Just a word of warning - if you've got a focus, then I'd get it alarmed, as there's a spate of cd/radio (the standard Ford one that comes with them) and air bag thefts at the moment.

We were having the sidewindow on the hire car I had over the weekend replaced, and they said they have 12 focus' booked in!

Police who came to us said a they'd got a fair few visits to make.

Grrr!!

This makes me so mad, they've already nicked mine and the other car's radio, as well as 2 down my road!!

They did mine too, and while they were in the area the b*****ds got another one next door to me and two round the corner! Was a couple of months ago though...

At the time the Police also said that Astra's and Punto's were at risk too, and the very next week my mate's Punto had the radio nicked.

It's been happening for months. It doesn't help the fact that the detachable front part of the of the stereo will work with any other same model stereo.

scum, 3 from my office have had theirs nicked around crookes

Talk to me about it - they did both the Focus I had as a hire car and OH's fiesta - his for the THIRD time in about 4 months - the replacement wasn't the ford radio, but a better one that you can remove the entire front from so they can't nick it as we don't keep it in the car any more, so each time it's just a trip to Autoglass.

i had a focus once. now i don't! enough said i think

My mate in Crookes had his 2 days and on the second day he said he was getting it alarmed as they are easy to steal.
He woke up in the morning to find his Focus minus a stereo and a broken window:(

Ford are prone to bad design henz the name standing for Fix Or Repair Daily :P

And I thought it meant Found On Road, Dead.

A quick tip to focus or ford car owners with CD player fitted, it is possible to actually lock the CD player into place with a security wire and small padlock, ok I know you'll all say but it dont stop them from smashing the window, but they wont be able to take the CD player in a hurry.

how about taking it out, selling it on ebay and putting in a face-off aftermarket unit instead? as for airbad theft, how about a disklok?

Fords have always been pretty easy t osteal - didn't all the same models have the same key? and you could fit a screwdriver in.

Dad may well be swapping - from a 147 to a focus! :confused: :confused:

Alex

Put in a decent radio yourself does the trick - the replacement we've got is useless without the bit that slots on the front. Still does mean you have to replace the glass if they smash that but...

Just wish they'd realize we're not dumb enough to leave it in the car.

agh the focus thing again, dad had a focus once, had it pinched, had items including radio (without the frount) pinched & i know this still applies it some models that you can actually open it with a 10p, tryed it, it worked which is why dad got rid!

i've owned a focus for about 18 months now, and had the radio stolen once, because i was stupid enough to leave the fascia on. if anyone has their car broken into, then they only have themsleves to blame - leave everything out of sight, and the thief simply won't bother. focus's are very hard to steal, if you double-lock the doors [i.e. press the lock button twice]. this means that the thief can't open the door, even if he breaks a window. they have immobilisers and alarms as standard, it's much more bother than a focus is worth to steal it, they have the same level of security as a merc or bmw but are worth much less.



p.s. anyone want to buy mine? i'm trading down due to needing cash when i start uni, it's a 1.8 zetec, 3 door in silver, t-reg, 56,000 miles, £4250

Originally posted by Maldonado
i've owned a focus for about 18 months now, and had the radio stolen once, because i was stupid enough to leave the fascia on. if anyone has their car broken into, then they only have themsleves to blame - leave everything out of sight, and the thief simply won't bother. focus's are very hard to steal, if you double-lock the doors [i.e. press the lock button twice]. this means that the thief can't open the door, even if he breaks a window. they have immobilisers and alarms as standard, it's much more bother than a focus is worth to steal it, they have the same level of security as a merc or bmw but are worth much less.


They will still pinch your focus radio even if you've taken the face plate out, any 4000,5000 & 6000 series face plate will work and not unique to each radio, they can be bought for as little as £5 on ebay, As ford charge around £365 for the 6000 CD player, there is no wonder that theres a market for these radios.

It makes no difference if you activate the alarm or double lock the doors, they will simply pop the front passenger side window, alarm blaring away, reach through, pop in radio extractor tool, out pops radio and they're away in as little as 30 seconds, which gives you sod all time to awake from your sleep (if you're lucky to hear your alarm), run down stairs, unlock your front door.

So im sorry that your statement of "if anyone has their car broken into, then they only have themsleves to blame" is just not true

I'd removed the central bit with the numbers on it, and we never leave the facsia of the replacement in the car either so they broke in and tried to find it. This has happened twice.

We also leave the glove box open and empty so that they can see we've not done the obvious and left it in there.

So what else should I do?

Originally posted by tas1
I'd removed the central bit with the numbers on it, and we never leave the facsia of the replacement in the car either so they broke in and tried to find it. This has happened twice.

We also leave the glove box open and empty so that they can see we've not done the obvious and left it in there.

So what else should I do?

move house?

In our case, the police have a good idea who it was the last time - they're not local so doubt even that would work.