GR Yaris Attempted theft of my GR 03/08/23

Martin GR4

Martin GR4

Obsessed member
Dec 6, 2021
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South Manchester
On Thursday night (03/08/23), whilst we were away on holiday, our home was broken in to and they turned the place over looking for the GR keys. It was very clearly targeted attempt in the GR, as lots of other high value items were left untouched. Unfortunately they found my keys and fecked off with them & my Tag watch, before the police turned up very promptly after our neighbours called 999 when our house alarm was going nuts. I drove for 10 hours yesterday to get back home so that we could start to sort out the mess. We hardly slept last night as we thought they may come back for the GR, but the main reasons they couldn't take it on the night, was due to my security bollard and being disturbed. It is now blocked in with my wife's car and our motorhome until it gets sorted, so it isn't going anywhere without a lot of hassle.
I have been to RRG Macclesfield this morning & top service by Richard McKay and his team as usual for deleting the stolen key fob. Bad news is that I am going to need new lock barrels in the doors as the twunt can still access the car, but won't be able to start it. That along with a new key fob and a new disklok which my insurance agreed to without batting an eyelid, which was very much appreciated given the circumstances.
If anyone says that the GR isn't a target for thieves, then I would very much disagree based on my very recent experience!
 
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I do actually really like the bollard advice. I thought you were a bit paranoid. I've got me a disklok and other technology based items for stopping it driving off without permission, but I probably could fit a bollard out front too.

Guy down the road has what looks like a similar setup to mine, except he has a clamp on his M4.

Out of interest how much did it cost to do the bollard?
 
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Martin GR4 said:
On Thursday night (03/08/23), whilst we were away on holiday, our home was broken in to and they turned the place over looking for the GR keys. It was very clearly targeted attempt in the GR, as lots of other high value items were left untouched. Unfortunately they found my keys and fecked off with them & my Tag watch, before the police turned up very promptly after our neighbours called 999 when our house alarm was going nuts. I drove for 10 hours yesterday to get back home so that we could start to sort out the mess. We hardly slept last night as we thought they may come back for the GR, but the main reasons they couldn't take it on the night, was due to my security bollard and being disturbed. It is now blocked in with my wife's car and our motorhome until it gets sorted, so it isn't going anywhere without a lot of hassle.
I have been to RRG Macclesfield this morning & top service by Richard McKay and his team as usual for deleting the stolen key fob. Bad news is that I am going to need new lock barrels in the doors as the twunt can still access the car, but won't be able to start it. That along with a new key fob and a new disklok which my insurance agreed to without batting an eyelid, which was very much appreciated given the circumstances.
If anyone says that the GR isn't a target for thieves, then I would very much disagree based on my very recent experience!
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Sorry to hear that. Horrible that people do this sorry of thing without thinking about the long-term effects it has, it's not just property.

Quite a few on here have the Ghost Immobiliser installed, and for peace of mind it was money well spent (the first thing I did when I got mine).

It doesn't stop someone putting it onto a flat-bed, but they'd struggle to do that at mine anyway, but otherwise, having Ghost protects your car wherever it is, and you can still enjoy the convenience of keyless entry.

Hope they catch the scum.
 
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corroded said:
I do actually really like the bollard advice. I thought you were a bit paranoid. I've got me a disklok and other technology based items for stopping it driving off without permission, but I probably could fit a bollard out front too.

Guy down the road has what looks like a similar setup to mine, except he has a clamp on his M4.

Out of interest how much did it cost to do the bollard?
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It was £620 for 1 large heavy duty / garage forecourt style bollard per the picture. Worth it's weight in gold after the other night 👍
 

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kinboshi said:
Sorry to hear that. Horrible that people do this sorry of thing without thinking about the long-term effects it has, it's not just property.

Quite a few on here have the Ghost Immobiliser installed, and for peace of mind it was money well spent (the first thing I did when I got mine).

It doesn't stop someone putting it onto a flat-bed, but they'd struggle to do that at mine anyway, but otherwise, having Ghost protects your car wherever it is, and you can still enjoy the convenience of keyless entry.

Hope they catch the scum.
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Ghost wouldn't have made any difference here as they broke in to our home to get the keys, which they successfully did & didn't manage to take the GR thanks to my security bollard. Even if they come back & try to take the car tonight, they still won't be able to get it out of my drive as the key fob has been disabled, they would need to move a 3.5 tonne motorhome, my wife's car, and then somehow get rid of the bollard before my dog chews their arse off. They'll wish they were a feckin ghost if they set foot in our house whilst we are here, as I will just pick up the pieces of what my dog leaves :p
 
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Ghost would make difference
even with keys you can’t start the car without knowing ghost sequence so car won’t start
 
Ronin said:
Ghost would make difference
even with keys you can’t start the car without knowing ghost sequence so car won’t start
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I think you're missing the point here. They broke in to my house to get the keys. It wouldn't have made any difference if I had ghost written in font size 24 on the side of my car, they wouldn't have noticed. As per my previous comments, the stolen key fob has been disabled, so it is as good as ghost at the moment, as they can't start it if they come back. Some of these thieves are so thick that they don't even know what ghost is & even if they did, it still won't stop them from breaking in as they may have got the keys to my wife's Cupra. Ghost isn't the answer to everything as no thief knows whether the car has a ghost system or not until they can't start it.

Please can you explain how having a ghost system fitted would have prevented some prick breaking in to my house & stealing my keys?
 
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I think ghost or even a scorpion tracker or whatever help... They might stop someone once they have the key from moving it further, but it also doesn't stop someone from trying to break in to get the keys without knowing.

Though for the reason of security I don't carry my car key and other related tech items unless I'm driving the car... I actually think if you have scorpion or a extra immobiliser it's better it's not advertised, or mentioned anywhere on the car. I've heard of thieves gutting cars to find trackers before moving them. My thought is if they don't realise they need a fob that tilts the window in my favour, and even if they did accidentally get the fob, they might not realise the car has multiple tracking methods.

My thought process is that my car is going to have obvious physical security that will make it clear this is not an easy ride. And then a layer of hidden security if they really are so stupid to go after a car with so much obvious security.
 
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A bollard is a good idea. Seen on other forums people get them. Since I have a garage, even if it's a faff to swap them round, if I use the bike the car is in the garage. A camera with motion detection zones I find good too.
 
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We can do our best to protect our cars, good alarm, immobilizer and a visible steering lock.
It wont stop people breaking in our homes and turn everything upside down looking for the keys. These kind of people don't care about the damage or emotional upset they cause, their just looking for a quick buck, the car would have been ragged around for fun until they crashed it or burnt it out.
I'm just glad they didn't get your car and your insurance company were so good
 
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Absolute scumbags, fair play to you for putting all those measures in place to keep it protected though. Let's hope that it's enough of a deterrent to never come back.
 
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KobayashiMaru86 said:
A bollard is a good idea. Seen on other forums people get them. Since I have a garage, even if it's a faff to swap them round, if I use the bike the car is in the garage. A camera with motion detection zones I find good too.
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We've got security lights, ring cameras / doorbell, house alarm & CCTV, yet all of this didn't deter them. We've got some decent footage which we've handed over to the police.
 
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I'm so sorry to hear this dude and glad you and the family are okay. I was hoping not being a German car or Range Rover these sort of posts would be few and far between for the GRY.

I will still hope.
 
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Rev's said:
The scumbags won't know that, so will still break in.
I've just got a picture of my Ex wife on the gate. That seem to have worked so far
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Yea, I know what you mean, but saves the hassle of losing keys. My drive and garage are out of sight from the main road so hopefully never happen, fingers crossed
 
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