On the early morning of 1/30/2020, someone broke into my shop where I lock my two Jaguars in, on a two week rotating bases ( I drive the XK8 Carbon Fiber Jag convertible two weeks and the S Model two weeks) and tried to steal the convertible. Yes the key was in it, but since in was locked in the shop I didn't think it necessary to take the keys in the house, I've done it for over four years.

They broke in the side door, I guess to have a look at what they might steal, and then saw the Jag. Not knowing the steel garage door had a switch inside to open it, they decided to just back the car thru the door, which they did, it is scraped badly on the right side, where it rubbed the steel door frame, pushing in the side of the front fender, breaking the ride side mirror and generally scraping the rest of the car badly with the crushed door.

Once outside, they realized they couldn't get out through the double privacy fence doors without driving through them also, and the wife's van and the S Model on the other side, so they drove around the house to the other door which was just a single personnel door. So what do they do, right, they tried to drive through that, knocking down fence, fence post and finally hung up on a concrete ended post.

Since the car would not now move, they left it and went next door and stole the neighbors car which had the key in it also, but was parked outside..
So far the estimate is at $ 6000 +.....

 

Wow ! Very sorry to hear this story.

 

Wow unbelievable.

 

Best never to leave keys in a car even if its in the vaults at Fort Knox !

 

Wow! I'm set up like you. Have a large metal shop building in the back yard, fenced in, behind a padlocked gate, with four cars inside. I've been following the strategy of trying to make it hard to get away with anything even if someone manages to break in. All the tools are in a big, heavy rollaway tool cabinet that would kill somebody if it fell over on them and I keep it locked, not to keep small kids from using my tools or anything, just for security. The car keys are not even in the shop. I keep all the car keys (and other small valuables) in a safe, that's bolted down inside the house. The Jaguars are kept locked even when parked inside the attached garage or shop building, but not so much for security as to minimize battery drain, tho, that's theoretically another benefit. Classic cars I haven't bothered to lock but maybe I should.

Inside the house, I have at least installed locking doorknobs (keyed alike) and secured the hing pins on the closet doors so that I can secure everything of value. I don't put the TV and DVR away, but most of the small stuff that would be fodder for pawn shops goes in locked closets whenever I'm away. The idea being that if someone does get in, the time they subsequently spend trying to circumvent all my locks to get anything is time that the police are in-route after the alarm goes off. And cameras everywhere (with security systems in a locked closet with battery backup and cellular connection).

But I've read some of these stories about the amount of damage criminals leave behind often being greater than the value of the items taken and sometimes wonder if all my security is just setting myself up for a disaster. Because yeah, if they managed to hotwire my old Corvette (not too difficult for any thief over a certain age) and get it out of the shop, they'd likely destroy it anyway getting it out of the back yard.

 

Wow that must be really devastating, I have only ever been robbed once and I remember the feeling of violation even more than the loss of valuables.
Where I live now, we don't pay much attention to security- often I'll be looking for the car keys and find they've been sitting in the car for days.
I know that with modern vehicles that are so hard to steal without the keys, people are often subject to violence from people breaking into their homes and demanding the keys whereas years ago they would've just hotwired the car.

 

Sorry to read about this. Unfortunately, if it is anything similar to this country, the perpetrators will receive a derisory sentence that goes nowhere near covering your losses.

Graham

 

Chuck,,,

Now you know why they make KEYS!!! Put them in your pocket and things such as this will not happen!

Billy Clyde @ Cinco Ranch

 

Panama City, close enough for a good session in the Keg and Florabama.

 

sounds like punks looking for an easy steal, not realizing once they trash it its worth very little

 

Sometimes they're just out for a joyride. My next-door neighbor lost his 86 Buick T-type. Normally kept in the garage, he was working on his kitchen and had the cabinet doors all laid out on the garage floor while the paint dried. He left the car outside just one Saturday night. Even tho the driveway goes around back, you could still see a little bit of the car from the street. That was enough. Somebody spotted it, must've known how easy 80s GM cars were to hotwire, and took it. It would have been worth a lot of money as a classic car and a lot more as classic car parts, but police recovered it a few days later in a muddy field where it had gotten stuck doing donuts. Car was completely trashed and insurance deemed it a total loss.

 

Man, sorry to hear that...

 

Now that is down right rude!! Very sorry for the damages and no respect to private property.

 

Sorry to hear. Of course they don't appreciate the value. It's just another car.