virginTLS

well. yea. that's really it. just never thought it'd end like this.

below is a pic of the car. please keep an eye out, though i'm assuming it's probably tucked away in a warehouse somewhere ready to be parted out.

please please if you have any information regarding her return... well... you know what to do. my number is 650.490.0197. thank you guys.

goodbye my dear. thank you for all that you have done for me. i already miss you dearly.

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

damn...that sucks.

Neejay

iTrader: (3)

That sucks man. Did they go around the factory alarm? Did you leave it unlocked?

'03TL-S

iTrader: (10)

Sad to see it happen to you man. I'm sure you notified the police and all. Try posting in the regions section and get the guys from the Bay to help you also. Good luck with everything. And i see you're a long time member too. Did you buy it brand new?

Steen27

Very sorry to hear about this... I personally know what it's like to have your ride stolen - totally f-n sucks.

be sure to check craigslist for parts... local swap meets, flea-bay, other forums for parts as well...

Hopefully 2 things happen - 1. the people that did this burn in hell (or here for that matter...) 2. the insurance company pays you fair value for the car.

i hate thieves.

kidduce

iTrader: (1)

Damn that sucks, I would stay posted on craigslist. Check surrounding areas too like Sac.

mlrskn06

iTrader: (2)

holy crap that sucks dude, sorry i'll try to keep an eye out for u even though im in OK... hope u find it, or atleast find the bastards who did this

It's Clutch

iTrader: (6)

Sorry bout ur loss bro. Seems like thieves are hitting up everywhere. Some members had their wheels stolen and another member caught a thief stealing a gps. Gosh it sucks. Theives needa die. Good luck and ill keep a lookout for parts

TLin401

Lo siento bro.

GL with everything.

eg6turbo

wow i think ur the 3rd person in san francisco to get their car stolen within the past 3 weeks...what kinda of anti theft device did u have if any?

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

ive been reading more and more threads of these cars getting stolen in cali.
WTF is going on over their.

TLin401

People are getting greedy and ballsy out there.

phee

iTrader: (5)

Civic guys are going nuts over our cars in Cali. I suggest all u Cali guys install a kill switch and a lojack.

TLin401

Lojack FTW

virginTLS

thanks for the support guys... means alot... esp w/ facebook all jacked up since last night... seems like my wall posts aren't showing up thus majority of my friends/support network aren't even aware of the car being stolen...

so...

police report
insurance claim... gotta wait til monday til talk to the adjuster...

im not entirely sure which scenario i'd rather have... a royride and ditch... or straight stripping of the car and ditch... i think they both sum up about the same w/ end result of my car being raped and left out for dead.

for us on here... the TL is family... and the value of the vehicle way surpasses what the car may be worth on paper. im sure all of you feel the same way. im pretty sure insurance is going to pay me abysmal for what the car is worth... and id be lucky if they reimburse me for my wheels and suspension... but yea...

i believe i am moving out of the disbelief stage and into the acceptance stage of shock...

i suppose im just surprised that a regular ol family car like the TL would be on radar for thieves... the HIDs were a thing back then... and yea J-Swap is a recent trend... but yea... im just still a bit at a loss for words.

again thank you guys for your kind words in my time of need.


i miss my car so much.

twistedwedge

damn dude...that sucks. sorry for your loss.

side note-why were you scaling the car (pic)?

virginTLS

twistedwedge:

good eye. it's a process called 'corner balancing' which is a trick you can do if you have height adjustable coilovers (in my case Tein SS... which yea got stolen too gaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh)

while BMW markets 50/50 front/rear weight distribution, which IS great for balanced neutral handling, equally (if not more) important are cross-weight distributions, which go diagonal...

driver front / passenger rear
passenger front / driver rear

by adjusting individual corner height, you can shift the weight balance of the vehicle from one corner to another, to finally optimize it with 50/50 cross-weight balance. this allows for true neutral handling characteristics in both left and right directions through cornering.

pair that with coilover manufacture recommended specs and you have a real real good starting point for a proper handling TL!
http://www.tein.com/price/acura.html

01tl4tl

your sure it wasnt towed during a special event/street fair???
and lost in the paperwork?

Gather pics from here or your collection of your car- and all the receipts for suspension and wheels etc- they do have to include mods and maitenance cost or other things done recently that add value over bluebook
Even the shop invoice for corner weighting proves it had teins

If its not found down by the ballpark in 3-4 days,, its been stripped and scattered
Wont find it in your local CL ads- the engine is already in a street racer or the entire car is headed to some far away sandy country as a ready to go racer

arctech

Sorry to hear about your car being boosted. FWIW I will keep an eye out for it up here in Sacto.

