new st-line, worried about security.

[DG97]

3 minutes ago, robbyvrs said:

 

I recall reading about a Fiesta ST parked in the main car park at the Showcase cinema in Leeds being stripped of parts (alloys, bonnet, bumpers, skirts, tailgate) while the owner was watching a film - maybe 2 hours max?

I guess the likelihood of that depends on the timing, I'm guessing in would have been late at night? I think referring to a weekend rush hour - it would be significantly busy enough to put a thief off. Surely if your car has been stripped of the majority of parts, it'd have been parked away in a corner or something. Either way, must have been quite the shock coming out to half of your car missing 😛

[Shepster48]

For anyone following this thread. I can confirm the obd port including the extra chunk of plastic does indeed fit high up behind the dash well away from dirty thieving hands. There are many places to tie wrap it. I was unable to test the 10 minute lockout claim from ford. I may see if one of my younger colleagues at work has an obd reader so I can see if it’s true. 

Anyone thinking of making a plate. Cut the metal to 25mm of angle. I’ve found 30mm was a little wide. It still works fine but I think 25mm looks neater.

I won’t state exactly all the measures I’ve taken just in case some thieving scum is reading but I think I can sleep more calmly tonight. I’m hoping I have thought of a thing that even the toe rags haven’t thought off or seen before. I have used a multiple of different ways to ensure I get the required minutes to be downstairs and dislocate someone’s thieving jaw from their thieving head. 

Just make sure you deadlock your fiesta wherever you park it and keep your fobs in a Faraday pouch. 

The decision now is if to get a steering lock to put them off smashing the window. I’m a little reluctant as it takes time to fit and put away each time.

[robbyvrs]

I wonder what the techs would think if they found the metal plate blocking off the OBD port when the car goes in for servicing? would they refuse to do updates, etc or charge extra labour to remove and refit the plate?

[TimST2]

I'll certainly be refitting my OBD fuse when I take it for service to avoid any issues.

 

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[martinf64]

7 minutes ago, robbyvrs said:

I wonder what the techs would think if they found the metal plate blocking off the OBD port when the car goes in for servicing? would they refuse to do updates, etc or charge extra labour to remove and refit the plate?

I suspect they would refuse to remove it so you would have to take it off before taking it in for servicing....would expose yourself to a sharp-eyed thief between taking off and dropping off at the dealers...oh my car could also be stolen while at the dealers 🙄...

[Shepster48]

42 minutes ago, martinf64 said:

I suspect they would refuse to remove it so you would have to take it off before taking it in for servicing....would expose yourself to a sharp-eyed thief between taking off and dropping off at the dealers...oh my car could also be stolen while at the dealers 🙄...

 

Now now.

If the technicians can find my obd 😎

Before it goes in for the service it will be back to stock. 

[iantt]

Or tape the obd up hidden and fit an extender so obd is accessable from a different location that the potential thief doesn't know.

[Mavroz]

Wow......

Fiestas are a popular car, probably why they are showing as being higher on the stolen table.

Insuring a Fiesta seemingly for us has no price variation due to them possibly being stolen. Even quotes for a potential ST3 don't seem to have this factored in.

I certainly doubt Fiestas are desirable targeted cars for thieves or stolen to order.

I certainly don't lose sleep, won't lose sleep over an issue like this.

As I said previously, worriers can remove a wheel to make definitely sure the car cannot be stolen if a good nights sleep is needed.

God knows what some would be like in life with real worries. Some nervous wrecks around I bet. If I was ever to feel this security conscious about a Fiesta I don't think I would bother, I would just stick to an old more undesirable banger or a bike that could still be stolen.

Wonder if paranoia is as rife as this on the Porsche or Ferrari forums.... 😁

Anyway will say no more on nuts & bolts, pieces of angle, plastic, stickers, extenders etc etc.

Each to their own and whatever soothes the worries and gives a good nights sleep can't be a bad thing.

 

 

[TimST2]

4 hours ago, Mavroz said:

Wow......

Fiestas are a popular car, probably why they are showing as being higher on the stolen table.

Insuring a Fiesta seemingly for us has no price variation due to them possibly being stolen. Even quotes for a potential ST3 don't seem to have this factored in.

I certainly doubt Fiestas are desirable targeted cars for thieves or stolen to order.

I certainly don't lose sleep, won't lose sleep over an issue like this.

As I said previously, worriers can remove a wheel to make definitely sure the car cannot be stolen if a good nights sleep is needed.

