New Ford Transit Custom Stolen – Watch this Space
It’s well known that the Ford Transit and Transit Custom are already among the most stolen vans in the UK. Ever since the Ford Transit was released back in 1965, it’s been a target for anyone who fancies a great work van but doesn’t want to pay for it!
In the early days they were hot wired and driven away. To counter this, they introduced a strong metal cage held in place around the vulnerable ignition switch. Then they introduced transponder chips and for a while, theft of the modern vans stopped.
However, it wasn’t long before thieves had worked out how to get the ignition on and programme a chip into the memory to get it started.
MK7 Transit Vans vanish overnight
Pretty soon, thieves were stealing the MK7 Transit at will, with owners needing to invest in extra security in order to slow the thieves down, such as this replacement drivers door lock.
When the new Ford Transit and new Ford Transit Custom arrived on the scene, they promised increased security, even introducing a new type of key. However, it wasn’t long before owners had their vans cleared of tools and Ford van security became a joke.
We’ve written ay length about Ford van security. These days the MK8 Transit and Custom can be taken in minutes, with the steering locks easy to overcome and the technology to programme a new chip readily available.
New Ford Transit - Lets make it even easier
The real shame is that Ford had the chance to deal with all the terrible security problems with the release of the new MK9 Transit. It looks great, it has a steering wheel that doubles up as a tray table. However, there is something missing that screams ‘STEAL MY VAN’.
The van we looked at this week is keyless, no ignition lock and we all know why this is a terrible idea.
Why Keyless is bad for you.
I’m often asked do I worry I’ll be out of a job soon, with all the keyless cars these days? Our job evolves all the time, so not having an ignition lock isn’t a problem for us, we adapt. However, we believe without an ignition lock, your car or van is much more likely to be stolen. Just look at the most popular car to be stolen in the UK, the Ford Fiesta.
Owners love the keyless start, there’s no need to put your key into the lock, just press a button. However, every month we visit car repair bodyshops and recode new keys on keyless cars that have been stolen in minutes.
When the prize is a nice shiny new Ford Transit Custom, then I believe it’s only a matter of time that these start going missing.
How to Stop New Ford Transit Custom Theft
Firstly, if the option is given to you for the non keyless version, we recommend taking it. However if this isn’t possible, then you need to try and slow them down.
There are several ways to do this with security locks and add ons such as:-
- Locks4Van security door locks and deadlocks. This excellent company make high quality security products that we’re proud to fit. Check out what they offer for the new Ford Transit.
- Steering Wheel Guards. These are very old fashioned, but they do make it harder and noisier for someone to steal your van. We use the Disklock version, but there are plenty of other companies that sell these. Check out the reviews here.
- Ghost immobilsers. We don’t supply or fit these, but have heard great things about them. This is an extra immobilser, which will make it very hard for a thief tosteal your new Ford Transit https://ghostinstallations.co.uk/
Whatever you decide, it’s important that you have the knowledge about how vulnerable keyless vehicles are. If you google to find out how keyless cars are stolen, you’ll find endless news reports about the subject. Once you combine this into a van, we believe trouble is just around the corner.
