D-MAN63

It happened this morning ! This guy I knew always took his car along the shore (near me) and goes for a morning jog with his girlfriend. My neigborhood is considered a middle to high class area with nice cars everywhere and so he felt safe parking his car because there were benz's bimmers parked everywhere. This happened like 7am, around 4 hours ago. He been doing this now for almost 2 years now every morning taking a jog. His car was hooked up with TV's , system (but he doesn't blast it in the morning), Alpine equipment everywhere, 20" rims etc... Ironically he just installed the VIPER alarm 2 days ago..

Cutting to the point, he jogged for around 20 mins and came back and the freakin car was gone !!! No window fragments on the floor, people living around the area didn't see/hear northing. The car just vanished. He just called me up like 10 mins ago and was going into shock.

Now the cops were thinking that the primary suspect were the PEOPLE WHO INSTALLED THE VIPER ALARM.! They could easily bypass their own installation. The reason being because no one heard a tow truck outside or any loud truck hauling something.

Just wanted to let you guys know before getting any alarm system installed, make sure you don't get the installation in some place where the workers look like ex-cons.

So hearing this news, I am going to buy a hooptie car. A 1988 buick or something and take that car everywhere like movies, mall, etc.. EVERYONE HERE NEEDS A POS CAR TO GET AROUND for everyday errands or for BS activities (beach, malls, movie theaters etc....).. So this is another example that no matter what the hell you get $1000 alarm or $10,000 alarm IT DON'T MATTER !

Mean Gene

Diesel - Yep, I'd look squarely at the alarm installers!! Real easy to hide an additional bypass switch where the owner doesn't see/know about it. Little harder to use a spare remote due to the advances in code-hopping but still possible. Think about how many people saw the GS while it was in the install bay & checked out the equipment!! Another reason to DIY but I realize alarms are getting more complicated every day & it may not be within the scope of the usual audiophile. Word of caution - stay with your car while work's being done, if possible. Some shops will say something about insurance regulations but try anyway. I feel your friend's pain!! Seems like for every one thief we stop ( see post in Electronics area ), two or more get away!!

ted920

Keep us updated with what happens.

Especially when you catch'em.

Hope it was the alarm guys.

What a bunch of morons!!

ted920

The Ikon

I feel your friends pain!!!!!!!!!! I hope he finds his car or the people that stole it..

Hopefully, he had all of his extra added to his insurance policy!!!!!! Always check out the shop in which your car is serviced/worked on... Honestly, you can not look at a person and determine they are crooks or right out of prison... Most crimes this smooth is/was done by the person you least expect... "the guy next door" or "geek/nerd" .... Very unfortunate!!!
Keep us posted.....

theanimala

That really sucks. My GS400 was broken into around a month ago (posted about it here), but they didn't steal it. It "only" cost me around $800 total in the end.

I really feel for your friend. I felt so violated when it happened to me, and my car is mostly stock.

I do have a question about the beater car option. I too have a beater car (1994 Mazda MX6), but if you drive it as much as you recommend then when are you going to drive your GS? Right now I use my MX6 when I drive to bad areas for work (NYC, Jersey City, ETC) and when the weather outside sucks. But besides my commute (which isn't very long) if I don't drive it on my errands (which is generally to decent areas) then I would hardly ever drive it. While this would keep my mileage down, it would hardly justify my car payment!

D-MAN63

The cops just interrogated the store, it seems legit . Though that what the cops said. If they did steal it, how the hell could he find evidence of foul play? I mean, he can't just go into the store and start looking through their stuff.?!

With the insurance, he had full coverage of the car alone. The rims, tv's, alpine stuff all NOT insurance. At least he will be getting something back.

When I stopped by the store, I could sense something wasn't correct. The guy was sweating alot even though the AC was blasting and he was studdering alot.

Though good news is the cops is still investigating the store . Its their ONLY lead so far. I mean what other possible leads could their be? The car just vanished.

The car is probably half way across the country being dismantled. We have to think of something better to protect our cars !
.

yeah about the hooptie car. I mean you should drive it to places where you know crooks are lurking. ex.. to a crime infested neigborhood. I didn't mean to say drive it everywhere and your right , you would enjoy less of your GS . In certain situations (can't think of anything at the top of my head now) a hooptie car comes in handy , don't u think guys? I mean, I'll spend like $2000 on some POS and put like the cheapest insurance in the world. It wouldn't break a person financially unless you planning to save the money for more MODS.

Alot of people in my neigborhood has that idea. They have souped up Benz's , Bimmer's, Lexus's, and when they go to like a BS area, their driving like 1979 YUGO's

RealMarty

The whole situation sucks!! It feels crappy when one is violated like this.

But, the problem with looking for a better solution to protect our cars is that as soon as someone comes up with a better alarm/protection device someone will find a way to beat it. There's just no unbeatable protection for a car, or a house or whatever I own!

At a certain point I've accepted that this is the way things are and in the final analysis I fall back on insurance...and get philosophical about it being only stuff. Or I can keep my car in a secure vault and visit it occasionally. Of course I'm kidding about the vault, but why own the car if I won't use it for fear of theft or damage. And what do you do when the vault gets broken into...by the guys who installed it?

