I was watching that programme on car crime on the BBC earlier this week, and have been wondering how easy it is for some scally to nick my Octy RS? I'm off to Manchester in a couple of weeks and will be sleeping with the key under my pillow, under a baseball bat. Not really, but it got me to thinking about security. My previous car had a Thatcham Cat 1 alarm and immobiliser, so I slept soundly, the Octavia is a Cat 2 immobiliser, so I'm not as settled.

What have you al done to protect your pride and joy?

Thats a good question! and along the same lines, can anyone recommend a CAT 1 alarm to get fitted to the octy?

I dont live in the nicest of areas at the moment and i think i would sleep better at night if i had a better alarm fitted!

To get it going without the keys - not easy.

To get into it and nick your stereo - not hard

Thatcham have some ratings here. They used to have stuff for just about every car imaginable, but there seems to be a new system that only covers current models. I don't know if that'll change in the future...

If you want it back add a tracker

I live in Scarborough, so not exactly a hotbed of crime. But, there are enough Mk 3 1.1 Fiesta driving chavs driving past my house every day to make me worry a little bit. If I had an alarm fitted, wouldn't it affect the warranty in some way, i.e. wiring and central locking?

I have a Meta alarm on mine. Cat 1 and works from the original remote :thumbup:

How much does an alarm like that cost?

I watched an AA man take almost 45mins to get into an Octavia with the keys locked in the boot, so I reckon to steal without the keys would be a hard job IMO.

Neil

don't forget the aa man was probably being carefull where as thieving bathplug's

don't give a f*** (as they say in cardiff)

True. Someone once broke into an old Capri of mine with a pair of safety scissors from a primary school. Amazing how much damage they caused.

I have seen some octavias using the 'Battenburg' deterrent

I watched an AA man take almost 45mins to get into an Octavia with the keys locked in the boot' date=' so I reckon to steal without the keys would be a hard job IMO.

Neil[/quote']

Took a guy at a track day about 20 mins to get into mine after THE WIFE !!!!!!!! left the keys in the boot although he did split the door rubber doing it, still better than breaking a window & I was grateful

I always use a steering wheeling cover lock on any car I have. I know that it's not invincible, but I hope it acts as a visible deterrent by showing that I've gone to the trouble of using some 'extra security'. I've never had a car broken into, even when other similar cars close-by have been.... The Symphony radio/cassette head unit is unlikely to be targetted though!

(fingers crossed, touch wood, rub some lucky heather and hold a lucky rabbit foot).

These days, if someone wants to take your car they'll probably assault or burgle you to get the keys. It's quick and it saves them carrying lots of tools and equipment.

The other thing to think about is where you keep the keys in the house.

So time to own up - How many of us leave them in the back of the door / near the door / on a window sill etc where they can be hooked by a coathangar etc?

I was guilty of this until recently, but someone on here (DaddyCoul???) had his Octy pinched by this method (or something similar) IIRC.

I now make a conscious effort to put the keys next to me on my bed-side table at night, and the spare set are well hidden elsewhere in the house.

maye you should be asking how secure is your home not how secure is your car!!! I live next door to five gards....thats policemen for you folk in the uk......and they reckon that there is no where near as much thefts of cars without the keys anymore...its just easier to break in the house!!!!

kit

Instead of investing in an alarm, I should buy an English Bull Terrier and attach the keys to its collar at night then.

How much does an alarm like that cost?

It was about

I tend to aggree that a wheel lock is the best way of not actually getting the car taken. then making sure that there is nothing on display that someone would want to break in for. could you see some chave rolling around with a skoda radio in the car. the other trick is always leave the stearing wheel lock on and the car in gear so that it is hard to drag it off. my last car had a cat 1 alarm and someone still broke in and nicked the radio!

i run a Sigma M32 cat1 system on my vRS... it uses the standard Skoda key fob and upgrades the factory immob to cat1 as well.

Subaru use them as standard on the Impreza from the factory and the Police have them fitted to the Octavia traffix cars.

cost me £300 all in or just under IIRC, the supplier came out to my work and fitted it for me on the carpark, took about 2 hours and the work was spotless.

the alarm also comes with a small keypad, you have features like anti hijack as standard and use the keypad to enable this. you can also pay for upgrades and simply enter a code into the keypad to upgrade the alarm without having to have extras hardware installed.

basically if you havent got the feeling from my reply already i'm very pleased with the alarm on my car...

oh and i also have a disklock for the steering wheel...

Instead of investing in an alarm, I should buy an English Bull Terrier and attach the keys to its collar at night then.

I have 2 Staffies guarding all our car keys at night! :grumpy:

I watched an AA man take almost 45mins to get into an Octavia with the keys locked in the boot

I watched an AA man breaking into a Focus (mk1) in about 30 seconds.... ;-)

I have 2 Staffies guarding all our car keys at night! :grumpy:

I have a Welsh Collie (who will bark) and a Husky (who would probably give the keys to the burglar in return for a stroke / pat on the head!)

Subaru use them as standard on the Impreza from the factory

The only problem I hear about these is that mobile phone masts seem to interfer with the signal so you can find that you can't lock or unlock your car with the blipper! I've heard quite a few people having to be towed further down the road by the AA/RAC before they can get into their cars

I used to run a Clifford on mine - can't recommend it highly enough

Chris

breaking IN is easy in any car with glass windows.

Taking it away is trickier and the more time-consuming you make it, the less likely is to be taken.BUT, towing a car away isn't exactly hard....