BELGRADE (dpa) – Political turbulence in Yugoslavia over the last decade has done little for general security in Belgrade – and the interests of harassed car owners have a low priority.
Cars are stolen at all times of the night and day – big and small ones, old or new, Japanese or French – but owners of upmarket German marque Audi seem particularly at risk.
“It was in the yard, below my open window. Then I heard a noise and saw a car nudging my car along until the engine fired. Then it was gone,” said Sasa, recounting what happened to his year-old Audi A6.
Sasa said he went beyond the “usual channels” in recovering the car, meaning not the police although he did formally report the theft. The usual method of getting back a stolen car in Belgrade is to place newspaper ads pledging “a reward to finders”.
Sasa got in touch too with some pals who have underworld connections: “They reached the group that ‘did’ my car and then we haggled. I paid around 4,500 dollars to get it back.”
The handover of money was made to an intermediary at a crowded restaurant.
“He counted the money right there on the table, then told us where we would find my car. It was there, three minutes from where it was stolen, empty but with its engine running,” said Sasa.
The odometer showed the car had travelled only a few kilometres since the theft, the stereo system was partly disassembled and the instrument panel was in pieces on the floor beneath the driver’s seat.
A lawyer with a big international firm in Belgrade told a similar tale of woe – the company’s two official A6 estate cars were stolen last year. The cars were returned after the firm paid hard cash.
The newer, more expensive vehicle was targeted yet again but thieves failed to prise open a mechanical lock which encompassed both the steering wheel and control pedals. On that occasion a door lock was broken and bits of the cockpit were again missing.
The same car was eventually hijacked by gun-wielding attackers – in another, increasingly frequent practice – and the company in Belgrade has now bought two Czech-made Skoda Fabias instead.
Sometimes no deal can be reached with the carnappers who then have to sell the stolen car for less money and at greater risk.
“I told them to buzz off. For what they wanted, I bought a Toyota Yaris,” a Belgrade businessman said, referring to his Audi A3 compact lifted in March only days after he bought it for his wife.
Not only Audis but other cars from the German Volkswagen group are easy prey for thieves if owners rely on the factory security features, the owner of a specialized Belgrade garage said.
He claimed there was a “fatal flaw” in the factory security of all Audis, VWs and Skodas with their “smart”, or coded keys”.
“They break in, rip the dashboard out snapping two screws, unplug the ‘immobilizer’, replace it with their own, short-circuit the ignition wiring, start the car by pushing it and drive away,” the expert said, describing the sequence.
“It takes them about just as long as it took me to say this, depending on circumstances and their expertise,” he added.
“Them” is usually a team of four – two inside, one outside and a driver of another car, to bump start the car.
The replacement immobilizer is attached to a new ignition lock, which recognizes the inserted key and sends the green light to the main computer to release electronic blockades, he said.
