Graham Butcher

I found this video by accident on YT, it might help someone out, personally I'll be doing all of these preventive measures once I take delivery of my new car. Big thanks to all who have contributed in this thread as well, thank you all.

I wasn't implying they were, but there will be small crooked outfits that will be doing the same thing but low tech, low-key and low profile as once the body shell is gone, there is almost no way of identifying the parts unless someone has invisibly marked certain items.

Wow, that is really impressive and clearly shows that there is some serious money to be had from old crashed cars, and hence why there are reports of cars being stolen to strip for parts. Once the parts are removed and on racks, the frame crushed, melted down etc, there is nothing left for police to identify as stolen. I can see manufacturers having to come up with a clever way to encode parts so that they can at least prove that a part is from a stolen car. As to my car ending up in a place like that, nah, I already have someone lined up who wants to buy it and do the work required to put it back on the road for a family member, once the insurance companies can get their arses into gear and come up with a realistic valuation. Its already been over a month since the accident and now the whole claim has been put back to stage one and the firm of assessors and management company have effectively been fired from the case and the whole process is starting all over again. I have travelled the best part of 2,000 miles trying to find a replacement and it puts me in a very awkward position, I can't finalise a deal until I know what the valuation is going to be😒

There are reports of normal everyday cars being stolen, stripped for parts and the parts ending up on eBay etc, so it is not just high end cars, but normal cars as well. Skoda parts are becoming harder to get hold of according to my dealer, headlights, seat belts for instance are on back order from the factory.

You know, a few years I would have believed that, but given that these cars are gaining rapidly in the popularity stakes, the Superb especially, once a rare sight on our roads are now extremely common, at least around the London end of the country, I fully expect that they will come within the sights of some at least of the criminals in the auto realm before long. I'm just moving onto my 5th model so far, and I've had Rover 2000's, 3 litre's, Vanden Plas Princess 3 litre's, Mondeo's, and many Passats before, but as good as those cars are/were, none have come close to the comfort, space and style of the Superb 👍.

Yep, after years of being used to a normal key and not having any problems, getting used to a KESSY system is taking a while (my hire car has this system) and apparently so do all the stolen cars around me, this BMW was taken only 3 days ago, not too far away from me either.

There are about 3 to 5 a week stolen in my city a week, mainly more upmarket brands is true but there have also been a few small fords etc over the last few months, many of which have been recorded on CCTV, I just don't want to be among those if I can help it.

I'll have to try that when I get the new car.

Unfortunately, that is so often the case in this day and age, seen it happen with alarming regularity.

Reading the owners handbook, you are right, you can disable it, but when you lock the car, it is re-activated at that time, so what is the point of deactivating in the manner describe?

I don't know, the manuals always talk about various bits and bobs as they are not model specific, so may need to wait until I get a car and then work through the manuals and menu options on the car.

That's what I'm currently leaning towards at the moment, but looking for something smaller that could be slipped into a pocket, any tin is OK for indoor storage.

Oh, well, the one I'm thinking of is 2016 or 2017, so that might at a higher risk then😒

So it seems that reviews on Amazon were correct then, so maybe a small metal tin is perhaps the best solution for all round security?

Thanks, interesting as there are a lot of reviews on Amazon stating they have had issues with those Faraday bags/pouches, some people say that didn't work full stop, others claimed that only worked some of the time and others said they stopped working after a couple of months. How long have you had it for, and have you checked it recently to see if it is still as effective as it was when new?

That is good to know, there has been an increase in the number of thefts of Range Rovers, Mercedes, BMW's and the like near me and many have been caught on CCTV using the relay method, so it seem that the Superb has far better protection than these posher cars have, winner winner chicken dinner.

It would appear that my new car will be keyless entry and start/stop system. How or what is the best and most effective way of preventing thieves scanning for the signal and cloning it to gain entry to the car? I was looking the RFI key pouches on Amazon, but many of the reviews claim that they don't always work and other claim that after a couple of months they cease to work. I was thinking about getting small metal tins and popping the key into them?

I have never changed one myself, but I would have thought that if the belt was still in one piece that it should be possible to remove it without any of the pulleys being moved, so the new belt could be slipped on, and the tensioner adjusted correctly without the need for the timing tool? That I could fully understand being a must-have if the old belt had snapped or jumped teeth?

I think maybe, the actual difference may be that you appear (at least as far as this forum is concerned) to be talking about an Octavia, the file I posted relates to a Superb, and it does state that Bulgaria and the UK are all in area A and therefore subject to the same servicing regime?😕

Have a look at the PDF file I attached a few posts up the page, it does very clearly show that the belt is 120,000 km, the engine in the Octavia is the same as the Superb I think. Yes, the water pump is also supposed to have been replaced at the same time.

According to the dealer, this car has recently had its belt replaced. Do not follow that information or it could end up in tears, the attached document clearly shows that Bulgaria is in the sales area as the UK, and it clearly shows that the mileage should be 120,000 km or 74,566 miles for a TDI engine, I think the figures quoting are for a petrol engine. Not too sure why petrol engines should have a such a long life on their belts, does anyone have any ideas? D4B80513C2A-Maintenance.pdf

According to the Skoda Service manual (official one), in the UK it is 120,000 km or 74,566 miles, it makes no mention of the time though.

Don't believe what you are being told then, that only applies in countries which ball into sales areas B and C, France is firmly in sales area A, same as the UK so that means 120,000 km or 74,566 miles with no time limit, that time limit I wouldn't trust though.

I have managed to download a service manual for the mkIII and it states every 120,000km in the UK (Sales Market Area A) but does not state a time limit at all? 120,000 km equates back to 74,566 miles. I'm not sure, I would trust the no time limit, as the belts must deteriorate over time?

That figure seems much higher than it is for the MkII model. Is there any quick way to see if the belt has been done at all?