Where do car thieves often dump cars in West Edinburgh?

[Spellczech]

Wife's car got stolen last night. I drove her to police station this morning but it was closed. On the way spotted her steering wheel cover dumped on the road (furry for winter so no chance of fingerprints) at junction of Slateford Road and Chesser Avenue (Asda) so we at least know the thief was headed west...

 

Have reported the theft to 101 but does anyone know where the likely dumping grounds are in areas such at Wester Hailes & perhaps Oxgangs?

 

It was an automatic Fiesta so unlikely to be nicked for the joyride value - they'd have been better taking my car if that was their purpose...Policeman once told me that some folk will just take a car instead of a taxi, and it clearly was taken before the rain last night as the space was wet yet there are dry spots under the nearby vehicles.

 

I remember when my car was nicked from Marchmont police told me it was found burnt out at the Jack Kane sports centre in Niddrie - when I went out there there were about 15 burnt out cars in and around the park there!

 

 

Edited March 12 by Spellczech

[Craig_]

It'll likely be getting stripped down for parts. Had a spate of car thefts out this way around Christmas time, and it was apparently some lot from Liberton way who were nicking fairly ordinary motors, breaking them down and flogging the parts to various shady garages.

[Spellczech]

2 minutes ago, Craig_ said:

It'll likely be getting stripped down for parts. Had a spate of car thefts out this way around Christmas time, and it was apparently some lot from Liberton way who were nicking fairly ordinary motors, breaking them down and flogging the parts to various shady garages.

Yeah, probably. Though whoever took it would have had to walk past 3 of the same car to get to it at the end of a cul de sac! Haha

 

Edited March 12 by Spellczech

[henrysmithsgloves]

Don't expect too much from the police,I got broken into about five years ago,they stole the keys for both cars amongst other stuff. Police eventually turned up and they were couldn't be bothered.Then had problems with a fight between house and car insurance companies on who was liable. Ended up just paying an auto lock smith myself, never did get reimbursed 🤬🤬 as above though ,the car more than likely been stolen just for the parts.Pretty rife through here too( Stirlingshire). Next car get a ghost system fitted, plus mate recommended hiding the iPod thing in the car,if it does get stolen it's trackable.All the best mate,hard though it is, don't let it consume your life👍🏻👍🏻

[henrysmithsgloves]

Mrs just told me it's new style fiestas that are all the rage Dundee way, solely stolen for the engines😳

[been here before]

I heard something on a radio in the background yesterday about a load of Fiestas being chored somewhere for some reason.

[I P Knightley]

Have you made the suggestion that perhaps she hadn't left the car properly locked? 

 

I've seen young lads who go around the local streets testing the door handles of every car on the road, even going onto folks' drives and trying out the car doors there (Ring footage showing the latter). I'm pretty sure that this is what happened to The First Lady's car which was taken off our drive. We don't have Ring to provide evidence but a neighbour's captured the lads trying all car doors on the same night as her car went walkies. The car was found a few weeks later but after we'd settled on the insurance. It was apparently fully intact and had been used as a runaround while the thieves robbed a load of other stuff. 

 

Of course, I don't have the cojones to suggest that The First Lady may not have bipped the doors shut that day. "Let he who is without sin... etc."

[Spellczech]

1 hour ago, I P Knightley said:

Have you made the suggestion that perhaps she hadn't left the car properly locked? 

 

I've seen young lads who go around the local streets testing the door handles of every car on the road, even going onto folks' drives and trying out the car doors there (Ring footage showing the latter). I'm pretty sure that this is what happened to The First Lady's car which was taken off our drive. We don't have Ring to provide evidence but a neighbour's captured the lads trying all car doors on the same night as her car went walkies. The car was found a few weeks later but after we'd settled on the insurance. It was apparently fully intact and had been used as a runaround while the thieves robbed a load of other stuff. 

 

Of course, I don't have the cojones to suggest that The First Lady may not have bipped the doors shut that day. "Let he who is without sin... etc."

Bloody hell, I'm brave but not stupid! Haha No way i'm asking that...

 

Sure it was locked as it hadn't moved since Thursday as we were in Rome over the weekend. She saw it on the way in yesterday morning but it was gone when she wanted to leave for work today. 

