Car Stolen

[Bonehead]

Thanks to all of those who offered advice to me about tarting up my Dads old Diesel Maestro but the info is now no longer needed as some Bas:censored:rd!!! stole the car this morning while I was out shopping with my Wife and Mum.

It wouldn't bother me so much but It was the only thing that my Dad held any value to as he loved the car and he died in November. I will probably get a call from the police to say they have found it but I have seen loads of dumped cars and for a few days they are ok but then people drive past and smash the windows.

I have seen it a few times on my way to work. If I get it back and It is not to badly damaged I will fix it but it depends if I find it and how badly damaged it is.

I can't beleive it and am totally devastated. Who would want to nick an old Diesel Maestro??

Nath

:(

[Firefly]

sorry 2 hear that m8.it's probably kids who think it's funny 2 do it.i hope u do get it back ok,but round here they r normally burnt out.:censored: :censored:

[Austin-Rover]

Sadly there are some sc*m out there that dont have the same standards and respect for other peoples property that the rest of us do. I can only hope you get the car back and its not too badly dammaged.

:(

[Bonehead]

If I find it and it is written off I won't mind as long as the tw*ts that stole it are still inside it dead as dodos or worse paralised.

I can stand there laughing at them and them strangely won't remember the number for and ambulance.....

If they do get caught (Which I doubt) they will probably get a few hours community service or just a slap on the wrist as they are 16 or under.

Totally gutted

Nath:(

[malcsmaesty]

Really sorry to hear that news nath,
hope you get the car back without too much damage(fingers crossed)
if it is joy riders hopefully the little s:censored: s will get whats coming to them.
malc.

[D87 SMW]

Really sorry to hear about that Nath. :(
J373 ONC was stolen from the driveway in the night once, but the :censored: drained the battery trying to start it. Found that the car never got out of the street!

[Sleepwalker]

That's bad. I hope you find your car soon. It has sentimental value I believe...

[D87 SMW]

Sentimental I know. I am often tempted to buy an MG Maestro as a project, as F170 GGT is "too good." I cant sell GG though, I would hate to see him go.

[Bonehead]

Got it back this morning, god knows how I found it. Was round the corner from my firends house.

They have wrecked the door lock and steering column assembly and the back seat where they have yanked it forward to get into the boot. They took the face off front to my radio but left the radio..

I am going to buy another maestro from yorkshire for £180. It is a 1.3 clubman, I am going to transfer all of the doors, the boot lid and the steering column lock. The back seat and any other bits that are worth having so if any one is after some spares at any point let me know.

The even wrote a ****ty message above the glove compartment. It said "WHAT" "Letchworth what ****ty gaff" whats wrong with these people. At least it isn't wrecked so I suppose its something

Nath

:(

[Firefly]

gr8 news m8! glad 2 hear its not 2 bad,would have been burnt out down here 4 sure!

[malcsmaesty]

great news that you have it back nath,
fortunately its only "minor" damage,but even the smallest amount of damage is bad enough,go for the other car and strip it,even if you have to pay a scrapper &25 to get rid of the remainder of it you'll have plenty of body panels:D
as far as their parting message,they are probably a little unstable..muppets

[Firefly]

goes without saying i know,but get an alarm,argos do cheap ones but they do work. if they have taken it once,chances r they will go 4 it again...:censored:

[Bonehead]

Will get it alarmed and imobilised

Nath

:(

[malcsmaesty]

I have heard that a decent stop lock is just as good a deterent as any,but my mate had the best idea,it cost him next to nothing, a 12"x12" piece of plywood about 1/4" thick and about 200 panel pins,strategically placed under the driver seat car cover,he was p:censored: ed off with his mini being nicked every other nite,worked wonders,never nicked again.......just needed 2 remember 2 remove it in the morning ........ooowwww!!!:laugh:

[malcsmaesty]

Originally posted by Bonehead
Will get it alarmed and imobilised

Nath

:(
go for an alarm and a stop lock, could work out cheaper,that's all i have on mine,does the trick:D

[bandycat]

Originally posted by Bonehead
Got it back this morning, god knows how I found it. Was round the corner from my firends house.

