Went to unlock the van this morning with the remote fob, expecting to here the usual whirr as the locks operate, but nothing. Then realised the cab contents was strewn around on the seats!
The Cargo doors were also unlocked, but thankfully the deadlocks had prevented entry.
Now, i used the van on Saturday to do a quote, and haven't been out to it until this morning, its possible i could of forgotten to lock the cab, unlikely though, as normally its so automatic to lock the doors that i often get out the drivers side and lock the doors, forgetting i will have to get my bag out the passenger side on the way to my front door!
Even so the fact remains that the cargo doors were also unlocked, the doors lock automatically when you start driving so they were definitely locked no question, as i haven't been in the back since Friday.
There is no damage whatsoever on or around the cab door lock, with no visible damage to the actual lock such as you would see if someone tries to jam a screwdriver or similar in there.
The only possible explanation is they used some form of key that fits the ford locks perfectly or had some fancy remote jobby! Incidentally, i always double lock the doors, with two presses of the remote lock button, so if they had to break in by smashing a window, the doors would still not open from the inside.
Im now seriously considering having deadlocks on the cab doors or if possible a different high security barrel fitted in place of the Ford one.
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what model is your van as i have read somewhere about a batch of the new transits having this trouble as you only need to give the door a good bang and it unlocks! but recently they done a bit on watchdog about a batch of BMW and how thiefs can connect up a laptop to the car and drive it away without a key. I think ford maybe aware so might be worth seeing if they did a modification and if yours had it if not they may be able to cover assist thats why i was not in a hurry to upgrade my 2005 tranny.
Hopefully you manage to get it sorted and lucky for the extra locks nothing expensive was taken.
Hi Anthony you would be surprised at the simplistic technology thieves have to use to gain access into vans speaking form someone with some knowledge on being a basic locksmith even an everyday person can gain tools and equipment off line to gain access to vehicles without damaging them and yes i would install deadlocks on the cab to reduce the access to thieves but, even with the deadlocks is possible to bypass them quite quickly just watch you tube on lock picking, an article by a dutch locksmith manufacturer explained that even the most expensive locks in the world can be opened in under 5 mins.
Quick Google search found these RepLock dont know if it would be better just to have extra deadlocks fitted though, as a determined thief could just punch through the skin of the door around the lock!
My old boss had the same problem. Turned out the thieves cut through the central locking wires which were visible from the outside of the van. This in turn opened the whole van without sign of entry. He knew the central locking wife was cut as he couldn't lock the van anymore. Have you checked whether the van locks still?
Ford repaired this for free as it was a design fault.
Might be worth a check.
You've not had the best of luck with vans recently mate!!
The central locking works perfectly, so no issue there, i think its more a case of crap Ford standard barrel locks!