 

I just thought I might check a couple of places in the west if anyone knew of any as we  know they headed that direction. But it was pretty slim chance...

[Ribble]

1 hour ago, henrysmithsgloves said:

Don't expect too much from the police,I got broken into about five years ago,they stole the keys for both cars amongst other stuff. Police eventually turned up and they were couldn't be bothered.Then had problems with a fight between house and car insurance companies on who was liable. Ended up just paying an auto lock smith myself, never did get reimbursed 🤬🤬 as above though ,the car more than likely been stolen just for the parts.Pretty rife through here too( Stirlingshire). Next car get a ghost system fitted, plus mate recommended hiding the iPod thing in the car,if it does get stolen it's trackable.All the best mate,hard though it is, don't let it consume your life👍🏻👍🏻

If using AirTags to track your car then you really need to use 2, to stop stalking etc they have a safety feature that will tell any thief with an iPhone that they are being tracked so most folk will use 2, one that’s easy is to find and a second one that’s well hidden

[Spellczech]

6 minutes ago, Ribble said:

If using AirTags to track your car then you really need to use 2, to stop stalking etc they have a safety feature that will tell any thief with an iPhone that they are being tracked so most folk will use 2, one that’s easy is to find and a second one that’s well hidden

yeah - one of those hindsight things. Didn't have tracker in it, and immediately kick self over it! The keys were in Faraday pouches but that didn't seem to help as I have 2 of them beside the computer right now!

 

That is good advise about using 2 BTW. I had put a Tile tracker in my father's car when we first got suspicions about his dementia, but even a man beginning to get memory loss found it and removed it...then he lost his damned car! Haha He reported it lost and then a week later remembered where it was! I had to just provide GPS fix to the insurer as it was their car now. He never drove again.

[Des Lynam]

2 hours ago, Spellczech said:

Wife's car got stolen last night. I drove her to police station this morning but it was closed. On the way spotted her steering wheel cover dumped on the road (furry for winter so no chance of fingerprints) at junction of Slateford Road and Chesser Avenue (Asda) so we at least know the thief was headed west...

 

Have reported the theft to 101 but does anyone know where the likely dumping grounds are in areas such at Wester Hailes & perhaps Oxgangs?

 

It was an automatic Fiesta so unlikely to be nicked for the joyride value - they'd have been better taking my car if that was their purpose...Policeman once told me that some folk will just take a car instead of a taxi, and it clearly was taken before the rain last night as the space was wet yet there are dry spots under the nearby vehicles.

 

I remember when my car was nicked from Marchmont police told me it was found burnt out at the Jack Kane sports centre in Niddrie - when I went out there there were about 15 burnt out cars in and around the park there!

 

 

 

That comment reminded me of this…..

 

 

 

 

[heartsfc_fan]

2 hours ago, been here before said:

I heard something on a radio in the background yesterday about a load of Fiestas being chored somewhere for some reason.

A friend's Fiesta ST got chored a week ago. Around the Polwarth area.

Seems to be an rather common occurrence apparently.

He lives in a flat so in terms of them skimming the key it would've been impossible as it's not like he kept the car on a driveway and key placed next to the front door to skim/pick up the signal.

[Spellczech]

9 minutes ago, Des Lynam said:

 

That comment reminded me of this…..

 

 

 

 

Haha

 

Yeah (had to mention it though as when we mentioned it to the woman on 101 she asked if we had picked it up, so I clicked as to why - we hadn't, as was manky from rain and had been run over a good few times!)

 

It's still there if anyone wants a furry wheel cover? Personally I dunno why she bought it as the car had heated seats and windscreen,and the defrost system was excellent on it...I was a tad envious on cold mornings! I added her as a named driver to my car and I know I'm going to get complaints that it is "not as good as her car was" early mornings...

Edited March 12 by Spellczech

[Spellczech]

9 minutes ago, heartsfc_fan said:

A friend's Fiesta ST got chored a week ago. Around the Polwarth area.

Seems to be an rather common occurrence apparently.

He lives in a flat so in terms of them skimming the key it would've been impossible as it's not like he kept the car on a driveway and key placed next to the front door to skim/pick up the signal.

Mmm hers was the Titanium + version so had all the modcons but none of the speed! 

[Australis]

Fingers crossed you find it in good condition.

