BigGrasshopper

Interesting fact.

It's my #1 choice in terms of luxo-hot rods, but what is the street market value of a a stolen S8?

I wonder if it is an export play as many stolen luxury cars end up in containers headed to South America and Eastern Europe.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-mo...-20120809.html

Audis or VWs 4Life

Pretty sure those thefts involved breaking into ones house or swiping valet keys. Also its going to be a tough sell in any market because if the car needs any major type of service that involves a dealer or the need for a dealer computer they are going to get caught quick. Even if they don't take it to a dealer you still need to be plugged back into the mothership if the car ever goes into component protection mode. Like if MMI parts fail any replacement part has to be coded for the car's vin require a dealer visit. Which also makes the car worth next to nothing in parts value yea you can sell body panels hoods trunks etc, but electronics that are coded to the cars vin are basically worthless as it will lead breadcrumb trail right back to the people selling the items.

jakematic

That makes more sense - otherwise you'd have to flatbed them in the cover of darkness.

Sometimes I forget to lock the A8 when taking customers to lunch and they get very nervous about my "new, expensive" car when we return to it.
My response is always: There's nothing valuable stored in the vehicle, besides you'd need a forklift to steal it.

Sans key, you'd be able to do nothing but chop an Audi anyway.
I do think they are much more valuable as parts and that is why you never see any in u-pull-it's.
Just look at the number of legal breakers in the UK, and for example Shokan in the US.

It also would not surprise me if some of the "flashers" in Eastern Europe are able to remove identifiable information from the ECUs.

woofster

According to the article, these are stats for 2009 models in the year 2009. Two (2) 2009 S8s were stolen out of a total production of 227 units in 2009. That's only 2 in all of the U.S.

There were also only two (2) 2009 M5s stolen that year but they produced 264 units, making the "theft per vehicle produced" ratio slightly lower than the S8.

I'm sure these vehicles were professionally stolen.

BigGrasshopper

Typically they are flatbedded and hauled away in no time. I've been told they can do it in under 5 minutes if there are no obstructions in the front or back of the vehicle.

An acquaintance has a business (legal by the way) buying theft-salvaged luxury cars. These are cars that are stolen, then insurance company pays the claim to the owner, and then the car is later found by the police. The insurance company owns the car at that point and unloads it to wholesalers, with the theft salvage on the title. The wholesalers can sell them to retailers, and the retailers can sell to the public, but they have to note the theft salvage on the title. It is illegal to hide that. Many of the higher end cars usually have modest interior damage such as door panels, steering columns, nav systems, etc. They can be had for 10-20% below fair market versus a similar clean title car.

Lexus and Cadillac are the number one stolen 'luxury' cars that he sees, with the Caddy Escalade being very popular (go figure). Next is Mercedes. He gets opportunities on S-Class and E-Class Mercedes a couple times a month. I did not ask how the thieves overcome the anti-theft devices to actually drive the vehicles. By the time he sells them, he can get official keys through Mercedes. He also gets some real nice CL class Mercedes come through a few times a year. He says the coupes tend to be joy-ridden much harder than sedans. He doesn't see as many Porsche's as one would think. He chalks that up to the Porsche theft rings being much more 'organized' and therefore the vehicles do not get recovered as frequently, or are chopped.

BMW is lower on the list of recovered vehicles, as are Audis. He tells me he hasn't seen an A8 come through in several years (and he hasn't heard of a D4 recovery, yet, which is not bad for coming up on almost 2 years on the market). I don't know how this jives with official statistics, but this is what is going on in South Florida.

boldman

Yes in 2 minuts your stock car can be stolen without damage on doors. Witha turbodecoder the drivers door will be opend and your alarm is then off aswell, then a OBD2 cracker will switch of your immobiliser and your car can be started.

Best is upgrade your Stock car alarm with seperate alarm with remote not related to Audi. Those upgrade alarms cut aswell the K and L lines and the OBD2 cracker is useless.

Other option is a gearbox lock.....