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Morning Alan,
We were in Pretoria early – to feed our student son ahead his last test before the Easter recess
when we had a little mishap – something you may want to warn other Fortuner owners about –
and it was the second time it happened to me.
We stopped briefly at the Hillcrest Boulevard shopping centre in Lynwood Drive and while I
waited for Anita to get out of the car to lock it, I noticed a man not far from where I was; tying his
shoe laces (I assume he was involved). I later noticed the same man constantly in my vicinity,
watching my every move – still not giving it any thought. We bought Reder what he needed and
returned to the car – not more than 10 minutes later. We dropped Reder off and proceeded to my
mother-in-law for an early dinner before the Safari Centre function.
That’s where we realised Anita’s laptop was taken from my car – no forced entry! I first thought
someone interfered with or intercepted the frequency of the remote locking device. It is after all
the new way of gaining access to motor vehicles.
But this morning Santam – who’s not settling the claim because the laptop was not specified –
told me that they have had an increase in theft from Fortuner’s without damage caused to the
vehicle. Apparently they unclip the indicator’s protective cover and do something with the wiring
that opens and mobilises the car (just as you would with your remote). It apparently takes them
no more than three minutes to open the car, get what they want and disappear.
And I can only assume that the character that was tying his shoe laces and stayed within eye
contact all the time was the thieves’ early warning system. It’s a hell of a long story, just to say
terribly sorry for missing last night’s function which were looking forward to for weeks.
Best wishes
