A Dubliner has issued a stark warning after devious thieves attempted to steal her Japanese-import car from her front garden.
Annija Lodzina told Dublin Live her dad spotted two men with backpacks hiding in the bushes in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The Rogerstown woman said: "My dad tried to chase them down on his scooter but they hid somewhere in the bushes.
"In the morning, I got into my car and the whole system was changed. They had tried to get the signal from my car keys to unlock the car.
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"Somehow they hacked into my car systems and all the times and dates were different. I don't usually have the radio on but it was on when I started my car."
Annija said that this isn't the first time she has heard of thieves stealing cars imported from Japan. She said: "My colleague's Japanese car was stolen. She was telling me that the insurance was a wreck for her because it took her months to get her insurance back.
"The garda did tell her that be careful especially with Japanese import cars because people are going for them. They’re easier to go after these days because they don’t have the immobiliser which is the security system."
Annija reckons the two men may have been watching her car for a while. She added: "They couldn't just be wandering the streets like, Oh look, it’s a Japanese imported car. Let’s steal this one’."
Earlier this year, garda warned that thieves were specifically targeting Japanese cars as car theft was at a seven-year high. These vehicles are imported from Asia without immobilisers making them easy to steal.
Dublin Live has contacted the gardai for a statement on the matter.
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