HelloEricLieu

Been seeing lots of stolen TSX's and TL's on my local craigslist lately and its got me worried.

PACman

What area of the country is this?

If the crooks want it that bad, they have a way to get it. There's been a slew of Bimmers getting jacked around LA.

Itchytoe

If someone wants your car, they're going to get it. There's really no way to stop a thief who targets you. You can get all the alarms you want, but they don't make your car impossible to steal.

extracrunchie

so what is teh point of immobilizers?

PACman

Deters the amateur thieves in hopes they go for something less secure.

extracrunchie

so professionals can get passed that? wow, i want to see them in action actually........but not on my car hahah

Itchytoe

Yes, there are many ways around a simple immobilizer.

fast1

TIme and effort is what's going to determine if a thief gets your car. I don't think a TSX is worth the amount of either required unless there's something more valuable in the car. Now a bimmer or something else... prolly worth the time since it's higher end can demand more once run through a chop shop.

redpoint

There are ways to make a car nearly impossible to steal, especially with custom made security systems.

When I finally get some free time, I plan to build a silent paging system so I can catch the scum in the act. Hopefully nothing happens before I get around to it...

HelloEricLieu

i bought my car from a very shady man, who lied about a lot of things on my tsx, he only gave me one key and one remote, that means theres another remote and two other keys out there...should i be worried?

extracrunchie

money is money, not like civics are worth alot, but its still worth stealing

extracrunchie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDkkd2XDziY

Genius!!!!!!!!!!!

bbbuzzy

OP, how do you know they are stolen? For those buying cars, are you buying a vehicle from someone who doesn't have the title? In Mass, you can't register the car without a title, so buying a stolen vehicle is pretty useless, unless you are comfortable driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle. If so, then YOU are creating the market demand for stolen vehicles. Use your head and it's not so hard to avoid these problems.

Itchytoe

The vast majority of stolen vehicles aren't sold as used vehicles. They're sold as parts. It's far easier (and more profitable) to part out the vehicle you got free of charge than it is to convince someone it's not stolen even though you don't have a title and the VIN comes up as being stolen.

bbbuzzy

I understand that many stolen cars are stripped and parted out. I was just curious since the OP mentioned "seeing" many stolen cars for sale on Craigslist and it made me wonder how he knew it was stolen and why anyone would buy a stolen car and try to register it. The demand for stolen parts creates the problem. Alarm systems do little to combat organized car parts thieves. It sucks that people want to buy stolen parts. How many insurance companies are paying for repairs from shops using stolen parts?

sortudo7

They might not be stolen for sale ads but posts placed on there stating their car is stolen and for help/to keep ppl on the look out. I've seen ppl post up ads like that on CL for bikes, toys, car parts etc. Just something like "hey someone stole my Huffy, silver with ___ tires and a ___ seat"...idk bike lingo lol. Just things like that.

As said, if someone wants to steal your car they will. Doesn't matter your security system, redpoint, there is always a way around anything. Thieves go for easy targets that are quick and simple to steal. Immobilizer would require more time leading to more exposure on the thief's part which is a big no no in their book. If you can get to 2 cars, one, 15 seconds and gone (older Civics like SI's) and another would take...say 5 mins to steal. Depending on the car and everything, they'd go for the quicker one. So the things are deterrents just like our radios needing security codes.

My best friend's dad's 05 Civic hybrid was stolen from infront of the movies when we went out one night a few years back. Turned out it was an inside job and someone at the dealership made a copy of the key, gave it to some local punks who stole it. Joke was on them as he works for the White House and house major clearance so since his car had WH access and his badge was in there secret service was involved. Hello federal prosecution and crime roflllll. Kids were like 16-18 too, GG.

Anyways, there are always ways. If it's a seeming streak of TL's and TSX's I'm willing to bet it's someone who has a nice shop, connections and a flat bed at their disposal. Quickest way to get a car is a simple flat bedding in the middle of the night. They might also have an inside man at a dealership getting info and making copies of keys so the cars can be stolen. Just be safe out there and park smart. Always park in view and in a lighted area, more exposure risks for the crooks. You can look into that brake club thing, use it on the clutch if you got a manual. I know plenty of ppl who use it and have had their car torn up but not stolen since they couldn't start it. GL and what area are you from?