They have wrecked the door lock and steering column assembly and the back seat where they have yanked it forward to get into the boot. They took the face off front to my radio but left the radio..

I am going to buy another maestro from yorkshire for £180. It is a 1.3 clubman, I am going to transfer all of the doors, the boot lid and the steering column lock. The back seat and any other bits that are worth having so if any one is after some spares at any point let me know.

The even wrote a ****ty message above the glove compartment. It said "WHAT" "Letchworth what ****ty gaff" whats wrong with these people. At least it isn't wrecked so I suppose its something

Nath

:( you r lucky 2 get it back m8 in r neck of the woods it would have been toast! can we move 2 where u r!!!

[H48HPE]

my car got broke into a few months ago, they ruined my drivers door getting in, then they bent my back seat looking into the boot, because my car has central locking it opened the boot when they did the lock, so they went round the back and opened it up, meanwhile i think one of them was trying to pinch the radio because the wires had been pulled out of the back, but then I think he pressed the horn (several people on the street heard it go off) this scared them off i recon because the radio was left and they pinched a load of stuff that was going to the jumble sale instead of pinching my work tools (which I had foolishly left in the car over night) i.e they were in a rush to get away.

all that has made me twice as paranoid as i was before. As a deterant ive got one of those disclok steering wheel locks for £80 from argos and an alarm for a hundred quid with ultrasonic sensors etc. Ive also installed a security light for for around 20 quid, which is briliant because they dont like any attention being drawn towards them. also fitting secret ignition switches around the car is a good idea, just to confuse idiot joyriders.


andy

[D87 SMW]

Ooops, posted twice,... :rolleyes:

[D87 SMW]

Should see the security we have at the house. Two CCTV cameras (one being a night vision one), a 500W halogen floodlight (with a plug-in chime indoors) triggered by a sensor, a pair of 6ft high iron gates, car alarm with interior sensors, a 100W light at the side of the house, and a fairly high fence between the houses...
GG however is locked up in a garage with the Stoplock from the last Maestro (J373 ONC)... I'll have to get a Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights car alarm on GG someday: "Get back yu b*st*rd, I'll break yu legs!" :laugh:

[tony]

2 grand of hardwhere to protect,£50 of ggt

[D87 SMW]

Originally posted by tony
2 grand of hardwhere to protect,£50 of ggt

if you are referring to the floodlight etc, they are at the house (here) to protect RAZ the Astra.
GG (yes all £50 of him) is the one in his garage (couple of streets away) with just a £30 Stoplock...

[D87 SMW]

Oh, btw. GG is priceless to me. ;) :cool: :)

[tony]

Originally posted by F170 GGT
Oh, btw. GG is priceless to me. ;) :cool: :)
and thats what matters

[Firefly]

going back 2 topic,a 'b' reg yellow maestro was nicked down the road 2day... looks like its happening everywhere!:censored:

[Bonehead]

I am gonna get an alarm and some sort of immobiliser fitted and I was gonna take the locks off of the door and have remote central locking fitted too.

Has anyone else done this?

Nath

P.S. Like the idea of the board with nails in but the way things are today I would get sued by any would be car theives.

:eek:

[E_T_V]

That was my plan too as the doorlocks are rubbish - See my security thread. I'd like to fit remote central locking and de-lock the car too.

[Alan the Vanner]

I.ve de-locked and de-latched the passenger side.

[E_T_V]

Any pictures comments or pitfalls? For those of us yet to attempt it?

[MGTurbo]

As many know, our car's are worth very little in parts these days to be stolen for such things (except Turbo of course:mad: )

So most of these idiots are joyriders, always have been, and the security on Maestro's like any other car from its time is ****e. 9-10 times, they punch the door lock barrel out so the clip from behind falls off, the barrel can then be turned and pop goes to door lock.

Common knowledge and this sort of damage can be seem on many Maestros and Montego's. I agree, de-locking both sides AND the tailgate is the way to go, and when i do some more bodywork on mine the holes are being welded up and filled.

