Mercedes app will tell you if your car is damaged or stolen

It's one of the most frustrating motoring experiences you can have; returning to your parked car to find someone has dinged it and fled without leaving a note. Or worse, returning to find no car at all. Well, Mercedes has a solution.

A clever bump-and-theft detection system, an extension of the brand's Mercedes me app, will pair with your car's array of on-board sensors to detect if someone bumps into your parked car. The system then sends an alert to your phone, telling you exactly when, and where on the car, the hit occurred.

It's already in use in Europe, but Mercedes-Benz Australia has confirmed it will introduce the system locally in quarter two next year, as part of a wider 'Me Connect' rollout.

It's aimed largely at multi-storey carparks, with the idea being that owners can then request the CCTV footage for the exact moment of the impact, rather than trawling through hours of footage. The softest of knocks likely won't register, but while trialling the technology, we bumped a Smart Fortwo into a 2019 C-Class far too gently to leave any kind of mark, and the system registered the collision.

The alert is sent via an on-board SIM card, but even if there is no reception, the car's infotainment screen will pop-up an alert with the same information as soon as you start the car.

The system will also tell you if someone reaches into the cabin of your parked car, or if someone is trying to two your vehicle. Perhaps most clever, though, is the ability to track your car (like the Find My iPhone function), so if you're alerted to your car being towed or stolen, you can track its exact location.

Now, we know what you're thinking; wouldn't it be great if the car's own cameras could record the number plate of the other car, or gather evidence of the theft? Unsurprisingly, Mercedes is working on it. In fact, the system is already set up to link with your car's reversing or 360-degree parking cameras, but Mercedes is still working through the privacy implications.

"Technically we can do anything, we just have to see what is possible on the law side of this," says Andreas Ullrich from Mercedes me. "You've seen the cameras we are using for the parking features, we would be using the same technology for this also."

Expect to see the system start rolling out in Australia next year, with Mercedes Australia still deciding which models will be the first to receive it.

"We haven't finalised all the details of which vehicle will get it when, we're still working on it," says Mercedes Australia's public relations and communications manager, Jerry Stamoulis.

Is this the ultimate in "there's an app for that"? Tell us in the comments below.