Three stolen FM lights!!!

[Monocrom]

Anyhow I live in an affluent community and always have lights lying around and shouldn't have had to worry about this at a dealer....

Are you kidding me? I'm sorry but in this Day & Age, you really should know better. Don't get me wrong, no one should have to worry about their things getting stolen. But we all know it happens. Even in the affluent or wealthy neighborhoods. Chances are, the mechanics at that dealership are not affluent. You leave something expensive lying around, even a good man is going to feel tempted.

But even with folks who make tons of money, some of them are thieves too! When I've left my car overnight to be serviced, I don't leave anything inside that I would mind if it disappeared. When I travel by plane, I never put anything in my checked luggage that some Luggage-handler would enjoy keeping for themselves. It's not that I think most folks are thieves. It's just, why take the chance?

 

[LuxLuthor]

That really sucks man. I'm trying to figure out where you had all these lights....like in a car glovebox? I doubt you will ever find these, but maybe the idiot who ripped them will try to charge them in their "acme" charger and cause a thermal runaway fire in his workshop.

Have to agree with the advice to never leave anything of value in a car being serviced. I have even had change for tolls < $3.00 ripped by both a dealer's service department, and those frequent flier airport attended parking lots.

Things like this are covered on my homeowner's policy even if I leave in my car.

 

[paulr]

There is valuable stuff in any car even if you don't leave any flashlights in it. If someone at a repair shop takes out the catalytic converter and airbags (worth hundreds of bucks each) are you going to even notice?

 

[Bogus1]

Hi Lux,

I leave a light in the pockets of the doors and two in the center console between the seats. They are out of the way and out of sight this way. I really liked these lights.

Paulr,

Thanks for the post. That's exactly how I feel. These are tools. I use them regularly and if I took them out I would probably forget to put them back in when I needed them. I'm bringing them a $50k ride to fix and I'm going to worry about hundreds of dollars? There is much more value to be sold on Ebay in car parts than that by swapping in used parts. The owner felt the same way I did. In 20 years this hasn't happened and he's glad to see it happen over something this small. At first he thought my $800 total was $800 a piece for the lights! At least I remembered to take the kids and my wallet!

Anyhow, I didn't make this post to say, oooh be paranoid about your possessions. I made this post because it was a wierd event and because it shows how much the public is clueing into these flashlights. They don't as often just give a blank stare now.

It's not just an affluent town, and perhaps that was an irrelevant remark on my part. It is a small town however and this student will likely want to return to school next year (at the college). He's going to get a little surprise hopefully tomorrow when he comes back to town with the PD waiting for him. It was a stupid move on his part. Of course the owner, manager, and all of us could be wrong if these parts are on a shelf no one could find. I really hope that is the case.

 

[DownUnderLite]

The way I interpret car detailing is that they will clean your car out of anything not nailed down. ie remove anything that you wish to keep !!

It is way too easy for the detailer to claim that they don't know what you're on about and claim innocence.:shakehead

 

[LuxLuthor]

Again, Bogus I feel your pain given how unique those lights are....I was partly puzzled why you would have 3 pretty powerful hotwires in one car...but I guess I have just learned that mechanics/detailers/parking lot "guarded by attendants" routinely rip what they find in cars....and hide it with anonymity of how many people were around it....so it's almost impossible to blame any one person. Takes a more time, effort, and visibility to rip a catalytic converter or some other bolted on part while others are around the shop.

In any case, some of those lights are no longer offered, so it is a damn shame for you...even if you get the $$$ back from the owner.

 

[barkingmad]

If they cover your loss then great (and better PR for you) but I would still like to see the little bugger(s) who stole them brought to justice otherwise it will just happen to someone else...

 

[karlthev]

Just saw this Eric and I was sorry to hear. Hope all turns out.


Karl

 

[uk_caver]

It's good the dealer is covering your losses, assuming it's possible to replace the lights.

I guess one problem with car contents is that cars will be left unlocked while people are working on them, and dealers will often have spaces open to public access where cars may stand between spells of work.
Even with perfectly trustworthy mechanics, it's often not hard for a passing thief to make a quick rifle through a car while people are distracted by work elsewhere, and in a work area, the mechanics will often not know what the owner of any particular vehicle looks like.

 

[Monocrom]

The main problem when the guy comes back into town.... Cops can't do much but question him. If he's smart, he'll just keep denying that he took your lights. And there's a possibility that that might be true. Sure it looks suspicious that he left town right away. But that's hardly proof of theft. Anyone who had access to your car could have taken your lights.

Bottom line, unless there was an eyewitness or video tape that can be used against the guy, all he has to do is deny he took your lights.

 

[gswitter]

Sorry about your lights, Eric.

My cousin's been a Service Manager at a few dealerships for the last 6-8 years. He jokes/laments that anything of value (especially tools and diagnostic equipment) will eventually be taken by an employee if it's not locked down.

Incidentally, said cousin had an offer for Service Manager at one of the Lithia dealerships a few years back. Can't remember if it was in Medford (where his kids live) or Eugene.