car theft Europe

You might drive in a high-theft area and have no problems, and you might drive in a low-theft area and have your car stolen. There are no guarantees. The only control you have over the situation is to make sure you have the best possible insurance coverage, and then not worry about it. At least that's how I look at it.

I don't have any hard numbers, but vandalism of parked cars has been in the news a lot lately over here.

I'd guess that outright car theft in the regions you are visiting is less of an issue than the possibility of a break in to steal valuables. Keep in mind that BMW cars are pretty common in northern and western Europe (many rentals and taxis are BMW and Mercedes) so they don't stand out like they might in other parts of Europe or even here in the US. Never leave anything in the car, even something worth relatively little. If you have to leave your luggage in the car during a day stop, make sure it is well hidden in the trunk and don't draw attention to yourself putting things in the trunk after you park. And don't leave anything valuable (like a laptop) in the trunk just in case you do get a break in. But the chances of even a break in are very low if you use caution.

Regretably, here in Vienna it is taken for urban street wisdom that gangs from Eastern Europe "target" BMWs and Mercedes. I suspect it may be an exaggerated boogie-man story based on a small kernal of truth. Nonetheless, I blush to admit that we bought a Volvo S60 in part because it wasn't a "targeted" Beemer. (No regrets about the Volvo. Great car.) I had a friend have his car broken into when he was in Prague on business. I don't think the area you are driving through is particularly high risk. And, as someone else pointed out, BMWs and Mercedes are all over the place over here. So you won't be sticking out. A friend of ours, when driving in a strange city, always casually tosses a local newspaper on top of his dashboard so that the casual snoop will not automatically assume the car belongs to a tourist. Its a fine line between "paranoid" and "reasonable precautions"!

Bets Thanks for the info about the colours. Is there another French colour? We saw cars last week with blue French plates in Alsace. Any clue? It seems to me that cars with plates other than regulation white or yellow plates stick out, wherever in western Europe.

I don't think so, or at least, I haven't recognized such plates. Pretty much the only variation in coloring schemes for German plates is red lettering, but this signifies a temporary approval after an inspection for a minor defect.

I think it's similar to the states, park in secure areas and you are less likely to have a problem. The stories I've heard are of Eastern Europeans stealing cars and taking them back east. The closer you get to borders with former Eastern Bloc countries, the more risky it might be. We drove a leased car (a Renault) through Austria and Italy and never had a problem. I looked for safe parking, but more with an eye toward vehicle prowlers - which I think is the greater risk.

Yes, cars for export get special license plates in Germany (Ausfuhrkennzeichen) easily recognizable by the expiration date on a red field on the right. And unless you'll want to stay in or near the city where the car was registered (e.g. Munich for BMW), your car will be obviously non-local anyway (German license plates show the city/district of registration). But I doubt that thieves will care if you're a local or not. And if one does suspect "gangs from Eastern Europe" wouldn't a Polish/Romanian/other-Eastern-European newspaper be more effective anyhow? ;-)

This summer a friend told us a joke going around Germany was that Poland or the Czech Republic or some Eastern European country was advertising for tourists with this pitch: Visit (country). Your car already has.

It would to reason that the further east you go the chances of car theft, especially a new one, imcreases. The saying in Germany on this is well known: "einmal gestohlen, schon in Polen"...once (it's) stolen, (it's) already in Poland. But it's also true that Poland is just a transit country since the cars wind up in Romania, etc.