Theft Attempt in Mahindra Scorpio VLX!

[raj_5004]

Hey guys, in a very unfortunate incident today, a theft attempt happened with my beloved scorpio.

I stay in hiranandani, powai. Me & 3 of my friends had gone for a dinner nearby. for those who know, we had gone to hotel mantra & the car was parked close to pizza hut. i had parked the car around 8.25pm & we returned at around 9.20pm.

from a distance, i could see that the interior lights of my car were ON. i asked my friends that how is it on & they were clueless. i pressed the remote unlock button & surprisingly the hooter dint chirp. i thought the battery drained but then i was puzzled how could a small bulb drain a battery within a hour. i pulled the door handle & the door dint open. i pressed the remote unlock button again & the door opened but this time, again without the hooter chirping. as soon as i sat in the driver's seat, i saw that the glovebox was opened & all its contents were lying on the floor. second thing i noticed was that the tilt mechanism of the steering wheel was loose. i panicked for a moment & looked around for any missing things but noticed that all my vehicle papers, the music system, etc. was in place. i dismissed the thought for a moment till i reach home.

after, i reached home & parked the car, i noticed that the side indicator bulb on the right fender has been pried open & the wires inside were cut. why was that done? to short something? whats the use? will that stop the alarm from hooting?

and the last shocker which confirmed my apprehensions was when i moved to the left side of the vehicle. i noticed that the front passenger door lock was missing. there was a huge gaping hole in its place. it was pried open with a screwdriver & the marks could clearly be seen on the door. it has left a dent on the door.

now this is what comes to my mind-
1) the thief shorted the wire from the side indicator to disable the hooter (i am assuming this)
2) the thief pried open the lock & opened the front passenger door & gained entry inside my car. this activated the immobilizer.
3) he opened the glovebox to enter the password.

{ now for those who dont know, all scorpios (pre refresh ones) comes with a password enabled security system. the defaut password is 1111 which the owners are supposed to change/customize. but most of the owners dont do this. if someone breaks into your car, your car will be immobilized & it can only be started by you after you enter the correct password.

now, the thief must have assumed that even i have not changed the default password & he opened the glovebox to enter 1111 to de-activate the immobilizer. but that dint work since my password is something else. }

4) since he entered the wrong password, the car refused to start. he aborted his attempt.

Points to note:
1) he did not take my car's music system or anything else. he was just there for the car.
2) he was experienced enough & he knew where the scorpio's buttons are for de-activating the immobilizer.
3) my car is with me today because i took the small & wise effort to change the password.

I request all the pre-refresh scorpio owners (the refresh scorpios comes with the latest & advanced i-cat system) to please please please change the password as soon as possible. its not worth trying your luck, believe me.

i am feeling horrible. though my car is with me & the only expense i have is a broken lock, but i am feeling totally horrible. my baby was broken into, she was pried with a screwdriver... why did this happen to me?

i again request all scorpio owners to be extra cautious.

 

[RSM]

Oh my god. Thieves were very knowledgable.
Thanks to immobilizer, your scorpio is with you. And the password thing is very informative for other Scorpio owners.

In Punto, the key has some electronic code and with only that key anybody can start the vehicle.

 

[vvk1987]

In Punto, the key has some electronic code and with only that key anybody can start the vehicle.

I agree
I have personally checked the system,In dzire ZDI, by removing the battery from the key & tried to start the car with this key
Starter cranks but car doesnt start ,
but sad thing is that there is no alarm sound so not 100% protected

 

[raj_5004]

Oh my god. Thieves were very knowledgable.
Thanks to immobilizer, your scorpio is with you. And the password thing is very informative for other Scorpio owners.

In Punto, the key has some electronic code and with only that key anybody can start the vehicle.

the electronic code you are talking about, it called the i-cat system. the new refresh scorpios have it, but not my car. last heard, even that is not fool proof.

now guys, i was thinking of the following solution-

1) my door lock was missing. so i assume it was taken out to make a duplicate key for the ignition. there are two cases- (1) the thief made the duplicate key but could not start the car bacause of my personalized password. (2) he dint reach in time & we were just plain lucky to have arrived before he ran with the vehicle.
i assume new locks will come in a set of 4, two for the front doors each, one for the ignition & one for the boot door. i am thinking of buying 2 different sets of door locks (4 locks in each set). one set will be used for the doors & one from a different set will be used for the ignition. so that even if a thief makes a duplicate key from the door locks, he wont be able to start the car with that key.

2) a GPS tracking device.

here, i am attaching the pics. the pics show how the wires were cut from the side indicator on the RHS fender. also, it shows the missing LHS door lock. i have just taped the exposed wires to prevent any short circuit.

 

[cooldhaya]

Oh very shocking to read! First 350Z and now you but you are lucky that the car is still with all the accessories intact. Thanks to the immobilizer , else your car might have been gone i guess!


This shows that even the wisest of locks can be breached and nothing is safe!

 

[raj_5004]

yes, the thief dint touch anything present inside the car.

