Gone in just three seconds . . . superminis fail the break-in test

SOME superminis can be broken into in just three seconds, Which? magazine revealed yesterday.

That was the time it took Which? testers to get into each of a Citroen C1 (pictured right), a Peugeot 107 and a Toyota Aygo.

The testers did no damage to the cars.

With the best possible score for vehicle security set at 100, the three models got just 14 points each for preventing theft from a car in the Which? test.

It also took only three seconds for the testers to get into a Kia Cerato 1.6 LX, while it took them only 18 seconds to get into a new Opel Zafira (above).

The highest "theft from" score - meaning it was the hardest vehicle to steal from - went to the Audi A6 2.4 SE with a score of 85. The Lexus LS 430 had the highest "theft of" (hardest to steal) score of 88.

Of the vehicles tested, the easiest to steal from was the Suzuki Liana 1.6 GL which had a "theft from" score of just 8.

The least-secure vehicles were the Hyundai Matrix 1.6 and the Fiat Doblo 1.2 which both scored 54 for "theft of".

Which? said the fight against thieves is far from over, despite massive leaps in terms of car protection and alarm.

The magazine said: "Thieves are getting more professional, too. The measures they'll take to steal a car, change its identity and sell it on are more sophisticated and harder to spot than ever."

The magazine went on: "Meanwhile, portable satellite navigation (sat nav) systems are also increasingly targeted by opportunist thieves - they're valuable, easy to steal and easy to sell.

"But manufacturer response to these new security threats is too slow.

Makers of sat nav units need to adopt anti-theft measures, while car makers can still do much more to protect our cars and belongings."