Someone tried to steal my car last night

[Kusanagi]

Yep, life just got better!

In addition to a very large very painful burn on the back of my hand that I DIDN'T jack up, I went out this morning to see that someone had tried to steal my car.

I own a piece of shit 88 Pontiac Lemans that is all go and no show, and I suppose with all the nicer cars inside my apartment complex someone thought that would be the only one worth stealing.

The first indicator is that the door is unlocked...that's strange...I always leave my car locked...sure enough, upon opening it, pieces from the steering column shroud were all over the interior of the car. Wires were hanging loose under the steering column and putting my key in the ignition did absolutely nothing.

I freaked, but on the plus side, surveying the damage...the guy who tried to break in to my car was a goddamned idiot. Let me explain.

On the older model cars that I have, the ignition switch is located right at the end of the lock cylinder. The lock cylinder has a pin that comes out the far end that can turn when the key is inserted, and this pin turns the ignition switch. This is important.

The idiot broke off the ignition switch from the lock cylinder to get to the bundle of wires going up into the steering wheel area. These wires have nothing to do with the ignition, and instead control the turn signals, wipers, and other things. When he broke off the ignition switch, he would have been able to start the car.

With the igition switch exposed, all one needs to do is insert a small flat blade screwdriver into the hole on the front and turn it, and the car will roar to life. This idiot didn't realize it and was instead trying to fuck with the turn signal wires to start the car.

I suppose that after he tried to do what he could to start my car, he then tried to steal the radio but only got it a few inches out.

So, all I did today was pull out my pocketknife, take out the screwdriver, insert it into the switch, and turned it. This is my new key until I can get a new ignition switch.

The problems are this: It will take me a few days to get a new one, and the drivers side door will not lock now. I have no idea if he plans on coming back to finish what he started.

The second issue is with my apartment complex. They have four guards that patrol at night, and the amount of damage done to my steering column and car should not have gotten that extreme had they actually been walking around. My car was in a well lit area in the center of the fucking complex. So only someone who lives at the complex could have done it.

I'm going to call management at my apartment building and ream them a new asshole. I've always had problems with them but if my car gets broken into and almost stolen (and I am very lucky that whoever tried to steal it was a goddamned idiot and didn't realize that he could have stolen it at any time with the ignition switch exposed)

The third problem is that with the plastic shrouding completely destroyed, the guts and wires of the steering column are fully exposed, meaning that if someone actually KNOWS what to do it, they might not be beyond doing a smash and grab. As it stands now, if you have a screwdriver, my car can be stolen in less than ten seconds.

Any advice? I already filed an incident report with the police.

[draggar]

No advice but it's good that they didn't get away with your car (dam nkid car thieves!). The damage doesn't sound too bad.

Hopefully you'll get some answers.

[wagegoth]

Did we spin the Wheel of Deities for you yet?

Broken sun reflector casually dropped down in a way that it covers the steering column?

Do you know someone with a garage who would trade cars with you for a couple of days?

[Crazeyal]

Out of sight is out of mind. If you can't afford a new shroud, try and repair the pieces with some resin. If that is not possible, use some electrical tape. If you are crafty, but still broke, geta $5 bottle of matching spray paint, some Elmer's glue, and newspaper. Paper Mache won't keep a four year old out, but the idea is to not tempt professionals with an easy mark.

Good luck.

[Kusanagi]

I bought a Club, hopefully someone will see it and not think the car is worth their time.

[iviles]

Have you talked to your insurance agency yet?Check your policy. The last two I was under werent worth it but the one I have now will cover not all but some of the cost for repairs if someone trys to steal it. The only problem is finding a shop to do it NOW and not in a few days. Also look around I got an alarm for $120 and that includes instelation. It doesnt start the car or anything cool like that but if set off it automaticly kills the engine until its reset. And if they try and cut the wires to it then also cuts the engine. It sucks if Im just sitting in the car and it makes it easyer to lock the keys in but it works.