God knows what some would be like in life with real worries. Some nervous wrecks around I bet. If I was ever to feel this security conscious about a Fiesta I don't think I would bother, I would just stick to an old more undesirable banger or a bike that could still be stolen.

Wonder if paranoia is as rife as this on the Porsche or Ferrari forums.... 😁

Anyway will say no more on nuts & bolts, pieces of angle, plastic, stickers, extenders etc etc.

Each to their own and whatever soothes the worries and gives a good nights sleep can't be a bad thing.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, I don't think that removing the OBD fuse on an ST is paranoia - it's a simple and free fix to address a known security flaw on a car with a reputation for being stolen. And putting a discrete sticker on the window means that any potential thief won't have to break the window to find out. As for other more expensive marques, they tend to be stolen less as they are more difficult to move on. To give you an idea, my Lotus Elise costs about the same to insure as my Fiesta ST...

[WES180]

19 minutes ago, TimST2 said:

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, I don't think that removing the OBD fuse on an ST is paranoia - it's a simple and free fix to address a known security flaw on a car with a reputation for being stolen. And putting a discrete sticker on the window means that any potential thief won't have to break the window to find out. As for other more expensive marques, they tend to be stolen less as they are more difficult to move on. To give you an idea, my Lotus Elise costs about the same to insure as my Fiesta ST...

The stickers are a good idea assuming that these car thieves can actually read?

Personally I would rather my car be stolen and burnt out rather than a failed attempted theft still resulting in an insurance claim due to the damage caused smashing the window and damaged trim etc.

[Mavroz]

38 minutes ago, TimST2 said:

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, I don't think that removing the OBD fuse on an ST is paranoia - it's a simple and free fix to address a known security flaw on a car with a reputation for being stolen. And putting a discrete sticker on the window means that any potential thief won't have to break the window to find out. As for other more expensive marques, they tend to be stolen less as they are more difficult to move on. To give you an idea, my Lotus Elise costs about the same to insure as my Fiesta ST...

I totally agree with making an ST more secure by pulling a fuse as they are more desirable bring a performance car. Still can't agree with the insurance side as it goes on more variables to what they charge.

Our St line X is cheaper to insure than the St line which are both very reasonable on insurance we feel. Tentative/test the water quotes for an ST are again only slightly more than the St Line by around £60ish a year which is very good.

[TimST2]

 

35 minutes ago, WES180 said:

The stickers are a good idea assuming that these car thieves can actually read?

It has a picture too for the hard of reading 😂

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[TomsFocus]

6 hours ago, Mavroz said:

God knows what some would be like in life with real worries. Some nervous wrecks around I bet. If I was ever to feel this security conscious about a Fiesta I don't think I would bother, I would just stick to an old more undesirable banger or a bike that could still be stolen.

Wonder if paranoia is as rife as this on the Porsche or Ferrari forums.... 😁

 

Ah yes, because people that own Ferrari's and Porsches tend to live on inner city housing estates and park them next to the road...  Or maybe they're the type of people who have garages or even massive walls & gates surrounding their properties...   Also if you look on BMW and Mercedes forums you'll see that keyless thefts are a common occurrence with those as well.

I can't believe you miss all the Fiesta's and Focus' getting stolen lately though, get on some Facebook groups and you'll see just how many go missing every week!  It's not only the ST's and RS's either, a lot of what I would've thought undesirable models disappear as well.  I fully appreciate that you don't worry about it and don't want to add any extra security to yours...possibly because you live in a decent area, but for people that live/work/visit slightly less desirable areas I really think some extra security is worth it...

1 hour ago, WES180 said:

The stickers are a good idea assuming that these car thieves can actually read?

Personally I would rather my car be stolen and burnt out rather than a failed attempted theft still resulting in an insurance claim due to the damage caused smashing the window and damaged trim etc.

I agree, they aren't going to stop and look at a window sticker...most of the thefts happen at night anyway.  I remember back in the 90s when every car had window stickers claiming alarm & immobiliser protection or audio protection, not sure that stopped any break in's or radio thefts.  

But I do think the OBD disable is a good idea...it doesn't cause the driver any extra hassle and should stop the car being driven off.  The hassle of having the car burnt out with your possessions inside and waiting weeks for a replacement car (or having to put up with a Ka/500/i10 hire car!) would outweigh the annoyance of a bit of glass to hoover out of the footwell...  There's rarely any trim damage either as they intend to sell the cars on.  I've been looking at a few stolen recovered ones to buy myself lately.

