[m&m]

As most of you know from my other thread my MINI was pinched yesterday and I have just had some alarming news.

This was not just chancers but an organised gang of car thieves who are targeting MINIs. I have just spoken to a girl who has a highly specced MINI one in Fulham and she was approached by the same two guys who took my MINI. Mine was taken at 1.00pm yesterday in Tolworth and she was approached at 3.00pm in Fulham that afternoon.

The two guys are in their early thirties. One white guy has short spikey dark brown haIr with a large cut with stitches in across his left cheekbone/eye with heavy bruising, the other guy is mixed race with light brown skin and is taller with a freckly nose.

IF ANYONE OF YOU ARE APPROACHED BY THESE GUYS CALL THE POLICE BECAUSE THEY ARE AFTER YOUR MINI

[ALD0]

What do you mean she was approched by the 2 guys?
Were they threatening violence or soemthing?

[RobHardyUK]

@rseholes. I'd love em to approach me. They will come across the wrong person soon! I hope they get busted soon. Did these guys actually approach you then??

[VegasD]

Yikes.

I think forums like this allow criminals access to "us" in a weird way. They can pick and choose who's near and who has the best MINI to Snatch.

Sounds like a movie.

[minibat]

No one will be taking my Mini. Let's just say "My name's Friday, I carry a badge."

Motor on.

Did I mention the gun that goes with the badge?

[m&m]

Quote: Originally Posted by interceptor

What do you mean she was approched by the 2 guys?
Were they threatening violence or soemthing?

I was basically being watched over a few days/weeks I'm not sure and two of them followed me then came into my shop and snatched my keys. There was also someone waiting in another car for them.

What I don't understand is how they find out this information in the first place or whether they just follow someone in a specific car they have been tasked to snatch and check them out over a number of days.

They didn't threaten me as they didn't need to but they were rather menacing to the other girl who also works in a shop open to the public.

[RobHardyUK]

i wonder why specifically MINI's? Wonder what the plan is..? hmm.

[Parc77]

a couple of years ago my girlfriend was driving her then car Mazda MX5, she pulled up at the traffic lights and got a tap on the rear bumper from the car behind, she was just about to get out when she saw masked guys getting out of the car behind (car jackers) she shut the door floored it pulled the handbreak on and went the other way - they didnt stand a chance .
For peace of mind i'm glad the doors lock automatically on my MCS - so if anything like this happens again at least they cant open the door.

[ALD0]

Quote: Originally Posted by RobHardyUK

i wonder why specifically MINI's? Wonder what the plan is..? hmm.

Probably as they are becoming more common now, they are easy to strip and sell parts.
Im continually noticing odd Parts on Ebay off MINI's that would only come off a Written off MINI or possibly a Stolen to order MINI.

[UKC4]

When the doors close after you set off they are closed until the car is switched off. But if that jurney is interupted by somebody hitting your mini the doors will automaticly open. This is the safety feature if you have an accident, but in some cases like carjacking they will also open if they bump you.

[BitRot]

Situations like this make me glad that carrying concealed firearms and the self-defense of life and property by means of deadly force are still legal in Texas.

[miniman marshall]

luckily i live in canada!

[AussieMini]

Quote: Originally Posted by RobHardyUK

i wonder why specifically MINI's? Wonder what the plan is..? hmm.

Maybe they'll weld them altogether and make one crazy giant MINI...

[EBMCS03]

Wow this is kinda scary... makes you tihnk twice...

[SoggyCornFlakes]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune m&m What I would say to you all (but more so in the UK were this type of crime is prevalent and it's illegal to carry any sort of firearm as self defence) is that it's not worh putting up a fight. These gangs are mean and ruthless, your better letting them take your car rather than maim or kill you in the process.

[Parc77]

Quote: Originally Posted by UKC4

When the doors close after you set off they are closed until the car is switched off. But if that jurney is interupted by somebody hitting your mini the doors will automaticly open. This is the safety feature if you have an accident, but in some cases like carjacking they will also open if they bump you.

With carjacking its usually a light tap as they dont want to damage the car they are about to steal to order so if its just the light tap like I give sometimes when parking close to my Astra to fit both cars on the driveway then this wont trigger that mechanism off - well its yet to do so anyway

[EBMCS03]

Ya I think it takes quite a bit of impact before the door automatically unlocks.

[paa]

I'm sure a few years ago my friend knew someone who worked in the satnav / car security field and they had this card thing that had to be in the car to make it work, if the card was not in the car (ie in the drivers wallet) then the car would start and drive but would stop after a couple of hundred yards. At the time this sounded like a good idea, is this on the market? I would think that security wise anti carjacking stuff would be on the market.

Anyone know anything??

[geist]

OK folks, here are some tips that I have picked up.

1. Drive with the doors locked.
2. Never wind the window all the way down, if some one comes up to talk to you, just crack the window open enough to here them.
3. Always leave a gap between you and the car in front, even when stationary, to give yourself enough room to pull out. Rule of thumb is if you can see were the wheels of the car in front touch the road, you have enough room to pull out.
4. Try not to get yourself boxed in.
5. Stay vigilant, be aware of everything going on around you, if you think you are being followed, then take a couple of dog legs to check or drive round a roundabout a couple of times, if you are drive to a nearby Police Station.
6. Park in well lit areas, or car parks with CCTV in.

These are not fool proof, however they may help. These lowlife will think twice if they think they are going to get caught.

[NightFox]

It’s worth looking at trends in Central and Southern Africa, where carjacking is endemic and violence is often even greater.

Where drivers start to take measures to protect themselves from carjackers with a view to resisting, such as carrying firearms or equipping vehicles with flamethrowers or other extreme devices, the carjackers tend to respond in general by killing the driver before even attempting to take the car, rather than take any chances. The carjackers will also work in gangs, so even if the driver does manage to make a stand against one member, there’s still 2 or 3 others (often stoned) waving AK47s about

Traditional tracking services were also soon overcome, as carjackers would either kill the drivers or bundle them in the boot of the car and would then abandon them in the middle of no-where (having taken any mobile phone etc), so by the time the driver could report the theft and have the tracker activated, the vehicle would be long over the border. Having the driver in the boot also meant that if the car imobilised after a mile or so, the driver could be dragged out and made to reactivate the engine.

A number of companies started to offer an extended tracker service, where they would also attempt to recover your vehicle over national borders, by force if necessary. However, this would frequently involve having a vehicle returned to you with a few extra small round vents and a nice new dark red interior trim.

OK, so hopefully in the UK and US etc things will never quite go this far, but I think it shows the point that the bad guys will escalate the measures they will go to as security improves – we already see this where better immobilisers etc have now lead to the frequent use of violence to obtain car keys.