 

Is it one of the crimes police Scotland are still investigating and turn up for.

Edited March 12 by Australis

[heartsfc_fan]

42 minutes ago, Spellczech said:

Mmm hers was the Titanium + version so had all the modcons but none of the speed! 

Did it have keyless entry? Apparently a very easily hackable thing especially on Fiesta's.

[been here before]

3 hours ago, been here before said:

I heard something on a radio in the background yesterday about a load of Fiestas being chored somewhere for some reason.

 

Here we go, 17 in 3 weeks on Tayside-

 

https://news.stv.tv/north/police-issue-alert-to-drivers-after-17-ford-fiestas-stolen-from-tayside-in-just-three-weeks

[Spellczech]

22 minutes ago, heartsfc_fan said:

Did it have keyless entry? Apparently a very easily hackable thing especially on Fiesta's.

Yeah that's why we had the keys in Faraday pockets - I assume they must be able to still hotwire them...

[Spellczech]

41 minutes ago, Australis said:

Fingers crossed you find it in good condition.

 

Is it one of the crimes police Scotland are still investigating and turn up for.

yeah the insurer was very clear on the process - far better than I experienced 20 odd years ago myself - The car is essentially theirs now so policy is finished. So even if I found the car (original purpose of this thread) I cannot drive it, as it would need to be inspected by them and either repaired if slightly damaged or be given the go ahead by them if undamaged. If I buy her another car within the next 23 days and they then return the car to her she could end up with 2 cars...So that won't be happening!

[heartsfc_fan]

41 minutes ago, Spellczech said:

yeah the insurer was very clear on the process - far better than I experienced 20 odd years ago myself - The car is essentially theirs now so policy is finished. So even if I found the car (original purpose of this thread) I cannot drive it, as it would need to be inspected by them and either repaired if slightly damaged or be given the go ahead by them if undamaged. If I buy her another car within the next 23 days and they then return the car to her she could end up with 2 cars...So that won't be happening!

Does your insurance include a courtesy car?

My friends did...but turns out the courtesy car only applied if the car was in the garage getting fixed.

So he's currently got to bus everywhere and get lifts.

[henrysmithsgloves]

2 hours ago, Spellczech said:

yeah - one of those hindsight things. Didn't have tracker in it, and immediately kick self over it! The keys were in Faraday pouches but that didn't seem to help as I have 2 of them beside the computer right now!

 

That is good advise about using 2 BTW. I had put a Tile tracker in my father's car when we first got suspicions about his dementia, but even a man beginning to get memory loss found it and removed it...then he lost his damned car! Haha He reported it lost and then a week later remembered where it was! I had to just provide GPS fix to the insurer as it was their car now. He never drove again.

Don't need the"key" as such to steal ,just a laptop. Mate is a copper,they can and do steal range rovers etc in under 18 seconds 😳 especially if the vehicle is equipped with passive entry 😳

[Spellczech]

46 minutes ago, heartsfc_fan said:

Does your insurance include a courtesy car?

My friends did...but turns out the courtesy car only applied if the car was in the garage getting fixed.

So he's currently got to bus everywhere and get lifts.

No, I stripped the insurance back for that kind of stuff a year or 2 ago when the renewal was bonkers - just kept the important stuff. I even removed her as a named driver on my car as she never drove it which was a whole £20! - now had to put her back on - I did keep the protected no-claims and the excess is only £150...

[Greedy Jambo]

If they've walked past 3 similar cars to get to yours, they've been trying doors until they found one that was open. 

The only other reason to do that would be if they knew that you wouldn't be in.

 

Edited March 12 by Greedy Jambo

[Gordon Ramsay]

11 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

Have you made the suggestion that perhaps she hadn't left the car properly locked? 

 

I've seen young lads who go around the local streets testing the door handles of every car on the road, even going onto folks' drives and trying out the car doors there (Ring footage showing the latter). I'm pretty sure that this is what happened to The First Lady's car which was taken off our drive. We don't have Ring to provide evidence but a neighbour's captured the lads trying all car doors on the same night as her car went walkies. The car was found a few weeks later but after we'd settled on the insurance. It was apparently fully intact and had been used as a runaround while the thieves robbed a load of other stuff. 

 

Of course, I don't have the cojones to suggest that The First Lady may not have bipped the doors shut that day. "Let he who is without sin... etc."

