Thefts from cars

[blue]

Friends out here on holiday parked their car at Algar Seco yesterday (Saturday) afternoon& left it for about 20mins, they came back to find that someone had tried to get into it but had broken a key or something off in the lock so they were unsuccessful. It still meant an afternoon spent at the GNR & all round nuisance . They hadn't left anything of value in the car so were not sure what the thief was after.

[Michael Crane]

Friends out here on holiday parked their car at Algar Seco yesterday (Saturday) afternoon& left it for about 20mins, they came back to find that someone had tried to get into it but had broken a key or something off in the lock so they were unsuccessful. It still meant an afternoon spent at the GNR & all round nuisance . They hadn't left anything of value in the car so were not sure what the thief was after.

Since being robbed a few years back I now never leave anything of value in my hire car. Nor, for most of the time, do I lock it. Thieves aren't trying to steal the cars but its contents - if any. Having it broken into or just plain 'broken' is a pain in the arse and a big spoiler. However, if someone actually opens the doors/boot and sees there's nothing to steal they just move on.

Car break-ins are so prevalent in Lagos that the GNR have A4 pads 1" thick showing the Intermarché carpark so that you can accurately show them where your car was at the time!

[nickbatch]

We were in Intermache at Lagos in October and when we came out we had a front nearside flat. After changing the wheel we noticed my bag containing wallet, phone & passport was missing and can only conclude it was stolen from the car whilst we were engaged at the front corner! The puncture turned out to be in the side wall of the tyre and we think it was deliberate. So, too late for us, but if you get puncture once you have extracted the spare wheel LOCK ALL the doors whilst replacing the wheel. I have to say local police (PSP) were sympathetic but not hopeful of any recovery and the British Consulate, once we had found it in its new location, were very helpful. Although in all we probably lost the best part of a day & a half sorting things out.

[Michael Crane]

This is a scam that friends of Sharen fell foul of in Spain. Two very helpful Spaniards helped them change the wheel and robbed her of her handbag, including passport, mobile, credit cards and cash.

[cereza]

On my last visit my hire car had had the key locks removed from the doors and boot so that only the remote control could operate them. I presumed that this had been done by the rental comany to deter break ins