New A3 and question about anti theft options.

[Chrusty]

Dear fellow A3 owners,

Just got a new A3 1.4 TFSI manual (continental build) on friday and thinking about of what good (if any) anti theft options are there? So far only immobilizer and gear lock is installed, but I am not sure if GPS tracking or perhaps some other options are good to get. My previous Mazda had an incident in underground parking where items were stolen from the boot, while no apparent damage was made to the car, so I am a little paranoid since then as cops mentioned, that its entirely possible for thieves to scan my key code and use it to open car.

Any thoughts are welcome.

Cheers.

 

[Vertigo1]

In terms of theft prevention, frankly the manufacturer immobilisers these days render the car pretty much un-stealable without the keys. The thief would either have to physically lift the car or tow it away (either of which would set the alarm off at least) or else get hold of the keys. The latter route seems to be the most common these days, with countless stories of people breaking into homes to get the keys, often threatening people in the process.

Incidentally, you hear people saying that you should hide the keys and not leave them in an obvious place where thieves can find them. Frankly, if someone is prepared to break into my house to get the keys, I'd rather they found them straight away and just took the car than possibly threatening my family in order to get hold of them!

As for tracking options, those might be worth looking into if you want to increase your chances of retrieving the car once stolen but, speaking personally, I'm not sure I'd actually want it back at all.

 

[@udi A3]

this was mentioned in another thread, but basically the car is very easy to steal. A locksmith and gain entry and make you a new key in a lost key situation. Tracking would be a good idea if you are worried, but if a traveler steals it the police will not help recover it it seems!

 

[Vertigo1]

Making a key is one thing, duplicating the transponder codes for the immobiliser is another.

Not saying it can't be done of course, just that you're unlikely to find any aftermarket security systems which offer any more protection than the factory immobiliser.

 

[voorhees]

Interesting first post

 

[Chrusty]

Thanks for the comments, appreciated.

Car is running flawlessly so loving every moment so far