Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   The Indian Car Scene (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/)

-   -   Move over stolen monograms, it's number plates now!! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/85958-move-over-stolen-monograms-its-number-plates-now.html)

Is any object safe from thieves any more :Frustrati? Remember how car monograms started getting flicked in 2008? Well, its the turn of number plates now.

Earlier this week, about 20 cars from my area had their number plates stolen, including one belonging to a certain Mr. Raj Thackeray. An accessory store owner tells me that the modus operandi is thus : Unemployed dude steals number plates from street-parked cars at night, and sells them to no. plate dealers for Rs. 20 a set. 10 sets a night x 30 days = Rs. 6,000 monthly income. The no. plate dealer, in turn, cleans the plates completely (of old registration details) and sells the "like new" ones to customers for anywhere between 100 - 200 bucks.

Pics of two poor victims:

Poor Swift owner has temporarily scribbled his registration details on a piece of paper:

A family friend lost all the wheels from his Scorpio. Considering this, I think this is a piece of cake for the thieves. But nevertheless:Frustrati

I think the answer to this may be the shear-off screws (where after attaching the plate, the top of the screw is sheared off and the plate can't be removed anymore) provided with the so-called High Security Number Plates (HSNP). It is funny that on the thread related to HSNP, some questions were raised regarding the necessity of shear-off screws. People were asking if anybody had ever heard of number plates getting stolen, so why would you need such a feature? These incidences answer those questions. :)

yea, i agree. We would need to install smart plates. Though it is expensive, smart plates are a perfect solution to such robbers

This looks like an isolated incident. It doesn't happen daily. Also seems like a work of vandals.
Besides one cannot compare it to the rampant robberies of monograms.
I don't think this is something to worry about. Condolences to those who lost their plates. But just get new ones. LOL.
They are likely to not get stolen again.

It's not just number plates or monograms that are being stolen. My friend lost both the front wipers, and that too in the rainy season! It's so unsafe to park cars on the streets nowadays even in broad daylight!

This is dangerous. I read an article where the cop was saying that plates flicked like this are generally put on stolen vehicles so as to smuggle them out.

What this world coming to. Wonder what kind of world we are going to give to our kids to live in.

whats next ? scraping off paint and selling it in grams?
This is rather pathetic. maybe the Highsecurity plates are the way to go with their destructible bolts.

The solution is to paint the area white and paste stickers of the registration detail.

Well well someone took both the numberplate (front & Back) from our Punto , day before yesterday :Frustrati

After number plates , first thing i checked was the monogram ,which is there !

This is the first time in 20 years , car was parked outside the house between 8-11pm , and next day in the morning saw that both the number plates are missing .

Smart number plate? Now whats that , and how it is installed ? Need to get new plates, need to know about this smart plates ,so that i can get those installed this time. thanks

I recently had to show my RC book as evidence before a number plate shop actually delivered the new plates.

As I was riding my bullet, they passed on the new plates to me, but for the Baleno, they either wanted me to bring in the car or show the RC as proof.

IMO, these are new avenues for underhand dealings as even simple things such as a replacement number plates are supposedly being monitored by the cops.

Yet, cars are being stolen, sometimes in broad daylight too.

I am sure sure these guys would be able to rip these off too. Yet. Its worth the effort.

The bolt image that you have posted will definitely act as a deterrent. The effort required to open these type of bolt is a bit high, specially when one has to create a dent for screwdriver to go it.

I experienced this in Helmet Lock. In my earlier bike my helmet lock was stolen, so I bought a new one with these screws. Initially I had installed the helmet lock with these screws on crash guard.
When I had to change location, pliers on the open end was used to take the lock out.

But in cars, its impossible to so easily take out the number plate because the other end will not be visible.

Its definitely worth a try.

yes, the HSRP's do come with shear off head bolts. THey serve their purpose rather well..
The only problem i see with these bolts is, in case of a crash or for any other reason, youre forced to change your car bumper, the number plate needs quite an effort to be removed, if at all..