D2 Facelift Headlights stolen too.

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Daveblu

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Like some of the other forum members, I too have had my D2 Facelift lights stolen, at considerable expense, I opted not too go through insurance and replaced them myself to the tune of £450 all in, I know this topic has been covered several times and like the advice given I would not succumb to purchasing broken clip lights off eBay, I purchased shiny new ones.
I also discovered that the other bits , trim finishers and Top covers are relatively cheaper than the overpriced stuff offered there, Stratstones sorted the trim finishers XBQ000080/90 at £13.41 and top covers DHH000120LML/130LML at £10.93 each.
Blindly going onto eBay believing that a great bargain is going to achieved is foolish, some of the sellers are not that much different to the thieving scum that steal headlights.
I hope I don't go through this exercise again as it has caused considerable stress and disruption.
 
sorry to hear this.

I am a police officer in Wakefield and as i run a Farmwatch and also cover wildlife crime i am usually in charge of any Land rover related thefts.

I can confirm that these headlights are very regularly stolen, one couple I know through work have been hit 9 times before i got in touch with some advice.

after the last 2 criminals i caught and put through court for this I can confirm that it is a very very fast process.
through CCTV i can state that from them getting out of their car, removing both headlights and getting back into their car took 21 seconds.

the basic advice is as follows:

-park the front of your vehicle as close to a wall or other car etc as possible, you cannot remove these lights side on you need to be stood in front of the vehicle to generate the force required to remove them.

- engrave your post code in the top of the light. although this doesnt do much it may prevent buyers and therefore reduce the market.

- motion sensor, i got the couple i spoke of to fit this and it saved their lights last time. they are £15 on ebay and about 3 wires, put it behind the grill and wire it to your alarm. when someone walks to front of your car it goes off and is very loud. this made them do a runner.
problem is cant really use it in car parks etc as will be forever going off.

- best one in my opinion is stainless steel straps. i have a photo at work i can upload, but its basically 4 stainlss steel strap bands (2 per light) run over the front of the light at each end anbolt in behind the bumper at the bottom and to the smash panel at the top under the bonnet. when you look at the car you just see 2 thin tidy straps running vertical up the lights, in stainless they look quite good in my opinion and basically they make it so you cant pull the lights out. I am now actively encouraging all my farmers to do this and a few already have. just note where you position the straps for MOT reasons.

hope this helps
 
ashleywood.ash said:
sorry to hear this.

I am a police officer in Wakefield and as i run a Farmwatch and also cover wildlife crime i am usually in charge of any Land rover related thefts.

I can confirm that these headlights are very regularly stolen, one couple I know through work have been hit 9 times before i got in touch with some advice.

after the last 2 criminals i caught and put through court for this I can confirm that it is a very very fast process.
through CCTV i can state that from them getting out of their car, removing both headlights and getting back into their car took 21 seconds.

the basic advice is as follows:

-park the front of your vehicle as close to a wall or other car etc as possible, you cannot remove these lights side on you need to be stood in front of the vehicle to generate the force required to remove them.

- engrave your post code in the top of the light. although this doesnt do much it may prevent buyers and therefore reduce the market.

- motion sensor, i got the couple i spoke of to fit this and it saved their lights last time. they are £15 on ebay and about 3 wires, put it behind the grill and wire it to your alarm. when someone walks to front of your car it goes off and is very loud. this made them do a runner.
problem is cant really use it in car parks etc as will be forever going off.

- best one in my opinion is stainless steel straps. i have a photo at work i can upload, but its basically 4 stainlss steel strap bands (2 per light) run over the front of the light at each end anbolt in behind the bumper at the bottom and to the smash panel at the top under the bonnet. when you look at the car you just see 2 thin tidy straps running vertical up the lights, in stainless they look quite good in my opinion and basically they make it so you cant pull the lights out. I am now actively encouraging all my farmers to do this and a few already have. just note where you position the straps for MOT reasons.

hope this helps
Click to expand...

Thanks for a very useful post.

Is there any way of targetting sellers of 2nd hand headlights on sites like ebay with broken clips?

One was highlighted here last week that had sold 4 pairs and a couple of single lights this year :mad:
 
blue beasty said:
Thanks for a very useful post.

Is there any way of targetting sellers of 2nd hand headlights on sites like ebay with broken clips?