[Kogarashi]

Iviles, that actually sounds like a great car security system, at least compared to the alarm Hubby and I have on ours. Ours just blares if you open the doors or turn the igniton while the alarm is set, but you can still drive off in it. I think killing the engine is a great idea.

[counterjockey]

I can think of two things you might do.

Find the fuse for the fuel pump relay (been trying to locate the fuse panel in a LeMans, google got nothing so you're on your own) and yank it. If the engine computer or ignition have their own fuses you might yank those too. The car won't start without them and it's unlikely that he'd try to figure out what went wrong. Then when you get going, just pop 'em right in and take off.

Otherwise make a habit of disconnecting the battery when you park at night. Fewer fuses to lose that way.

*FOUR* guards for one apartment complex and none of them saw/heard anything? Sheeit...

[CancelMyService]

I would see what insurance covers and go after the building management for any remainders. I'd wager part of the rent you pay goes to the security guards, so it would not be unreasonable to assume your car would be safe from people trying to steal it.

[Ree]

*FOUR* guards for one apartment complex and none of them saw/heard anything? Sheeit...Yeah...go figure. Only in Kusanagi's Murpy's Law of a world could that happen. :(

[Caveat Emptor]

After my former car was stolen, I bought a brake pedal lock. Hook it around the pedal, pull handle while pressing brake, lock it. I've heard that sterring wheels can be cut through rndering the Club useless, but there's no way that someone's cutting through the steel core on that lock without a blowtorch (or the brake pedal for that matter...) :p

[LewisLegion]

Someone tried to steal my car once, and I'm pretty sure who it was.

There was a wacky lady in our complex. Her daughter was friends with my younger sisters. I actually felt really bad for her daughter, she was a sweet girl. But her mother was bonkers.

One day she (the mother) got in a fight with my sister. A physical fight in which she pushed my sister into our apartment door. My sister was thirteen at the time. I came rushing out of the apartment and confronted her but of course she wasn't going to stand up to someone her own size, so she left cussing at us. I made sure my sister was okay, then called my mother, the police, and the apartment complex. The police went and talked to her but it went no where. My sister wasn't injured and the woman denied pushing her and...well, it went no where. The complex, however, put in a petition to evict her...apparently this was one more drop in a vast bucket of complaints.

A couple of days later I was just leaving the complex and driving toward my sister's elementary school when I saw her daughter walking home in the pouring rain. So I pulled over and offered her a ride home (since she didn't even have a coat and really was a nice girl). She accepted, I drove her back to the complex, she said thanks and we parted ways.

The next morning, I go out to my car and the passenger door is unlocked. The contents of my glove compartment are scattered all over and my ignition has been been torn up...not OFF, just UP. Bozos actually tried to use a screwdriver to start my car with the ignition switch still on it.

I knew immediately it was her, but of course had no proof. I knew she was pissed that I'd called the cops on her and that I had also given her daughter a ride home.

Went and god my car fixed. It had been back home in our lot for one single day when I went out and found the door hanging open and again, the contents of the glove compartment scattered. This time however, the ignition was undamaged. This time I just laughed.

The next day the woman moved out and my car was never broken into again.

And during the seven years we lived in that complex, there were never any other reports of cars being broken into or stolen.

[blas]

I say screw security, call the local police and request extra patrol. They have nothing better to do late at night anyway, and if it's like where I live, they have officers to spare to do stuff like that for people.

In the meantime, I'd ask a friend to borrow their garage or seriously consider getting a car alarm installed. Doesn't matter if your car is old, they can do it for ya.

[wagegoth]

From what I've heard, in the long run, the best protection is either a system that cuts off the electrical or the gas if you don't insert a secondary key or code. A simpler system is one that requires a button to start the car, usually placed in an out of the way area that a thief has to dig around to find.

[Kusanagi]

Building management gave me a string of excuses, namely that since the complex has close to 600 units, that "security can't be everywhere at once..."

I'm wiring up a small alarm to the car tonight, have the club, and the new pieces to fix it should be in next week.

I only have minimum coverage on my car, seeing as I paid 700 for it.

