Andrew Helmus

I'm posting this on behalf of my Dad, who owns a 2011 S4. Last weekend he woke up in the morning to find his trunk open and the doors unlocked (closed, but not locked) as well as the alarm system deactivated. My dad is very **** about locking his doors and setting the alarm, and this is surely something that would not have been forgotten. There was no damage anywhere. He checked the weather strips and door seals and windows for damage, but no indication of any damage.

In addition to this, his roommates vehicle (2012 Yukon Denali) whose alarm was set and doors were locked, was also broken into. No damage as well.

What we're trying to figure out is - how could someone break into two very different vehicles with modern sophisticated alarm systems, and without causing setting off the alarm? Is there anyone on here that could explain how such things work? And also, how could he protect himself so that this does not happen again?

Items were stolen from the Denali, but only a handful of change was stolen from my Dads Audi. His radar detector and iPod (both fairly out in the open) were not taken. We think this is because something spooked the thief.. maybe a car drove by or something and he took off..

Additional vehicle info:
2011 Audi S4 Prestige (fully loaded, everything)
Mostly stock aside from Stasis chip (engine tune)

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

m444

Do they have impact sensing auto unlock (safety after a collision)?

"Door Unlock Impact Sensor"

skiracerblah

Hmm...newbie poster trying to get information on the alarm system.............

Andrew Helmus

I'm not 100% positive, but after doing some research, the 2011 models don't appear to have the door unlock impact sensor. Or at least I cannot find a source that indicates that it does have this feature. I did however find that the 2013 models (A4, anyways) have this feature..

Audis or VWs 4Life

Radar detector and iPod have serial numbers, its getting harder to moves those on the black market or pawnshops as its becoming common practice to check serials prior to purchase.

If they got into both cars with zero signs of forced entry they likely gained access to the home or the location of keys and just unlocked them with the remote.

zulujams

Is it really that hard to move electronics? I'm guessing not. A co-worker and I stopped for lunch in a nice area of the suburbs of Houston. We had an SUV type rental, maybe a Jeep Liberty. Nice day out, and we had spied an R8 in the parking lot (sweet!). While eating inside, an officer came in and asked if anyone had a vehicle matching our rental. The thieves broke in with a screwdriver or something, grabbed our briefcases, yanked the laptops, iPods, Garmin NAV, etc. They tossed the bags in the dumpster (with my S4 and house keys! Will never let them leave my possession again). Thankfully, the PD had a sting going on and caught them. The PD even fished out our bags before we were brought out. We just had to ID the stuff that belonged to us and help give serial #s of the goods and estimate a value. Some other stuff was on display that wasn't ours such as another laptop. The PD was bummed as they wanted to wrap it up but they had other stuff to catalog from someone else's vehicle. Thank you Houston PD for saving some personal and work equipment!

As for breaking into an Audi, I second the idea that it was done with a spare or something, or the vehicle was left unlocked by mistake. I've found my trunk open a couple times in the garage and am guessing that somehow I hit the button in my pocket and held it down long enough.

helix139

My dad's Yukon was broken into in Georgia when we were on a road trip last Christmas and they stole his laptop. No evidence of physical tampering, etc. It looked to me like they had used a slim jim on the front door, but it's also possible for more sophisticated rings of thieves to duplicate the signal from your key if they are in the vicinity when you use it.

no cell

......with his DAD having a 60k vehicle and a ROOMATE having a fairly expensive vehicle as well.

Is the dad a freshman in college?

Evlengr

Not going to tell you how, but with a frequency counter and some other electronic gear I can open just about any RF based security system.

One of the reasons I never used or will use an RF based gas card/wand.

Rather have someone break in this way then damage the car as little stuff like that can be easily replaced, but getting your car back to normal after a "Hack" job is a real PITA.

Toecutter

Maybe he's divorced and rents out a room to help make up what he pays in alimony. That's my neighbor's situation. Big old house for just one 50 y/o guy is too roomy I guess.