One was highlighted here last week that had sold 4 pairs and a couple of single lights this year :mad:
Click to expand...

it is something i am currently trying to push and this is why i also recommend the engraving. in order to have a crime you need a complainant so we would need to be able to identify who the lights belong to.
if we were to raid someones house and there is a pair of lights with no markings etc its hard as he can just say there mine from an old car etc.
if they have a post code on them then we have something to work with.
further to this also if that person didnt steal them they still maybe guilty of handling stolen goods as it could be seen that they should have suspected them stolen if they were marked up etc. I recommend the top outer edge of the light done with a stencil. looks neat and being the clear plastic is not a bit that is going to be removed/replaced.

researching ebay etc is also something our intelligence department would have to do, and with all roles in the police numbers are desperately thin and employees are massively overloaded with work thanks to the current government and unfortuantely theft of vehicle parts does not take a massive priority as yet, however this is changing as the crimes increase

other issue is ebay dont really work with you to well, they only see £££££

i keep battling on though as this sort of crime is close to heart :p
 
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when i did my conversion on the previous disco, i rang all the breakers etc for lights, answer none!!! i got new ones, came with lower finishers, worked out at £300 all in,
thing is if the lights have broken clips! 9 out of 10 they are stolen the ones on ebay, you need proof from the seller, 1 individual seller who is not a breaker is a bit suspicious i would think, but it is all about money! the old story was 'crime doesn't pay', how life has changed!!!, if you caught em nicking em and give em a slap, you would be more wrong than they are!!! there needs to be a tougher deterrent on crime, public flogging! comes to mind
 
discodrivercumbria said:
when i did my conversion on the previous disco, i rang all the breakers etc for lights, answer none!!! i got new ones, came with lower finishers, worked out at £300 all in,
thing is if the lights have broken clips! 9 out of 10 they are stolen the ones on ebay, you need proof from the seller, 1 individual seller who is not a breaker is a bit suspicious i would think, but it is all about money! the old story was 'crime doesn't pay', how life has changed!!!, if you caught em nicking em and give em a slap, you would be more wrong than they are!!! there needs to be a tougher deterrent on crime, public flogging! comes to mind
Click to expand...

preaching to the choir,

unfortunately we have to prove guilt, they dont have to prove innocence. it ends up being one of those, they know they have done it, we know they have done it but we cant prove it scenario's
 
Daveblu said:
Thanks for the security tips, I'm wondering if this could work on the lights. Dantech Ltd Car and Caravan window etching

I've not got a steady enough hand to engrave.
Click to expand...

I did ask one window etch supplier if the acid etch used on window glass would be suitable for acrylic plastic.

Unfortunately the answer was no so it looks like an engraver (machine not professional bloke) to get either use VIN, reg no or postcode on your headlights.
 
brian47 said:
I did ask one window etch supplier if the acid etch used on window glass would be suitable for acrylic plastic.

Unfortunately the answer was no so it looks like an engraver (machine not professional bloke) to get either use VIN, reg no or postcode on your headlights.
Click to expand...

If you read the link they do an option for plastic and the recommendation from ashleywood.ash is etch your postcode.

Your reg would work as well I guess but not sure it's a good idea to display your VIN.

Considering the frequency of the problem and the quality of the advice on this thread do you guys want this thread made sticky?
 
blue beasty said:
If you read the link they do an option for plastic and the recommendation from ashleywood.ash is etch your postcode.

Your reg would work as well I guess but not sure it's a good idea to display your VIN.

Considering the frequency of the problem and the quality of the advice on this thread do you guys want this thread made sticky?
Click to expand...

Sorry BB didn't go to the link, just jumped in before engaging brain ...

Regarding what to etch or engrave, that might depend on whether or not the current owner is going to sell the vehicle on at some point.

The last 7 digits of the VIN would be preferred in the case of a "private plate" which might be retained by the owner when the vehicle is sold and the previous registration number re-instated.

The same would apply to the postcode, unless it's sold to someone living in the same postcode.

Whatever is etched or engraved is preferable to nothing, as long as it can be traced.

I'm all for it being made a sticky, possibly with some links to some of the other threads on the same subject.
 
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brian47 said:
Sorry BB didn't go to the link, just jumped in before engaging brain ...

Regarding what to etch or engrave, that might depend on whether or not the current owner is going to sell the vehicle on at some point.

The last 6 digits of the VIN would be preferred in the case of a "private plate" which might be retained by the owner when the vehicle is sold and the previous registration number re-instated.

The same would apply to the postcode, unless it's sold to someone living in the same postcode.

Whatever is etched or engraved is preferable to nothing, as long as it can be traced.

I'm all for it being made a sticky, possibly with some links to some of the other threads on the same subject.
Click to expand...

I'm certainly no expert but I'd have thought reg number would be the best so even when the vehicle is sold the owner could be easily traced in the event of items being recovered (private plates excepted) but I guess it's more about the police being able to prove someone has no right to be selling or in possession of them than anything so perhaps it doesn't matter too much which.