[WES180]

19 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Ah yes, because people that own Ferrari's and Porsches tend to live on inner city housing estates and park them next to the road...  Or maybe they're the type of people who have garages or even massive walls & gates surrounding their properties...   Also if you look on BMW and Mercedes forums you'll see that keyless thefts are a common occurrence with those as well.

I can't believe you miss all the Fiesta's and Focus' getting stolen lately though, get on some Facebook groups and you'll see just how many go missing every week!  It's not only the ST's and RS's either, a lot of what I would've thought undesirable models disappear as well.  I fully appreciate that you don't worry about it and don't want to add any extra security to yours...possibly because you live in a decent area, but for people that live/work/visit slightly less desirable areas I really think some extra security is worth it...

I agree, they aren't going to stop and look at a window sticker...most of the thefts happen at night anyway.  I remember back in the 90s when every car had window stickers claiming alarm & immobiliser protection or audio protection, not sure that stopped any break in's or radio thefts.  

But I do think the OBD disable is a good idea...it doesn't cause the driver any extra hassle and should stop the car being driven off.  The hassle of having the car burnt out with your possessions inside and waiting weeks for a replacement car (or having to put up with a Ka/500/i10 hire car!) would outweigh the annoyance of a bit of glass to hoover out of the footwell...  There's rarely any trim damage either as they intend to sell the cars on.  I've been looking at a few stolen recovered ones to buy myself lately.

I know what your saying about the inconvenience, I just mean that if I'm going to be declaring an insurance claim at renewal for the next 3-5yrs then personally I would rather get another car out of it.

Obviously though, for some people that may leave them financially out of pocket as well as those that could have negative equity on the car due to a recent finance agreement being used to purchase it. In those cases then yes, a simple fuse removal and warning sticker is an ideal cheap deterrent.

 

 

[Mavroz]

I don't live in too bad an area, but it is still Hull and we still park in some of the worst places in Hull (streets, car parks, multi storey car parks) not out of choice, because we have to for work.

We were on the Facebook groups when the bosses car was taken from his drive and did see how many fords in general had been taken but I wouldn't say it was many more than Vauxhall, Vw, Mini etc etc. There are definitely seems to be more higher end cars stolen then St Line Fords.

I have said enough now I think, yes I will probably look more into it (probably by the way of a 3rd party tracking device) if and when I get an St but I definitely maintain some go way too far up the paranoia scale trying to protect a Fiesta that is insured.

Each to their own though, whatever makes them happy and secure.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

3 hours ago, Mavroz said:

I totally agree with making an ST more secure by pulling a fuse as they are more desirable bring a performance car. Still can't agree with the insurance side as it goes on more variables to what they charge.

Our St line X is cheaper to insure than the St line which are both very reasonable on insurance we feel. Tentative/test the water quotes for an ST are again only slightly more than the St Line by around £60ish a year which is very good.

Also finding the Fiesta very reasonable to insure. For some reason it's actually a few pounds less than our SEAT Mii despite being the same insurer and same drivers.🤔🤔

[Shepster48]

My area is nice, but the thieving barstewards come from the surrounding areas to rob us. No car on any drive is safe nowadays, these thieves don’t give a *****. They just cover their faces with a scarf and hoody. They also come in a group.

i saw a cctv clip where a gang of 4 robbed an st. Two broke into the car, one held the door handle and one had a fire extinguisher ready to spray on the owner if he came downstairs. 

 

I have a very very powerful pellet gun in my loft. I’d shoot them from my window. See how long he’d stand there with his fire extinguisher with a pellet lodged in his face.

 

[martinf64]

I find the insurance very reasonable. When I looked at the difference between the 125 and 140 there was only a few pounds between the two so opted for the 140 just for that little extra bhp under the bonnet. 12 months fully comp with protected no claims, no claims came out around £170 (just slight higher than the 105bhp Twinair Alfa Mito it was replacing), just renewed this month and same cover but with 1 claim £200...thought I got off lightly once inflation factored in.

As for if it gets stolen...hope they write it off because my insurance will replace with new car for first 12 months. Before its first Birthday I will get GAP insurance from TotalLossGap at around £120 for two years...worth looking at instead of the expensive Ford Gap insurance. Have a butchers at their web-site.

