RNS-510 stolen.... again!

Just got my car back after having my second RNS-510 stolen since I bought the car, less than a year ago.
First time round it was stolen from on my driveway while I was away for a night, and the second time around it was stolen at a rural station car park. Second time around the police got some CCTV and managed to ID the car involved, and are still on the hunt for the offender.

So now I'm sat here with a car that I daren't park anywhere for fear of a 3rd break in. The police and the garage that repaired it both times have said that gangs are stealing this particular stereo to order. The same night of my second theft another Golf was done at another local station car park, and Scirocco was done the week after.
Options are;
- Sell the car and buy something less attractive. This is something I don't want to do. I love my little car to bits and it's the first car I've ever gone out and bought because I actually wanted it. Whilst it's a very nice car it's not exactly a high end motor, so it's sad that it's so attractive to them.

- Fit an aftermarket stereo in the place of the RNS-510. Apart from costing me some money, this loses the on screen display of the optical parking system. The bleeps will still work though. People don't seem to be stealing aftermarket stereos quite as much as they used to be doing (I do find it interesting that in recent years the tables have turned - it used to be factory fit stereos that were completely unattractive to them!). This keeps me my car, but loses a feature that I love and costs me some cash (probably not as much as the insurance excess next time it gets stolen!).

- Try and find a way of protecting my car. I've found some fake stereo fronts on eBay that are designed to stick over your existing stereo to make it look like a cheap and nasty one. They weren't much so I've ordered one to see if it'll fit. It might put them off. If that doesn't work then it's smoke grenades and a laser guided taser :thumbup:

Anybody got any thoughts or similar experiences? One of the police officers said he'd been told they were being sold for the satellite receiver chips which can be put in a sky box to give you free tv, but I'm not entirely sure I believe it!
Also the track change buttons aren't working since it came back. The repairer has said I can take it to a dealership to get it looked at and pass the bill on to them, but I'm going to start another thread about it just to see if there's anything simple I can do or check before it goes.

They probably steal them to resell on the black market. Unfortunately, there is software and a special cable that can reset the PIN on the RNS 510.

Wow that really sucks man

You need to use a screw with a tamper proof head to mount it.

Yeah I'd considered making the unit less stealable - tamperproof screws or some other method. I do a lot of work in the theatre which involves pyrotechnics, so I'd genuinely considered using some smoke pots triggered either from the alarm or a microswitch that's set when the stereo surround is removed. It's stupidly easy to do. The car would fill with smoke and hopefully put them off. The problem with both of these methods though is that if they get that far, they've already smashed a window. They prise the window to smash it, rather than just hitting it with a brick, which means bodywork damage, smashed window and also scratches to the door where the glass shatters and falls down it. Regardless of if they get the stereo or not, it's an insurance job and loss of the car for a few weeks while the work is done.
VW have said they've coded the radios so if they end up in another car that's plugged in at a VW dealership, it'll alert them. Sounds like that's all too easy to override though. These folks know what they're doing.

It doesn't help that in an MK6 the radio can be removed in seconds if they use a power screwdriver. The tamper resistant screws should deter them from handing out to steal the radio. It would make it almost impossible to remove without damaging the radio and very time consuming considering that they wouldn't have the correct tools.

Sad to say that 2 days ago I had to sell my little Golf. My insurance renewal came through after 2 break-ins and was unaffordable. The Golf was my second car as I also own a VW T4 Transporter van, which I run for my business and used to use as my car too. The criteria for buying the Golf had been that it had to be cheap to run, as I was already paying tax and insurance through the nose for the van. With the hike in premium I had little other option.
I also couldn't leave the car anywhere without being worried. There's obviously a gang working in our area targeting them, as several others have been done recently. The Honest John website uses crime figures per area and per make of car and puts a Golf in the high risk category where I live (and I don't live in a terrible area either!).

So that's it, my Golf is gone and I'm back (for the time being) to being a white van man again. Lost a bit of money on the car, especially as I put new discs and pads on it only last month. Sold it back to the dealer I bought it from.

Thanks for all your help, and for all the useful information the forum has given me during my time owning the car. If I'm honest I probably won't be returning, purely because I don't own one any more! But that's nothing personal!
Thanks all
Chris

Sorry for your loss. Sounds like your neighborhood needs some vigilante justice.

feel sad for cedd's experience. he likes his car so much!

WOW, didn't know crime in England was that bad. I could understand an aftermarket H/U but a stock radio?

nvturbo said:

WOW, didn't know crime in England was that bad. I could understand an aftermarket H/U but a stock radio?

Click to expand...

Half the cars in eastern Europe have been stolen from the UK.
Most are stolen to order and are in a shipping container at the docks within a few hrs.
They can clone a key for a car with a push button start within minutes.
BMW's are their favorite. Fkin scumbags!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gAssing/...New+BMW's+getting+stolen+using+blank+BMW+keys

Half the cars in eastern Europe have been stolen from the UK.
Most are stolen to order and are in a shipping container at the docks within a few hrs.
They can clone a key for a car with a push button start within minutes.
BMW's are their favorite. Fkin scumbags!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gAssing/t...blank+BMW+keys


That's why they are so many nice BMW and Mercs in Western Europe
driven by questionable wealthy people.
Some of them don't have 5 bucks in their pockets and live in a dump but
drive nice cars.

kilifar said:

That's why they are so many nice BMW and Mercs in Western Europe
driven by questionable wealthy people.
Some of them don't have 5 bucks in their pockets and live in a dump but
drive nice cars.

Click to expand...

You should see those folks here in town. Went over to a buddy's house a few years back and one of the houses had a late-model Bentley coupe in the driveway. The car costs more than the house BTW.

In here ( USA) they might be other reasons to have a nice car( drug dealers) but in Western
Europe the problem is with the law enforcement. If you know the right people you can drive a late model Porsche with big a** decal saying "Stolen from Germany" and nobody ( cops) won't say anything to you.