Not being a D2 owner and not really up on the issue and advice if someone wants to put together a thread with the best up-to-date info and flag it up I'll stick it
 
I did check the Dantech Ltd Car and Caravan window etching website and they do claim to have a plastic treatment as well as for glass.
All in all it looks like a pretty good deal, £15 for the first item and £10 each for all additional items.

The glass set will do 10 panes which will cover almost all the bigger windows on a Disco (14 windows altogether incl. sunroofs) and the plastic set will do 10 too, so that's the headlights, rear clusters and any other major plastic fittings.

The major advantage of marking openly instead of using covert methods apart from as an aid to recovery and/or prosecution is that the tea-leaf is likely to see it, and with money in mind might consider the costs of replacing all the marked items (£1500 for window glasses) and then hopefully go somewhere else.
 
I know it's not ideal, but given it's possible to convert earlier models to facelift lights, has anyone considered doing the conversion the other way?

Never worked on a D2 so not too sure of the practicalities!
 
VIN number, post code reg plate, whichever you prefer really as long as we have something to work with. there are pros and cons for all, but its definately better than nothing.

reason i suggest the front of the light or any visible bit is so i can check them when i pull a moving vehicle over, which i usually always pull over defenders and disco's due to the parts stolen.
if it is on part of a light that cannot be seen when fitted i cant really check.

with the motion sensor something like this works fine just behind the grill.
MICROWAVE RADAR MOTION SENSOR UNIVERSAL FOR ANY CAR ALARM | eBay

i will add some photos to the thread when i have got them from work
 
ashleywood.ash said:
VIN number, post code reg plate, whichever you prefer really as long as we have something to work with. there are pros and cons for all, but its definately better than nothing.

reason i suggest the front of the light or any visible bit is so i can check them when i pull a moving vehicle over, which i usually always pull over defenders and disco's due to the parts stolen.
if it is on part of a light that cannot be seen when fitted i cant really check.

with the motion sensor something like this works fine just behind the grill.
MICROWAVE RADAR MOTION SENSOR UNIVERSAL FOR ANY CAR ALARM | eBay

i will add some photos to the thread when i have got them from work
Click to expand...

I'd like to say thanks for showing that there are police officers out there actively trying to prevent and detect crimes with the manning levels that have been eroded over the years. Keep up the good work.

To all face lift headlight users I'll be etching my registration number on my lights as I started one of the threads in the recent past. If I want to moan about this problem I have to try and take all reasonable steps to prevent this happening. Etching seems a good first step. Also if they do get taken the lights are identifiable thus helping the police gather enough evidence to allow the CPS to prosecute them.
 
Maybe you lot could get some sort of sticker made up, maybe with a recognisable logo of some sort (neighbouhood watch/police badge?) and have it displayed on the vehicle and also on the lights, it could state something like "these lights are alarmed/security marked/chipped - like a dog!/been secured to the vehicle) if enough of these stickers are seen about and become recognisable a thief on the lookout would maybe firstly see the lights but then secondly see the "warning sticker" and then hopefully be put off.

The beauty about this is you could simply display the stickers as a bluff and hope thats enough to act as a deterrant (like the police do with speed camera signs) or display it as an actual warning and theres no actual damage caused to the light like with etching.

That or glue drawing pins and razor blades to the lights so when they go pulling they get a "little surprise" lol (only kidding ash!).
 
mrnice said:
Maybe you lot could get some sort of sticker made up, maybe with a recognisable logo of some sort (neighbouhood watch/police badge?) and have it displayed on the vehicle and also on the lights, it could state something like "these lights are alarmed/security marked/chipped - like a dog!/been secured to the vehicle) if enough of these stickers are seen about and become recognisable a thief on the lookout would maybe firstly see the lights but then secondly see the "warning sticker" and then hopefully be put off.

The beauty about this is you could simply display the stickers as a bluff and hope thats enough to act as a deterrant (like the police do with speed camera signs) or display it as an actual warning and theres no actual damage caused to the light like with etching.
Click to expand...

Nice idea but as with any bluff, it helps if you can back it up.

The main reasons behind etch marking can be seen as:

  1. Prevention
  2. Recovery
  3. Prosecution
Any visible permanent markings should act as a preventative measure, or at least that's the hope. But if they are removed then:

Any permanent marking should be "traceable", that is details of the VIN or Reg no are held on a database accessible by "appropriate authorities" so that items can be returned to the rightful owner.

The markings should be visible so that if found in the wrongful possession of another then those details can be used in the prosecution of the miscreant.
 
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