stolen troopy

Pop2jocem, the 'Cruisers are the choice of the pro thieves, and even a Troopy of that vintage is still worth a fair bit of money in parts.
It's likely someone is rebuilding a Troopy, and they want parts, and this is the cheapest way to get them.

Joe, the mechanic opposite my workshop, left a mining company traytop 'Cruiser (disabled due to parts missing) outside his shop one night about 4 yrs ago, when he was doing repairs on it.
The area is the heavy industrial area of Bayswater (W.A.) and it's rare to have anything stolen, as there's blokes living as caretakers in factories everywhere there.

However, when Joe rolled up the next morning, the 'Cruiser was just a shell!
They stripped the guards, bonnet, wheels, axles, engine and tranny and interior, and left a gutted cab and chassis!
They must have worked fast and been dead lucky not to be caught - as I often go to my shop at night for items - along with many others in the factory units.

The company wrote the vehicle off, they deemed it beyond repair, even though it was a relatively-low-km vehicle, and could have been easily restored to operating condition.
I guess the combined value of buying all the components and re-installing them, exceeded the insured value.

Ron, considering just these three incidents they should have enough bits to maintain a fleet of Cruisers of this vintage. Maybe I better start locking my old girl up a bit better.
How's this for a conspiracy theory?
Reading forums like IH8MUD it would appear that the Yanks have discovered the advantages of Landcruiser ownership. The problem appears to be that they have some sort of embargo,or at least very heavy tariffs, on importing vehiclesany younger than 25 years of age. Would this create a ready market for these earlier Cruisers and the associated parts.
As I said, just a theory....lol

Cheers
Pop

pop2jocem - Shipping stolen equipment and parts offshore is a good money spinner - and it's been known about since WW2.
Just the other day I was reading a 1947 newspaper on Trove and found an article about an ex-RAAF Warrant Officer pilot who'd got a job with GMH, testing new cars.
He stole a new Buick from GMH in Melbourne and drove it to Darwin, fully intending to ship it to China, as he related in court later.
Fortunately the detectives were on the ball in those days - and I guess a new Buick stuck out like a sore thumb in 1947! - when you couldn't get new cars for love nor money (there were a lot of strikes along with materials shortages after WW2 as the worlds economies recovered from a war footing).

Today, shipping out stolen goods is easier than ever. Order a seatainer, have it dropped at your premises, fill it with a stolen vehicle, or components, put a fraudulent description on the contents and ship it to Africa, China, or any of the Pacific Islands.
Once inside the seatainer, it's away from prying eyes - which is the idea behind seatainers!
Less than 5% of seatainers are physically checked, because Customs and AQIS run on minimal staff.
They operate on "intelligence" info to check seatainers they think might be suspect.

Stepson had a '92 troopy about 3 years ago with over 300,000kms on the clock, I thought he'd have trouble quitting it.
Not a problem, a buyer for a miner who was operating in Africa rolled up and bought it on the spot without a quibble.
When asked why a miner would buy a 300,000km, nearly 20 yr old Troopy, the bloke said, "We send the Africans old Troopies because they only write them off with abuse and accidents, anyway. It's much cheaper than giving them new ones!"

The market for old vehicles and spares in Africa is huge, and they pay good money.
Nigerians aren't about to question where that nice big container of Troopy spares come from, when there's a fat profit in the deal!
Bikie gangs and those ME people in the SW suburbs of Sydney are the ringleaders in all this. Quite often, they're working together.
Cheers, Ron.

Now you're really scaring me Ron. I have an immobiliser fitted but maybe I might invest in a couple of wheel clamps and one of those steering wheel locks as well.
Not kidding mate, obviously these guys have an international market and probably much safer and lucrative than just peddling them off in another state.
Or maybe just better insurance.

Cheers
Pop

Pop - Immobilisers halved the theft rate when they were first introduced - now the thieves break into homes to get the keys - and most people just leave them lying on the kitchen table or hallway cabinet.
Invest in a small electronic safe and keep all the car keys in that. You can get the safes for about $75-$100 today, and while they certainly aren't a 100% guarantee against theft, they're pretty effective.

Steering wheel locks are good for SFA - thieves carry battery operated drills they've nicked from the last job, and drill out the lock mechanism in 30 seconds.

Data Dot security is a good idea - but it costs. Just a window sticker saying you have Data Dot marked components can be effective - even when they're not marked.

In this day and age of simple electronics, GPS trackers - or even a basic, cheap phone and a prepaid SIM will provide reasonably good tracking ability. If they lock the vehicle in a seatainer straight up though, this will bugger up the GPS.

Most vehicles get nicked off front lawns or street verges, and usually late at night. So keep your vehicle in a locked garage as much as possible for peace of mind. Big car parks are notorious theft areas, spots where the thieves know surveillance is minimal.

Add to your immobiliser with a simple, fairly-well-hidden ball-valve twist tap in the main fuel line. Reach under and turn it off when you leave the vehicle in a suss area. This will ensure that the thieves only get 10M even if they do manage to start it. They sure aren't going to go looking for the reasons why it stopped.

However, if thieves really want your vehicle, they'll employ a crooked tilt tray owner, or own a tilt-tray themselves, and just drag it on. Very few people notice a vehicle being loaded on a tilt tray, or note any details.

Here's the National Car Theft Reduction site with all the stats. They talk big talk, think up lots of schemes - but the theft rate hangs around 13,000 to 17,000 vehicles annually, and hasn't altered much in the last 8 or 10 yrs.
They crow about a small temporary reduction in thefts - and then it goes up again as another bunch of hoods are let out of jail, and go back to "work". [;-)

The stats only tell us what we already know. High value vehicles are stolen to order - Commodores are No 1 on the theft list - utes and 4WD's are also high on the list as the demand is constantly there for components for repairs or rebuilds.
Vehicles are most likely to be stolen on late Fri, Sat and Sun nights, and from verges, carparks and the street. Nothing we don't already know.

What we really need, is a good dose of Middle East Islamic punishment - lop off a hand if you knock something off. They reckon the car theft rate in the M.E. is pretty low. [;-)

http://www.carsafe.com.au/motorists/statistics

Ron,

Yeah, I hear the repeat offender rate in Islamic countries is very low. Something about them being handicapped. (;=))

As far as these scumbags breaking in to get the keys, I wonder if they are that determined it might be better to just let them have the keys and save oneself further grief.
I think we would agree that the professional will get what they want and take whatever steps to get it.

Cheers
Pop

My grandfather used to say "A good lock only keeps out an honest thief!" and he was right, except he should have added "or a lazy one!"

Gday Fellas
We seem to be racist bigots tonight .

There are car transporters in our area that are shipping Flood Write off vehicles from Australia to Kuwait (or Dubai) and getting good money for them.

There seems to a lot of vehicles and parts floating around the World, eh?

Steve

I live in broken Hill lots of people travel through town so it is a easy color to r ember and if i do see some thing like that color I will call up the Calvary .

have worked in the middle east,the arabs do not steal,they just borrow things and forget to bring them back,

Thanks every one but i do agree with Ron N she was stripped that same night and it's gone ,not to come back. Shame only had 220.000,mecanically absolutely nothing wrong with her him .
Thanks again.