And to those that say the cops aren't busy - they're VERY busy. To give you an idea, (AND THIS IS NOT RACIST IN THE SLIGHTEST) there is alot of racial tension where I live. I am one out of maybe 5 people in my apartment complex that is white, and the police force is nearly all white and my are of town is effictively nicknamed "The Barrio."

[blas]

Well I don't really have much of a life anymore these days....if you'd like, I can borrow my little brother's machete......

[protege]

Kus, I was always told that if someone's going to steal your car...they're going to do it. However, if you can slow them down a bit...usually they'll find an easier target. Even though you have an older car, it's still your car...and they don't have a right to it. What I'd do, is get an alarm. On top of that, I'd wire in a kill switch somewhere. Quite a few classic-car owners do that. My own classic never had an alarm, but up until it was rewired last year...had a kill switch on one of the main battery wires. This switch had a key that could be removed. Without that key, there was no way to start the car. Also, with the MG, because it wasn't *right* on the batteries (the MGB has a pair), it was less likely that someone could find it.

[Andara Bledin]

I say screw security, call the local police and request extra patrol. They have nothing better to do late at night anyway, and if it's like where I live, they have officers to spare to do stuff like that for people.

And to those that say the cops aren't busy - they're VERY busy. To give you an idea, (AND THIS IS NOT RACIST IN THE SLIGHTEST) there is alot of racial tension where I live. I am one out of maybe 5 people in my apartment complex that is white, and the police force is nearly all white and my are of town is effictively nicknamed "The Barrio."

Um, no. We both live in major cities in sou Cali (different ones) and the police here are kept exceedingly busy.

Actually, it sounds like his complex has about the same number of units as mine and about the same ratio; I've only ever seen one other white person, here, although we're a ghetto not a barrio. Our complex takes up a full 1/8th sq mile. There are 6 streets if you count the alleyways that go around the outside of the complex and lead to the parking slips. They keep making noise about gating the place, but it's just not feasible with the way it was designed. Our guards are actually fairly competent. We used to have some useless ones, but they changed out several months back.

I like the idea of a kill switch and some more obvious deterrent, such as the club. The obvious one to make them more likely to choose an easier target, and the kill switch to make it so that if they do choose your car, they can't get anywhere with it.

^-.-^

[Becks]

Kus, I ask this with all due respect.

What the hell did you do in past lives?

[Bliss]

Btw kus a little tip from personal experience, If they fucked around with your command wires, be sure that you fit them back as good as you can and maybe tape them together with some electrical tape. if they're not set into their path and are hanging around eventually while steering one or more cables can get caught on the universal joint in the steering column and get cut, I had that happen to me once.

About the stealing, the alarm will be effective only if you are on hearing range, and specially so if it's visually obvious you can hear it. otherwise visual deterrants might not really stop the burglar, but eventually might make the car undesirable enough not to go to all the trouble.

[Kusanagi]

All the electrical problems were fixed with ten minutes and a soldering iron under the dash.

We now have a loud as hell alarm installed under the dash to scare people off, and more importantly, alert security, as they JUST hired a new company two days ago.

I also have a club on the car now as a deterrent as well.

[blas]

Pray explain how the club works?

Hopefully after this, security will step up their game?

[Tanasi]

Pray explain how the club works?

Hopefully after this, security will step up their game?

Take a look at this (http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/The-Club-LED-Double-Hooks-Anti-theft-Device/2047371/product.html)
That long end keeps the steering wheel from turning very far.

Kus with a car that old remove the coil wire. Unless they're toting one with them it's not going anywhere.

[Gothicsmurf]

My sister was driving a POS rust bucket with the passenger door lock (outside the car) totally gone. She had a state of the art CD player in it as well as a TON of CD's. She kept her car PILED with garbage and NEVER cleaned it.

Yet it was stolen twice (almost 3 times) in 2 months... she could never figure out why.

[Daskinor]

Do it yourself alarm kits are really cheep these days. All you need is the fuel cut off switch and door sensors, most cars have ones you can feed off of. And they run less then 100$.