Touch wood, we have never been the victim of crime here, i've never had a car broken into or stolen, but it could be to do with my huge disklok covering the wheel and flashing LED for the Toad immobiliser, or more likely, i dont park my car anywhere!

Just the simple addition of a basic steering wheel lock will help unless someone really wants your car, it can take less than a minute for someone with a small degree of skill to remove most of the common Stoplocks/Krooklocks etc. Adding the fake LED is also worthwhile and fitting some alarm stickers from an expensive model. Think about it, if you were a joyrider, saw a steering wheel lock, flashing LED and that sticker, would you bother getting caught or wasting your time? Exactly. Be careful guys, i dont wanna hear of any more Maestro's being stolen!

Gareth

[Bonehead]

I was gonna leave the boot lock in so that if the central locking remote fails I can put a hidden switch in the boot to release the doors as I thought the tail gate lock was a bit tougher than the door locks and so harder to break into, or is it just as easy to break that too.

Nath

[E_T_V]

You read my mind, I had the same thought about the remote battery (or even car battery) going flat and having to break something to get in. Mind you I could always remove the door rubber and do the coat hanger thing to get in.

Anyone any bright ideas about blanking off the door pins nicely? The usual plastic caps or rubber grommets won't fit a maestro's oblong door pins.

[Bonehead]

Ba:censored:rds have done it again!!

Watching the client and heard a car start outside and thought **** that sounds like my car. Ran down stairs grabbed my shoes and ran outside to see that it had indeed been my car.

Thats twice now in less than a month. I doubt I will get it back this time though.

****!!

[malcsmaesty]

you're not having to much luck with that one nath:(
had you put any form of security on it?
had you replaced the parts from the other maesty?
it bemomes a little soul destroying a 2nd time i bet,:( :banghead: :rage:
hopefully it will be found again,maybe its the same s:censored: s again and they have just done it out of spite,hopefully not too much damage again,fingers crossed!
malc

[bandycat]

Sorry to hear that mate but we told you so!!!
If you get it back,sort out what needs fixing,and then get some security on it. good luck,hope you get it back again.
steve

[Bonehead]

Thanks for the "told you so" but I don't remember you telling me anything apart from I was lucky it didn't get torched

Thats really what I needed to hear, I was trying to source some new parts to get it fixed and was right in the middle of sorting out an imobilaser to minimise the risk

If it hadn't been my late dads car I wouldn't have given a s:censored:t, but it was his pride and joy and it had started to grow on me.

Can anyone recomend a good Diesel motor that is just as reliable but a bit more secure?

Nath

[Quality]

Originally posted by Bonehead
Thanks for the "told you so" but I don't remember you telling me anything apart from I was lucky it didn't get torched

Thats really what I needed to hear, I was trying to source some new parts to get it fixed and was right in the middle of sorting out an imobilaser to minimise the risk

If it hadn't been my late dads car I wouldn't have given a s:censored:t, but it was his pride and joy and it had started to grow on me.

Can anyone recomend a good Diesel motor that is just as reliable but a bit more secure?

Nath

Fit a sparkright alarm/immobilisor (halfords 99 quid, solider/crimp to fit) and but a disklock to also immobilise the car. for 170quid it has served me well since my car was broken into 5 months ago, nothing has happened since :)

[bandycat]

Sorry it came out that way mate,
Sue and myself did'nt mean it like that, we do hope you get it back undamaged.
As for a diesel, If you do get yours back i'm sure that you can source a reasonable derv lump for it, then beef up the security a bit.
Out of interest was it taken from the same place????
good luck mate
Steve & Sue.

[MGTurbo]

Can anyone recomend a good Diesel motor that is just as reliable but a bit more secure?


There is no other car that is more secure for the amount of money you can get a Maestro Diesel for. An Escort, Astra Diesel etc is easily as nickable, and won't return anywhere near the MPG as the Perkins or be as much fun! On your next car, invest in the Disklok (£60-70 quid) the moment you buy the car, you can then spend some time isolating the starter circuit and the supply to the injector pump, it will never be stolen then.

Gareth