Stolen G Wagon - Help please
Hello
My G wagon 290GD, H452PVW was stolen from my drive last night in Rayleigh, Essex, an imported left hand drive 461 series long wheelbase. Pretty much unique in this country.
Please be on the lookout for it, its green with black tinted rear windows, Kumho Mud tyres on steels, beige/black check interior, or even parts as this will probably be broken for parts or exported :¬(
Totally hacked off - any help greatly received. Thanks
Tony, 07703824434, or call the police if you have an hr to spare !
Very sorry to hear that. Hopefully, it will be recovered.
Sorry to say, but because it's LHD that makes it probably more desirable for theft, as a stolen vehicle is unlikely to remain in the UK. Try to contact/inform the channel crossing companies (P&O, Eurotunnel etc).
(Years ago, no one would look twice at a G, but today as they have become fashionable and prices of new ones have gone up, the demand for older models has also been affected. ... and they are relatively easy to steal unless you fit some kind of deterrent or immobiliser.)
Anyway. I hope that you get it back.
That's two in a week, with the increasing value and popularity of Gs it was only a matter of time. Thefts of Landrovers are at epidemic proportions
Get alarmed up guys!
Sound advice.
So which is the best alarm at "reasonable cost" to have fitted to my 1994 300GES? I don't really feel qualified to fit myself.
There are many to choose from. The Thatcham Cat-1 compliant ones need to interrupt at least two circuits (eg starter and ignition). I think it's also good practice to always engage the steering lock with the wheels turned to the left or right, which makes it harder to load the vehicle on to a low-loader. you may also get a lower insurance premium with a Thatcham approved alarm.
Scorpion used to be MB UK fitment:
https://www.scorpionauto.com/
Look for one with tilt sensor and internal battery back-up.
Probably the best option, is to fit a tracker, from the original Tracker company. They use a low-frequency transmitter which can be traced even if the vehicle is inside a steel shipping container. Many others rely on mobile phone technology and GPS, which is good, but the signals can be blocked.
https://www.trackerdirect.co.uk/
If you don't have one, I can send you a copy of the Service Manual, which contains the vehicle wiring diagrams with wire colours that will reduce the guesswork by the fitter.
Disc lock for steering wheel is best thing to do
Yes, DiskLock may be the simplest and easiest to fit and a good deterrent for joy-riders or those looking to drive off with the vehicle, but might not prevent loading of car on to a transporter? Having said that, an alarm is only useful if the vehicle is on your drive and you are at home.
I was reading of the huge numbers of Audi S3/Golf R stolen, and the thing is that the thief needs the keys. Isn't it the same for any G wagen with a cambus?
sorry to hear about the stolen car. I'm worried about mine and I was thinking of installing a ghost tracker or one of those that shuts the car down a few hundred yards after the theft
Yes, many cars are stolen by having stolen the keys first, even using a fishing rod through the letter-box.
Some newer cars with Keyless Go where the key-fob just needs to be in the car or on your person have been stolen without keys either by
1) accessing the OBD socket (through a broken window) and programming a new wireless key to the car (actually just an RF transmitter).
2.) capturing and boosting the RF signal from your key indoors to fool the car into thinking the key is inside the car. Once started, the car can be driven until the engine is turned-off.
The Mercedes EIS system with the infrared key that needs to go into the ignition key-hole is probably not fool-proof but is definitely not easy to crack. But pre-2000 G's only came with a standard electro-mechanical ignition switch and no immobiliser, so are more at risk.
Many cars that are stolen to order are loaded into a lorry pretty-much straight away, so if you fit a tracker, needs to be one that works inside containers.
On post 2000 models there are a number sensors in the engine-bay that if unplugged the engine will only run for 5 secs and shut-down with a fault code. A suitably hidden switch to interrupt the appropriate sensor signal will do the trick (Fuel Rail Pressure on CDi's works well. Fuel-pump run signal is good for petrol models). On older models, there are many circuits that could be interrupted by a hidden immobiliser switch.
Hi
Consider Mech - Lock on manual transmission trucks (find it on Google) - I had it fitted - simple and very effective.
Leo
Trackers are better the alarm tells you it’s gone.steering locks come off easily.
Sound advice.
So which is the best alarm at "reasonable cost" to have fitted to my 1994 300GES? I don't really feel qualified to fit myself.
We have Clifford alarms fitted by a local installer for our builds, the oldest one I've had is 13 years old, on my TVR, they have all been 100% reliable
Gordon
Just a quick pic of my stolen G....