Don't take me wrong. I'm the guy who parks at the far end of the parking lot to avoid dings so I'm not looking for situations that create problems, but what can I do to provide absolute protection for anything?

BTW, why weren't the rims and stuff covered by insurance? Could they have been? I'm wondering if the add-ons would/could be insured by additional insurance or home owner's or renter's coverage. If so, would the cost be prohibitive.

GS4Will

i can totally relate to what Marty is expressing.

one time while sitting in my lex waiting for my babe to get ready, this guy in a POS VAN actually opend his door and BANGED my mirror 3 TIMES. i asked him to pay me for the repair bill and he said he wanted to bash my face - until the cops showed up. one up for the tech and cell phone.

this is what i do: get the best insurance policy, and obtain extra coverage for all your goodies if at all possible. too many idiots and morons in this world who are psychos and cannot stand you have nice possessions.

will

biggie27

I just got me a hopedy car its a '78 lincoln baught it for $100 me and my friends baught bannana yellow spray cans and painted the whole car and we drilled in the windows from the outside since the window dont work lol whenever I drive the GS400 or that car people think I a drug dealer I just cant seem normal for some reason I'M NOT A DEALER GANG IT!!!!

D-MAN63

Unfortuantely his insurance doesn't cover rims. I dunno why, it should ! His Alpine stuff, he didn't get a chance to do that. Talk about unlucky

I hate to tell u this guys but he got really REALLY discouraged about Lexus. He felt that lexus should of designed some better alarm system so he wouldn't be forced to change it to Viper and he said if lexus did this, that this incident would of never happened. I REALLY got mad at him (I shouldn't have, but I did) and told him that it is not the car companies fault. Though he kept yapping how MB has keyless entry system and how MB's are 10 times harder to break into. In this situation I didn't try to have a debate with him because he just have his car stolen with $10,000+ of aftermarket stuff lost in 10 mins and felt it was better to keep my mouth shut.

I do agree in someway that Lexus should of designed an alarm with some better deterrent. I mean the lexus alarm is almost a generic alarm if you ask me.

Francis K

I'm deeply sorry to hear of the situation, especially to a Lex owner, I hope the cops grille those bastards! If it was me I would hire someone to do some "private grilling".

Well there this auction near my house and I go by there every saturday now and then and I see nice *** STS's, like 94 models but they all look the same, going for like 4,000. I always say to myself "god, I could use one of those things to drive into the ground and not put so many miles on my Lex", I'll have to stop by more often.

GS430

man, tell him that no matter what, if someone wanted in his car, they would get IN. I had a friend that had a playstation, 10 grand worth of amps, competition everything in there, usually garaged, left it out for 1 NIGHT, the damn thing was gone when he woke up. he asked neighbors, they said that there was a towtruck there, they somhow though that he called a towtruck at 2 in the morning. So it really doesnt matter if its MB, bently or lexus, if they want in, they will get in. i had my 3 grand stereo system stolen 1 month after i bought it and insurance didnt cover it and my mustang has keyless entry etc...big whoopie. Moral of this story, thieves will do anything if they want it.

D-MAN63

I was having dinner with him and my girlfriend a few hours ago, he decided he wants to get an E430 with the insurance money that he will be getting instead of ANY lexus's. I am trying to tell him that any crooks can steal any car if they really want it. Though he agreed with me, he says that any thief can steal any car but MB would take much longer to steal To make this even worse, he even consider a LINCOLN LS!? You don't compare a lincoln LS to a GS! This messed up incident yesterday really had him loosing all faith in lexus's. He really loved that GS, I could tell because I he told me he washed his car like every 3 days and never drove in the rain etc....

If not a GS, I would try to convince him to get an LS430, SC430, anything Lexus !

Also, I found out, that MOST if not all of these alarm installation center / custom installation shops don't allow customers to be in the vicinity of your car. Most of them have "waiting rooms" with TV's so you can kill your time. They give BS excuses like "if you get hurt its our responsibility". I don't think there is anyway you can get around that


So its pretty much your taking a risk every time u go to these places unless you know the guys.

y2kgs

dieselman63,

your question about why the insurance company not being able to cover or pay for his aftermarket item. First, the best way to make sure that you are covered for all the things you do to your car is by having a receipt for everything and anything you put into your car. Make sure that you call your agent and provide the receipt and pictures if needed. My insurance will cover everything I have done to my car but again. You first have to call them and let them know that some changes has been made.
Its harder to prove that you did anything once your car gets stolen sense many could claim for more without any proof.
I truly feel for your friend and hope that everything goes well for him. I would take the insurance to court if they are not willing to pay for at least part of the items that was done to the car.
As for getting the MB rather than another GS/Lexus. He should know that if they want your car they will find away to get it. BMW/Lexus/MB are I think the same when it comes to what had happened to him. The keys are laser cut and in speaking to some insurance agents. They say that all these cars are the hardest to steel.

Good Luck

Kajukenbo

Here is an idea for thought,

I am like most of you pretty paranoid about having strangers working on my car. I have learnd that if my car needs to be worked on, I would always try to take my car far away from where I live and don't give them my address when it is done. It will take more effort on their part to track you down.