Hold on, heard someone shuffling by the Fiesta...might be Shepster checking to see if the obd port is disabled when the alarm goes off...sorry mate couldn't resist that one 🤣 Oh well black balled by the mod again.....😛

[TomsFocus]

Insurance never makes sense.

1.0 Fiesta Titaniums are really expensive for me to insure.  1.0 Focus Titanium is a bit cheaper (around £50 less).  But my 2.0TDI, previously written off, Golf is cheaper still...and by about £100!

Good luck working that out...I haven't been able to!

 

[Shepster48]

3 hours ago, martinf64 said:

Hold on, heard someone shuffling by the Fiesta...might be Shepster checking to see if the obd port is disabled when the alarm goes off...sorry mate couldn't resist that one 🤣 Oh well black balled by the mod again.....

Ha i'll let you have that one, i guess i have droned on about it.

A kid at work reckons he has an obd2 tester i can borrow so i'll give it a whirl and see what it shows when the perimeter alarm is set off. The ford spokesman said it rendered the obd useless for 10 minutes and it reset every time they tried to use it so its not just a power cut to the obd i wouldnt think. 

 

[iantt]

Power isn't cut when alarm goes off, just the security in bcm or cluster depending on vehicle stops any programming of keys etc. I know that when I'm trying to program keys to a vehicle when the original keys are lost. I'm stood waiting while the alarm sounds 

[Shepster48]

11 hours ago, iantt said:

Power isn't cut when alarm goes off, just the security in bcm or cluster depending on vehicle stops any programming of keys etc. I know that when I'm trying to program keys to a vehicle when the original keys are lost. I'm stood waiting while the alarm sounds 

Thanks iantt, thats very interesting. You are the first person ive heard/read confirm the 10 minute lockout that the ford spokesman spoke of. Have you had this on any new shape fiestas? 

Does the alarm sound for the full 10 minutes? 

Maybe i dont need to bother with the obd tester if you confirm the lockdown happens on the mk8 fiesta.

[robuk2]

HiGuy`s just purchased a 2008 Focus ST, have 2 keys and one security dongle that needs to be pressed before start button will start car, my concern is if I misplace the key with the dongle the car can`t be started with spare key alone. Sequence is, open car, press brake, short press on starter button and dash lights up, short press on security dongle then press starter button and car fires up. If you don`t press security dongle car will not start.

Anyone got similar after market system with instructions, data sheet or any help of how to get rid of system, pic below shows 2 button dongle.

Any help appreciated.

[Michael o]

I've never been paranoid about car theft until now. The fact that fords are so easy to nick is my reason. My last 3 cars have been an 09 civic type R, 2012 bmw 320d and 2014 Jaguar XF R-Sport 200. Unsure if these cars were as easy to steal, but the fact that fords going missing is so well documented on social media means I'm doing all i can to deter losing my newest car through OBD theft...Or worse still coming into my home for the keys. 

Last week I picked up a new fiesta ST. Obviously it's a bit more desirable than the average fiesta but doesn't have any additional security as standard. 

I've decided I'm doing most of the things mentioned to make it harder for the little t@#$s. However I believe deterents are the best form of defence. 

I removed the fuse for OBD. Fitted warning stickers and I'm waiting for a stoplock Pro. As secure as a disk lock but less hassle. Dont know if a dummy port would be worth fitting, maybe do that one day, but how far do we go? 

All this got me thinking about my home security. I'd rather give someone the keys to the car than them coming in to get them. The more I do to secure my car, then is there more chance of a break in. How far are they willing to go? Anyway, new home alarm and locks are incoming.

In all honesty,  I regret getting the little ST, or any ford for that matter. I didnt do my homework, the offer of a ford privilege discount blinded me! 

I may change my mind because the ST is so much fun, its a cracking little car and ford have really got their act together in the last few years with build quality and technology. Shame security was an afterthought.  

Just to note, my keys go into sleep mode after 40 seconds. It's a new measure by ford. They will also give you this for older keyless models for around 60-70 quid per key. 

Do whatever you feel is sufficient, but dont have sleepless nights. At the end of the day.....its a ***** car. I love my kids more x

[Mavroz]

Yep, it is only a car and it will be insured against theft.

Enjoy it.

Sleepless nights over a car are just not worth it, as you rightly say.

Do what you can, do what you feel happy with to secure it and leave it at that.

As I have always said, if someone wants to take a car, they will. If they find they find it too difficult to take,  chances are they will do as much damage to it as they seemingly can.