Car thieves are upgrading their technology and are constantly working with new methods. According to the police, anyone who has a so-called keyless function for their vehicle and thus uses simplified access must be particularly careful. Thieves can use the radio receiver to intercept the key’s signal.
This allows you to trigger the door opening function if, for example, the car key is in the house and the car is parked in front of it. That’s why police experts recommend not leaving the key near the house or apartment door and shielding the radio signal with suitable measures – for example with an aluminum cover.
“Do the self-test first. Only if the vehicle does not even open when you hold the shielded key right next to the vehicle door do thieves have no chance with the tricking of this technology,” writes the police in their tips for preventing theft. There are also “radio-tight cases for keyless keys” so that the signals cannot be transmitted over longer distances.
The issue of car theft is still relevant for the police and insurance companies. Even if the numbers are currently falling, the average insured loss is very high at EUR 19,100.
Last year, the total damage was 187 million euros, as the General Association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV) has now announced. Calculated differently: cars worth around 500,000 euros are stolen in Germany every day.
However, the number of thefts behind it has fallen to a record low: 9805 cars were stolen in 2021 – fewer than ever since the data was recorded. That is eight percent less than in the previous year. In the 1990s, the number of thefts was still around 100,000 vehicles.
The reason for the steady decline is, on the one hand, the technical equipment in the cars, for example with digital immobilizers. Successes in criminal prosecution and in uncovering the cases have also contributed to this.
According to police findings, cars are often stolen to order. This means that the gangs of thieves specifically select certain makes and specialize in their security systems. At the top of these lists are sport utility vehicles (SUVs) from the Land Rover brand.
The insurance companies report a theft rate for the past year at Land Rover of 1.7 per mille: 177 cases of theft occurred for 1000 cars of this brand with comprehensive insurance. “Nine of the ten most frequently stolen model series were SUVs, including three Land Rover models,” writes the GDV. This is followed by the brands Chrysler and Porsche. The brand names Nissan, Peugeot and Seat are of the least interest to car thieves.
The situation is different when it comes to the absolute numbers: Volkswagen models were the most frequently stolen, exactly 1525 cars from the Wolfsburg car manufacturer. Audi, Mercedes and BMW including Mini follow in the places. Insurance companies recorded the strongest increase in theft figures for the brand names Chrysler, Kia and Kia.
Unsurprisingly, more cars are stolen in big cities than in rural areas. Berlin leads the list of strongholds of car theft, Hamburg and Düsseldorf are also in the top places. Every fifth car theft in Germany happened in the federal capital last year.
In the federal states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, these figures were significantly lower. According to the calculations of the insurance association in Berlin, the theft rate reached 2.2 per 1000 cars with comprehensive insurance. For comparison: the association gives the value of 0.2 as the nationwide average.
To avoid all this, the police give extensive tips. If possible, drivers should not park their high-quality cars on the side of the road or in unsecured carports. Instead, the experts recommend garages or at least well-lit and busy streets as parking spaces.
“Watch out for suspicious people or vehicles with foreign license plates that slowly roam the street several times and make a note of the license plate number,” writes the police in the listing.
Taking photos can also be suspicious. “This can be a preparatory act for a later theft. High-quality vehicles are often stolen on order.
In addition, all access points to the car should actually be locked – windows, doors, trunk, sunroof and also the tank. A closed fuel cap makes it difficult for a thief to fill up at zero cost.
Finally, the experts recommend that you pay attention to the subsequent optical signal when locking the doors with the radio remote control. “Radio blockers can interfere with the radio signal from your remote control so that your vehicle is then unlocked,” writes the police.
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