 

As sad as it is, I often double check the Mrs has locked the car door if she's last in at night.

 

She thinks I'm mental but on at least 2 occasions in the last year she's left it unlocked 🤣

[Greedy Jambo]

I'm not sure why anyone would target an automatic Fiesta, unless it was an ecoboost engine that they needed after their's going pop. 

 

 

[Jim_Duncan]

57 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

If they've walked past 3 similar cars to get to yours, they've been trying doors until they found one that was open. 

The only other reason to do that would be if they knew that you wouldn't be in.

 

Or he’s got some good CDs. 

[Greedy Jambo]

3 minutes ago, Jim_Duncan said:

Or he’s got some good CDs. 

 

Aye, maybe there was a signed spice girl album on the back seat. 

[Lone Striker]

8 hours ago, henrysmithsgloves said:

Don't need the"key" as such to steal ,just a laptop. Mate is a copper,they can and do steal range rovers etc in under 18 seconds 😳 especially if the vehicle is equipped with passive entry 😳

Yeah, I read about that a few weeks ago.    Is "passive entry"   the feature where you don't need to activate the signal by pressing the button  on the key fob ...... you just stand near the door handle with the key fob in your hand  ?

 

There was  an online story last week about how tech experts warned the car companies  & Government about the real security risks of adopting keyless door locking & ignition start on new models about 10 years ago, due to the dark web knowledge sharing about how to mimic it to steal vehicles.    Needless to say, they experts were ignored - and now here we are.

 

 

[Greedy Jambo]

You can get into a Range Rover in 20 seconds and steal it under a minute, but the tools/software you need costs you about 14k. 

Worth it if you're a thief,  i suppose. 

[Jim_Duncan]

16 minutes ago, Lone Striker said:

Yeah, I read about that a few weeks ago.    Is "passive entry"   the feature where you don't need to activate the signal by pressing the button  on the key fob ...... you just stand near the door handle with the key fob in your hand  ?

 

There was  an online story last week about how tech experts warned the car companies  & Government about the real security risks of adopting keyless door locking & ignition start on new models about 10 years ago, due to the dark web knowledge sharing about how to mimic it to steal vehicles.    Needless to say, they experts were ignored - and now here we are.

 

 

I rented a car with this kind of system in Florida a few months ago and don't think I ever actually figured out if I'd locked it each night or not.

[Ribble]

37 minutes ago, Lone Striker said:

Yeah, I read about that a few weeks ago.    Is "passive entry"   the feature where you don't need to activate the signal by pressing the button  on the key fob ...... you just stand near the door handle with the key fob in your hand  ?

 

There was  an online story last week about how tech experts warned the car companies  & Government about the real security risks of adopting keyless door locking & ignition start on new models about 10 years ago, due to the dark web knowledge sharing about how to mimic it to steal vehicles.    Needless to say, they experts were ignored - and now here we are.

 

 

my car has a smart key so as long as it’s in my pocket the car unlocks by pulling the door handle

[heartsfc_fan]

1 hour ago, Greedy Jambo said:

I'm not sure why anyone would target an automatic Fiesta, unless it was an ecoboost engine that they needed after their's going pop. 

 

 

Modern Fiesta's are the most common car on the road and very easy to steal due to the shite security setup Ford have put on them.

Ford also don't make Fiesta's any more so there are all these cars on the road that will have ever dwindling parts stock and lack of software updates.

[heartsfc_fan]

4 minutes ago, Ribble said:

my car has a smart key so as long as it’s in my pocket the car unlocks by pulling the door handle

I'd suggest turning that feature off

[If carlsberg did rivals...]

39 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

You can get into a Range Rover in 20 seconds and steal it under a minute, but the tools/software you need costs you about 14k. 

Worth it if you're a thief,  i suppose. 

Mate of mine works for a big insurance company, tells me they're no longer insuring Land Rovers/ Range Rovers most stolen car in the country.

[Morgan]

Edinburgh car thief’s come from The Inch.

[Jim_Duncan]

14 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Edinburgh car thief’s come from The Inch.

Edinburg car thief's what come from The Inch? Mothers? Chinese takeaways? 

[Pap]

Leave a bear trap on the pedal. 

