Originally Posted by
mhsqcx081114
I would like to know how prevalent this really is. Is the Australian government being overly cautious? Have things worsened with the increased numbers of immigrants?
That's a scam that has be going on for years and about which tourist driving to Spain are being warned about every year when summer vacations are about to start. The obvious tip is to check tire pressures before setting off. You'll notice a flat tire or any other issue with the car. If someone signals you a problem and you haven't noticed any difference WRT how the car drives, don't stop and keep driving. Once they are gone, you can exit and stop to check. It's as easy as that.
Originally Posted by
mhsqcx081114
Our lease car will have French lease car number plates which appear quite different to standard French number plates and do stand out a bit. It is for this reason that we are a bit concerned.
No. AFAIK, all cars in France use the same type of number plates. They all look like this
Only collection vehicles and provisional registrations can get special number plates. The former can get number plates with white text on black background whereas the latter get number plates with white text on red background. Even cops and the armed forces changed to the new type. Previously they had all sorts of special number plates.
Originally Posted by
mhsqcx081114
At night we remove everything from the car and leave the glovebox open. During the day luggage etc would be covered.
Don't leave any valuables in the car. Some moron broke into the car of a colleague to steal change worth less than 2€. It happen in France and the car was registered there. I wouldn't use the glovebox for anything else than paper. It gets so hot in the cars in Spain during the summer months that even personal electronics will suffer.