Has your car’s logo been stolen? You’re not alone. A new and alarming trend has been kickstarted in the past year or so with regards to auto-related crimes. Drive on the road and you will see everything from Maruti hatchbacks to hyper-expensive BMW saloons sporting their bodies without the manufacturers’ logos. Turns out, idle and greedy people around the country have taken to stealing logos off cars and selling them for a good amount in various places.
If your car’s logo is stolen, you can either go to the authorised dealership which will charge you a bomb for a new set of logos; or you can go to your neighbourhood accessories shop where you can get one for 60%-80% of the original cost. What you don’t know is that you might be buying your own stolen logo from these shops as the robbers usually sell off these logos at nearby accessories shops.
In the last few months, sales of logos has actually shot up by around 15-20%, which is an alarming fact considering the fact that it’s much easier to steal a logo than it is to steal any other part of the car. As more people catch on to this technique, the number of logo-less cars that you see on the road could be doubled, or even tripled.
A month back, three schoolboys were caught stealing car emblems from well-reputed high school in Mangalore. All are from respected families but got into this trade to support their pocket money. The boys used to sell expensive car logos at less than Rs 150, far below the price of the logo.
Tips on how you can be safe –
- Don’t park your car in unknown places.
- As far as possible, park your car under streetlights at night.
- If parking space is available in your building, there is no reason why you should park your car on the road. Even if it means paying a monthly rent. You do love your car, don’t you?
- If there have been many thefts of car logos in your locality, gather the car owners together and use their collective power to get the Police in your area to send a mobile patrol van/beat cops at night.
- Above all, watch out for youngsters trying to fool around with the car when parked. If you see anyone fiddling around with anything on your car, raise an alarm.
These tips might not get your old logos back, but they will surely help raise awareness in your locality and hopefully cut down on this type of crime.
Also see – Automobiles – Threatening Dangers (Updated)
Very bad trend catching-up in Indian car market
See the videos of missing car logos –