[Lone Striker]

1 hour ago, Ribble said:

my car has a smart key so as long as it’s in my pocket the car unlocks by pulling the door handle

Yeah, mine too.  Could be wrong, but I think  the door unlock process uses a similar "nearby sensor" to the one within the car which detects your key once you're inside,  in order to activate the push button function for the ignition.   I wonder how many AA & RAC callouts are due to faulty or malfunctioning  sensors ......... and if there's even anything they can do at the roadside to fix it.  

   

 

56 minutes ago, heartsfc_fan said:

I'd suggest turning that feature off

How do you do that ?  

[heartsfc_fan]

1 hour ago, Lone Striker said:

Yeah, mine too.  Could be wrong, but I think  the door unlock process uses a similar "nearby sensor" to the one within the car which detects your key once you're inside,  in order to activate the push button function for the ignition.   I wonder how many AA & RAC callouts are due to faulty or malfunctioning  sensors ......... and if there's even anything they can do at the roadside to fix it.  

   

 

How do you do that ?  

Apparently most cars you can press the lock button twice when you walk away and that does it (I'd test that but my two don't have the keyless unlock feature).

But I think in the infotainment system there is an option to disable it also.

[If carlsberg did rivals...]

7 hours ago, Morgan said:

Edinburgh car thief’s come from The Inch.

I think I see where you're going with this, did someone park somewhere silly? 🤔 

[been here before]

8 hours ago, Pap said:

Leave a bear trap on the pedal. 

 

Its bears thats choring the cars?

 

Is this an organised group or random ones moseying down from the Pentlands choring Fiestas to order?

[Jim_Duncan]

1 minute ago, been here before said:

 

Its bears thats choring the cars?

 

Is this an organised group or random ones moseying down from the Pentlands choring Fiestas to order?

 There wasn’t enough money in stolen picnic baskets. 

[Pap]

16 minutes ago, been here before said:

 

Its bears thats choring the cars?

 

Is this an organised group or random ones moseying down from the Pentlands choring Fiestas to order?

 

Have a day off, man.

[been here before]

13 minutes ago, Pap said:

 

Have a day off, man.

 

Oh hello Mr Ranger.

[been here before]

28 minutes ago, Jim_Duncan said:

 There wasn’t enough money in stolen picnic baskets. 

 

Ahhh so being smarter than the average bear they upped their game?

[Spellczech]

12 hours ago, Greedy Jambo said:

If they've walked past 3 similar cars to get to yours, they've been trying doors until they found one that was open. 

The only other reason to do that would be if they knew that you wouldn't be in.

 

We were in. I suspect it could have been that they knew there was one which was top of the range Titanium + and thus had keyless entry...Neighbours have cheaper models (sniff, sniff! haha)

[Spellczech]

11 hours ago, Jim_Duncan said:

Or he’s got some good CDs. 

Believe me - they would've been gutted by my wife's music tastes...Plus if the car is found she'll probably get done for copyright fraud! 

 

(Just realised how pleased I am by the loss of her CDs)

Edited March 13 by Spellczech

[luckyBatistuta]

39 minutes ago, Spellczech said:

We were in. I suspect it could have been that they knew there was one which was top of the range Titanium + and thus had keyless entry...Neighbours  have cheaper models (sniff, sniff! haha)

Just seen this post pop up on another forum…

 

Neighbour up the end of our cul de sac got his Fiesta stolen last night. Thought he was superior because he had the top of the range Titanium+. Myself and other neighbours still  have the cheaper models (sniff, sniff! haha)

[Spellczech]

13 hours ago, Gordon Ramsay said:

 

As sad as it is, I often double check the Mrs has locked the car door if she's last in at night.

 

She thinks I'm mental but on at least 2 occasions in the last year she's left it unlocked 🤣

TBH both our cars have folding wing mirrors when locked - great invention. it becomes a subconscious thing to watch for them to move in. I'm pretty sure it was a combination of keyless entry and start which was the problem. Wife is not getting a Ford next time...

[Spellczech]

37 minutes ago, luckyBatistuta said:

Just seen this post pop up on another forum…

 

Neighbour up the end of our cul de sac got his Fiesta stolen last night. Thought he was superior because he had the top of the range Titanium+. Myself and other neighbours still  have the cheaper models (sniff, sniff! haha)

Haha touche!