Car Thieves do the Stupidest Things

My car got broken into the other day. I really wish that they would just smash the window instead of forcing the lock since this is covered by insurance with no effect on my no claims.

Anyway, the took the CD/Radio, which was only £75 three years ago, and so not worth a huge amount now. What irritates me is that they damaged the fascia forcing it out.

But the really stupid thing...

They went to all that trouble and there was a £90 Roar of the Pelican 2D sitting next to the handbrake, that was not attached and worth considerably more than the stereo.

Idiots!

They can probably get £10+ for the radio but the ordinary non flashaholic would not pay more than £1 for a flashlight and also risk goal for being in possession of stolen goods.

The radio would be used every day, the flashlight maybe once a year.

Sorry to hear about the loss, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth doesn't it? At least they didn't have the light away. Any consolation is better than none :/

I hope you can get the car sorted ok.

Idiots.

Patrick

Id rather them steal the radio than the ROP....:ironic:

Crenshaw

My friend had his car broken into a while back. The thief did a lot of damage; he pried the door open with a crow bar, ripped off the dash board and unsuccessfully tried to start the car. It was decided that the damage would have cost more to fix than the car was worth, so the car was declared as a write off. My friend received very little money from the insurance company due to a large excess.

Not all bad news though, the police caught the guy a few weeks later breaking into another car and he confessed to over 100 other break-ins in the same area. They said he would definitely be doing some jail time. What annoys me is that this guy is probably only going to get a couple of months in jail and a small fine If it were up to me, he would get at least 5 years in jail and be made to pay back every single penny of the damage he had caused.

I agree;
I go on an annual fishing trip into the boonies with my son and buddies. We park in a very primitive lot (was used to build the dam) and unload the boats to go up lake.
On our return one year I find my trailer on blocks and the tire/wheel assy's gone; each wheel had all the wheel nuts removed; now I ask you; why would a thief remove all the wheel nuts when the simple removal of the hub nut would have been quicker and easier
Fortunately I had a friend who lived reasonably close and I was able to borrow his trailer.

25 years ago I had a car with an electric metal sunroof. I come out one morning and theres the sunroof laying next to the car and the radio gone. Completely destroyed the sunroof, tracks, cables and roof uphosltry. Cost over $1000 to get fixed. From that day on I never lock my cars any more under any cicumstances but that did not help me. One time after that I had a female friend with me and we got out of the car. Unknown to me she put her pocketbook under the seat and pressed the lock button. When we returned the window was smashed and the pocketbook gone.

Similar thing happened to me as well about 8 years ago.

They ripped the lock barrel out of the door, tore off the dash face and rammed it under the steering wheel. Ripped the radio and harness out.

Over $1200 damage for a $200 radio.

I had the car parked in a mall parking lot right next to a busy 4 lane street in the middle of the day too.

Ah.. yeah.. Hate those thieves!

I lived in Oakland, CA for a time and not just 3 weeks after moving there some stupid thief broke into my car.. Smashed the driver side window, completely ruined the ignition, stole the radio, and damaged the trunk lock...

When I came out in the morning to drive to school, I found it in this condition... Had to get it towed to a repair shop, to replace the ignition and repair some damaged wires..cost me $300 out of pocket... Jackasses.

Ended up going to a junkyard to replace my window, which only resulted in the thief coming a couple weeks later and doing the same thing!!!! :sick2:

Some people are such low-lifes.
Sorry to hear about your losses.

I posted this 2 years ago - some things just don't change.


https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/124229&referrerid=4688

I agree. I hate car thieves too. A few years ago, I parked my car at the trailhead to Mt. Woodson, a mountain at the edge of Ramona, CA. I hiked up it with my brother and when we got down, my car had been broken into. They shot the front passenger window out with a pellet gun. They stole my personal CD player, car kit, solar charger on the dash, and my case full of 60 Christian CDs. They left the four season tent in the trunk alone. My brother had to ride home in the back seat with his eyes closed so the broken glass couldn't blind him. I called the police, but it took a long time to get someone on the phone as it was the start of Labor Day weekend on a friday. I called the insurance company thinking they would cover the loss if I filed a claim. I had full coverage on my car at the time. I was told that since I didn't have renter's insurance, my insurance only covers the loss of the car itself and not it's contents. The loss of the contents was over $900 and the window cost over $100 to repair. With a $500 deductable, if I filed a claim, it would cost me $300-$400 to fix the window instead of $100-$200. If I had renter's insurance, it would have a separate $500 deductable. Not to mention the fact that filing a claim would've raised the cost of my insurance rate. The police officer that showed up at my door to write a report said that if I wasn't going to file a claim with the insurance policy, he wasn't going to bother filing the report. Apparently, it costs about $200 in taxpayer money each time someone files a police report.
I'm sure some thieves think that stealing from a car is a victimless crime and that the car insurance will cover the loss. The reality is that the punk that stole from me cost me over $1,000 and made me feel like I couldn't enjoy night hikes for a long time without worrying about my car. Insurance doesn't do any good unless you get in a serious accident and live through it.
We live in a sick and twisted world. That stupid criminal probably didn't get any money for what they stole. The solar panel was a year old, the CD player was warped and melted some by the sun, and all 60 CDs were from Christian artists. Who in their right mind is going to buy stolen Christian CDs? I hope they grow a conscience listening to those CDs and start feeling guilty.

