gave me a Peugeot 308 as a courtesy car when they promised a like for like car, to make matters worse the manual gearbox seems to be faulty and Enterprise can't source a car for another week!

Sorry to hear your bad news, what Samsung Smart tag did you use to have the range to allow the Police to find the car as I plan on putting one in my RRS

I put a Samsung Smart Tag+ in all my cars (hidden of course). I recommend using a Samsung smart tag+ because there is a refresh button so I can get the most up to date tracking information. However, there needs to be a Samsung phone nearby to get the tracking as there is no gps module inside, so basically at some times it can take 20-30 minutes to get an update in rural areas. But bear in mind the Samsung smart tag+ is only compatible with Samsung phones and the Apple AirTag is only compatible with apple phones. I chose the plus version over the standard version as it gives a more precise location rather than the normal version.

I was speaking to my local car alarm specialist today and asked if by accessing the harness/canbus in the boot, the thieves could override Ghost. His comment was no, ghost would not be compromised and would prevent the car being started and driven away. MY17 RRS 4.4d V8 Autobiography - Aintree Green (also referred to on Topix as British Racing Green)

If a ghost is fitted is there a problem that you could still have a large amount of expensive damage done before the scum realise they can’t drive it away, do people with ghosts fitted advertise the fact that one is fitted by stickers or something?