Is it worth buying. I’m telling myself that after buying the caravan and extras any deterrent is a good thing even if it only puts 2% of thieves off. Any thoughts
It won't deter anyone from stealing it, if it is stolen it might make it harder for them to sell it on and easier to reunite it with you. You would be better off with hitch lock, wheel clamp and alarm but even these are not going to deter a determined thief, if they want it they will have it.
My older van has the Cris etched windows and possibly a chip in the rear panel. I thought it worthwhile, even as a deterrent to go for the later hidden chip version that can be scanned remotely. plus new window stickers. Not a lot of money for a bit more peace of mind. You pays your money,.....
Dave.
------------- Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you on experience.
Mark Twain.
Stopping the theft of a van is nigh on impossible if thieves have time and determination, but all efforts to deter, slow them down and make disposing of the van more difficult must have some merit. For what amounts to the cost of two nights on a very cheap, or one night on pricier camp site, it's not going to break the bank to get the stickers/chip!
With an older van, it's probably worth more broken for parts than as a whole van, so not necessarily too much of a deterrent to a thief if they have no intention of ever trying to get the van back on the market. Obviously makes valuable parts like windows less saleable unless they go to trouble of removing stickers without damaging windows in the process.
My van was stickered/chipped from new, but can't say I have much faith in Police bothering to scan the chip as a routine check (they are supposed to be able to check the chip as you/they drive by on the road!), but may make it easier to return it if discovered in the hands of thieves.
Perhaps one advantage is a mostly hidden one, if/when you come to sell the van, it's easy for buyer to check you are legitimate owner and registered with CRIS as such.
Personally, I'm all in favour of stacking the odds against the scumbags every way I can.
Our caravans we insure new for old. If stolen would not want them back, but a nice new one instead. Just fit whatever insurer asks for to meet their requirements
I can't see what deterrent hidden chips would have to stop theft, the thief wouldn't know they were there so how would it deter them?
The vast majority of caravans are CRIS registered but that doesn't stop them
getting stolen.
saxo1
The best thing to do is to jack up on axel stands take both wheels off store away from caravan and it would make the thief look for an easy steal its a bit of messing about but you will still have your van to go on your jollys
Quote: Originally posted by walshys on 20/8/2023
The best thing to do is to jack up on axel stands take both wheels off store away from caravan and it would make the thief look for an easy steal its a bit of messing about but you will still have your van to go on your jollys
Beware what you advice people because that would certainly be in breach of the caravan insurance as you will find that as a minimum requirement a wheel clamp is required as security. If you remove both wheels it's impossible to install a wheel clamp which would be easier for a thief to bolt on a couple of road wheels and pull the caravan off a pair of axle stands quite easily. In the event of a theft claim the insurance would be void due to not adhering to the terms and conditions of the policy.
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