Your stolen CD's could of changed the theif's life...........

It's a nice thought anyway!

Yup, car thieves can be quite stupid. Seems like many of them would do themselves quite a service by learning a bit about cars.

Case in point, eight years ago my car was broken into at work. They screwed up all three locks trying to open them by forcing a large screwdriver into the key slot (does that work on anything?). Popped out the trunk lock cylinder, but still couldn't get in, so they smashed a rear side window. This is on a car with frameless windows that they could have been in in seconds by pulling the window back and reaching inside. They stole some older running shoes, a palmpilot, radar detector, and some other small things, but left my wallet (with cash inside) and a new cell phone sitting on the floor. They tried to get my radio out, but I had installed a backstrap, so they stole the faceplate and left the radio hanging(I had the radio out for the cop in 20-30 seconds).

I ended up with a check from the insurance company for around $1500 after my deductibles, paid $200 to get the window replaced, bought a replacement faceplate on ebay for $10, bought a complete factory lock set on ebay for $25 and installed it myself, and paid off the car with the insurance check.

So he actually did you a favor?
:twothumbs

THAT is a fantastic story!

A long time agi I had an old '64 Impala. It had all sorts of problems including an ignition system that didn't like to work in damp weather.

One day I walked out to the car and found that it had been moved about 10 feet from where I had parked it, and the drivers side vent window had been smashed out. The thief tried to steal the car but couldn't drive it more than a few feet so he gave up and left. :laughing:

Sorry to hear your car got broken into. Hate thieves.

Myself and my wife moved to Aus and 4 days after moving into our house we came home to find that someone had tried to break in.

Luckily they didn't manage to, but destroyed the front door / front patio door in their attempt.

My wife was homesick anyway at the time and that didn't help, so the next weekend I suggested we go away.

We were parked down at a secluded beach, and when we got back to the car we found someone had smashed the back window and stolen a bag, I lost an A2, leatherman charge, Griptiliian, phone, ipod and some other stuff, about $1500 in total.

After that I wanted to leave too, but after much swearing about thieves and what a bunch of criminals Aussies are I calmed down.

I once heard that Australia was mostly populated with the thieves of England or something like that. I heard this YEARS ago.

I don't want to make anyone angry with my own stupidity but was that at least partially true or was somebody pulling my leg totally?

Sorry, just want to say that upfront! I should not of even typed this..............

A lot of convicts were transported from the UK to colonies in Australia. Don't know off the top of my head when the practice stopped.

Went on a tour when we first arrived and the guide was pointing out all the old buildings, pretty much every description started with 'Built with convict labour in....'

Bit of badge of honour now if Australians can trace their family back to a convict ancestor.

Part of the banter now between Aussies and Brits I guess, certainly not meant to offend!

I drove an old convertible in Nashville when I lived there for a little while. I was really surprised that no one ever cut through the top to break into the car (happened to my Dad's Corvette back in college days).

Course, there wasn't anything in the car worth stealing, but I still figured somebody would've tried to hotwire it if nothing else!

On the whole car stereo thing, frankly I never saw the point of getting a nice stereo, because it's a theft magnet. Most people I know that buy that stuff usually get it stolen within a month!

I love these threads because you can't make this sh*t up. Also, you can't search for 'car' beacause of the character limit.

savumaki said:

I ask you; why would a thief remove all the wheel nuts when the simple removal of the hub nut would have been quicker and easier

Click to expand...

I couldn't answer this one.

Holepuncher said:

From that day on I never lock my cars any more under any cicumstances.

Click to expand...

I haven't locked my cars for years *except in the Tenderloin (SF)*. I don't leave anything worth stealing in the car and a couple of times a year it shows signs of entry. I always call the police to report the break-in, and they always wonder why I call if nothing was stolen. They also suggest that I keep my car locked. I still don't do it. Once, someone spent the night in my car and left a purse with ID in it. The coins and cassettes were all still there, nothing had been stolen. I suspect that the purse was stolen, too. At least they didn't cr@p or puke in the car.

I used to leave the glove box and arm rest box open to show that there was nothing available to steal, and also to make it look like the car had been rifled thru; who leaves that stuff open on purpose? Why would a thief break into a car that has already been searched for money and drugs? Since, a bum told me not to leave them open, that it invites interested thieves, so I don't do that, anymore.

I always leave junk in my car like empty water bottles and other scraps from my travels. That's pretty unattractive, and I hope it discourages interest in my car as a source of wealth.