- Advanced door mirrors can easily be worth thousands of dollars.
- Some car owners are using locking bags to fit over their car’s mirrors.
- Many million-dollar properties in Amsterdam don’t have garages.
We’ve seen thieves cut catalytic converters from cars, pull out expensive radar units, and even make off with headlights. Now, in the Netherlands, a new target has emerged. Thieves have started stealing wing mirrors from high-end cars and selling them on the black market.
Side mirror thefts are nothing new, but it appears to be a growing issue in some of the more expensive areas of Amsterdam. In these neighborhoods, garages are very rare, meaning vehicle owners often have to park their expensive cars outside their homes, putting them within easy reach of thieves.
Read: Thieves Are Stealing Headlights Faster Than You Can Say Eye-Snatching
Depending on the vehicle, a pair of mirrors can easily be worth more than $2,000, and they can be snatched with little to no effort. To fight back, a growing number of Amsterdam’s residents have started equipping their vehicles with locking mirror bags.
A recent Instagram clip shared by Exploreamsterdamwithme shows several luxury vehicles fitted with these bags. They are typically made from durable Kevlar and steel mesh fabric and include a lock that wraps around the mirror, making theft far more difficult, especially in broad daylight.
You can pick up these bags online without much effort. Autoblog even spotted a few options on Amazon in the US, covering a range of vehicles. Prices vary quite a bit, starting under $100 and climbing well past $200 depending on how they’re built, like this one from ProKevLock for $180.
A Side Effect Of Too Much Tech?
Among the cars featured in this clip are a Ferrari Purosangue, Aston Martin DBX, Range Rover Sport, and several Porsches. The door mirrors of modern cars are more advanced than ever, often featuring cameras and sensors to assist with blind-spot detection and parking systems.
We first wrote about thieves targeting car mirrors way back in early 2019. At the time, this was an emerging trend across New York with over a dozen vehicles targeted in less than two months. Vehicles targeted included models from Audi, Porsche, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.
For those who don’t want to spend money on an expensive locking bag to protect their car’s mirrors, it’s even possible to make one yourself, though we guess if you can afford a high-end car, you won’t mind spending a bit extra to ensure an expensive part stays where it’s supposed to.
