Driver's side, side mirror housing stolen :(

[Frankenstrat]

Idle, that was the inference I was making. Rob a bank or do some serious hooning.

[MariusGT]

Police told me that plates stolen (like mine) are most commonly used in petrol rip offs.

bolt em on to their car - fill up - drive off. chuck out stolen plates.
they don't drive around with them on, just to get their free tank of fuel.

cost to me = $80 and a fair amount of pain in the ass time. cost to servo = approx $60?

buggers!

[triode12]

cost of special screws which screw in but not out? $5 from bunnings. highly recommend the investment and 5mins to change over.

So how would you remove the screws if you needed to change the plates?

[MariusGT]

So how would you remove the screws if you needed to change the plates?

With difficulty!! That's the point I guess- to make it hard not impossible.

The average thief is not that smart so I'd be surprised if they had more than a screwdriver handy. It would also take a lot more time even if you had the tools required. Time is of the essence when stealing. Especially in a public place!
The police suggested the special screws: "that'll make 'em move on to the next car quick smart!"

[triode12]

With difficulty!! That's the point I guess- to make it hard not impossible.

The average thief is not that smart so I'd be surprised if they had more than a screwdriver handy. It would also take a lot more time even if you had the tools required. Time is of the essence when stealing. Especially in a public place!
The police suggested the special screws: "that'll make 'em move on to the next car quick smart!"

What about using Torx screws instead of those that you mentioned?
I don't think these opportunistic thieves would have a Torx screwdriver handy.

[MariusGT]

Same idea I guess. Whatever deterrent works!

[shauno]

What about using Torx screws instead of those that you mentioned?
I don't think these opportunistic thieves would have a Torx screwdriver handy.

Even better, get something obscure like the screws they're now putting in iPhones

Great idea with the Torx screws though, maybe a "security" (hole in the middle) T8 or something...

[Frankenstrat]

Police told me that plates stolen (like mine) are most commonly used in petrol rip offs.

Yes, that would be a logical assumption. Torx screws are definitely the answer to thwart these cretins.

[Tony_Mitchell_1983]

I've bolted my front plate on when I had the front bumper off. It's pretty easy to get the plate off if I want to, but impossible with the bonnet down.

I haven't got to the back yet.

[sau_mathur]

Sorry, hadn't updated you guys on the status of the side mirror case.

Went to the dealer and they will charge $152 for the mirror case... so bloody expensive. At this stage i'm just like whatever.. its a brand new car.. not even 2 months old... this time I think I will get it through them. But yeah will definitely report the incident to the local police station.

Have to wait a few days for it to get to the dealer.. so will get it fitted later.

[Frankenstrat]

$152 is very expensive for what must be 50c worth of plastic. The person who ripped off your mirror housing must have gone through the same costing exercise as you have and decided instead to look for a Golf of the same colour. You just know that from now on every time you see a MkVI Golf same colour as yours you'll be thinking "is that MY mirror you've got?"

[Corey_R]

Yeah... I had a neighbor with a truck take off one of my families mirrors with the tray on his truck. It was a Toyota. Thankfully another neighbour was a Toyota dealer, so he got the parts and had it painted to match etc. The cost of that, even with dealer discount was around the $150, and that was for a Toyota! So yeh... 50c part they don't seem to be