 

[350Z]

That is simply terrible. I feel sorry for you Raj since I’ve too faced similar situation a while back (http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...490-alert-car-theft-delhi-stolen-ecu-mp3.html) but you should be happy that their attempt to steal the car or any of its important part went to drain but I’m amazed by the method thieves unlocked the car. I’m sure this theft attempt wasn’t a work by an individual, In fact any of them isn't a work of an individual. A group of people are included where one is unlocking the car, next is keeping watch on you and another is completing the purpose inside. I hope you have already reported to Police, Also what the idiot parking guys were doing that moment?

My suggestion would have been to keep the car parked in same condition after you saw it and call cops as well as other near by persons who might be an evidence, instead of taking it back home immediately and please never keep your important documents of vehicle inside the car itself! May it be manual or RC. It is just the immobilizer which saved the car and good that stereo is present perfectly as well. My guess is that one of their group members would have seen you coming back, Thus they left the car without further damage which could have caused, and no doubt they do love ripping off the Music systems. My word of advice to you, since me too have experienced and following same these days -:

- Always detach Head Unit of your Audio System, Whenever leaving the car anywhere, even in your garage. Believe me, It is one of the most common “attraction” for burglars.
- Always park your car in paid parking (and take ticket), It sounds annoying giving Rs.10 note every time but that note can save loss of thousand rupees. Also, it assures that someone has responsibility of your car.
- Always avoid passing on your car keys to parking guys, watchmen etc.
- Lastly, Install some good anti-theft devices on all your cars, (http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/accessories-i-c-e/1501-car-bike-safety-security-features-thread.html). They do not necessarily need to be expensive but a few things like secret fuel cut off switch, whose location will be known ONLY to you, A steering lock and Gear lock etc.

Those hooters and tweeters are useless, they can be easily broken by cutting the wires inside indicators, and I told very same earlier in my thread. Also, a lot of people argue that anti theft devices are useless, they don’t prevent robbery. Sure, that is correct and there’s no doubt which ever first class device you use can be broken anytime, because after all those thieves are no one but the jobless mechanics / installers (My View). BUT by installing such anti theft devices, We at least assure ourselves that even if an attempt to theft happens anytime in future, It would take some time for burglar to decode them one by one and then enter inside or rip away something, Though which most of them avoid to. However, Just be extra cautious whenever you leave the car parked for long time any where, like when you go out of stations etc. Hope this should be a li’l bit useful.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[sriharsha]

oh oh oh!!! this was quite unfortunate. but good to know that your car is safe.
one thing i can confirm here is that the wire's were cut open in order to short the remote central locking system. i am sure about this because a guy in a local accessories shop at my place showed this to me in practical once. and regarding the locks , i am not too sure because i don't have a sound knowledge about the security system in the scorp. anyways good to know that your car is safe and sound. and regarding the idea of changing the lock and key combi, i would suggest you to only change the ignition instead of changing all the 4.
and i think that GPS is also a good idea but may cost you a bit more.

 

[raj_5004]

I hope you have already reported to Police,

no, i have not reported this to the police.

Also what the idiot parking guys were doing that moment?

my car was parked on the road & not in any parking lot, i learnt my mistake.

- Always park your car in paid parking (and take ticket), It sounds annoying giving Rs.10 note every time but that note can save loss of thousand rupees. Also, it assures that someone has responsibility of your car.

i agree. though in every parking lot, it has been written "park at your own risk"!

one thing i can confirm here is that the wire's were cut open in order to short the remote central locking system. i am sure about this because a guy in a local accessories shop at my place showed this to me in practical once.

thanks for confirming that buddy.

and regarding the idea of changing the lock and key combi, i would suggest you to only change the ignition instead of changing all the 4.

but since one of the door locks have been broken, i have to change all the door locks.

i enquired in the mahindra A.S.S & they have only 1 key set in stock now. so, i am changing all the door locks for now & keeping the same ignition key so that atleast both have different keys.

and i think that GPS is also a good idea but may cost you a bit more.

my car costs 10 lakhs!

 

[RSM]

yes, the thief dint touch anything present inside the car.

They were eying on big thing.

i agree. though in every parking lot, it has been written "park at your own risk"!

Even my office has this board.

By looking into the pictures it surely looks work of some high tech thief. Since you mentioned key lock was also stolen, so they might be tracking your vehicle. Be careful, i don't know what could be used, as these goons looks very trained and experienced. But since they failed once, they might not try again your scorpio.

Put one sticket "I am watiching you".

 

[ramie2400]

thats very unfortunate event happened,seems like the thieves have drilled the door lock,i would suggest if you do up a police complaint.did you??

 

[raj_5004]

no ramie, i dint go for a police complaint, my brother advised me against this.

 

[350Z]

no ramie, i dint go for a police complaint, my brother advised me against this.

Because the car was not in parking? Otherwise I'd have also suggested you to report cops about this.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[raj_5004]

since nothing much was missing from the car except the door lock.

 

[blackbeauty]

Thanks that you didnt miss your car.
If the indicator wires are short, how does the other electricals work? With a a blown fuse?