I guess alarms and smart keys don't mean nothin to car thieves anymore. Should we start clubing our cars?

twistedwedge

Yeah I used to be big into drag racing, and scaling was the only way to go (especially for a wheelie happy car). Again..sorry bout losing your ride.

virginTLS

RECOVERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In one piece... Full story coming soon.

So far so good.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

a member cl-s6 was stolen, then recovered and a few days later stolen again. so beware

It's Clutch

iTrader: (6)

Glad you got your car back. Especially in one piece. Very happy for you

'03TL-S

iTrader: (10)

Glad you got your car back in one piece.

In for the story.

Rockstar21

iTrader: (1)

hopefully they didnt rag it out in their joy ride..

i say give them life in prison... clean up the streets
make an example

TheMegalodon

From the sounds of his excitement all might be well with his car. Glad to hear this bullshit (the crime) came to a happy ending. I'm sure there are very few things that feel better than getting your once lost car back for us enthusiasts.

All the best with your situation dude

'02_TL-S

How did this end? I'm runnin low on popcorn

virginTLS

lol sorry for the wait... believe it or not i just got home from work (1am) and pretty much need to pass out soon... so i'll keep this particular post short for now...

in the gist of it... this morning while on my way to work... i spot my TL on the freeway. "you're kidding me..."

long story short... i followed them while calling in 911... eventually they exited and i actually ended up losing them (trying to keep my distance... last thing i want is to spook them into a chase and have them either plow the car into a building or worse a family of 4).

going back around the block... i spot the TL parked on the side of a street. phoned in 911 again, and Cali's finest arrived in a bit.

exterior damage was to a minimal if any
interior was pretty littered with garbage and crap... along with 2 stolen emptied out wallets... few credit cards on the floor... social security card... and family photo (with signature of owner of SS card)... etc.

they did rip apart the carpet from passenger side to get to the ECU via rear of center console

looking up at the officer... he already knew what i was going to ask - "sorry, we don't do fingerprints on something small like this. this is san francisco. you got your car back. you should be happy." *shrug

tried to fire up the TL... she struggled a bit which made me worried. finally she started... and check engine light was on. popped the hood... they tinkered with the battery of the car too.


so... that's where im at now.

gonna bring it into a shop either tomorrow or the day after to run some diagnostics to see if there're any internal damages. im sure the ignition/starter system's hurt.... fingers crossed... as well as figure out what code the check engine light is registering....

and... we'll go from there!

gotta pass out guys. ill update more hopefully tomorrow with pics. have a great evening... and thanks for all the support during the last 48 hours.

juanclopez2786

iTrader: (3)

wow thats good to hear im glad you got your car back with minimal damage. hopefully theres no major problems with the check engine light. good luck man

AZN.M3NACE

congrats on getting your car back.. the check engine light is probably because of the ecu since they tried starting the car up via ecu...

CL-Slick

iTrader: (7)

Like Rjaca said, keep your car locked up. A member on the CL forum got his CL-6 stolen, returned, then they stole it again. I would highly advise keeping your car locked up. The scenario in which your car was found sounds very similar to CL-6's story. Here's the link... https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-2001-2003-50/stolen-cl-found-then-stolen-again-746128/

meesheddie

Yea, props on getting your ride back fairly in one piece. SF's finest didn't wait for the crooks to return tot he vehicle to do an arrest?!!??

virginTLS

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-2001-2003-50/

a CL member also in SF had his car stolen... twice

exact same method
found (first time) exact same neighborhood where i found mine
also cigarette ash
also bunch of credit cards / identity-theft papers

good god...

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

i just had a dream where i thought my cl got stolen. but i parked it in a diff spot than i usually do. almost went crazy.

fsttyms1

I think if i were you i would get a aftermarket alarm, and a hidden kill switch that wont allow the car to start no matter what they try.

ruffxryda

wow thats amazing that you actually saw your car on the freeway...good stuff

CL6

So they arrested them? Get Lojack your car has been marked by them!

J-STEELE

Damn man, sorry to hear about what happened to your car but glad to see you got it back. Man I would of been pissed the f off if I seen them driving my car. They will get their karma as well deserved. Hopefully your car isn't too bad, take care of it and hopefully nothing else happens to it.

PEACE!

ANC297

iTrader: (2)

How exactly does lowjack work?

Bob_F

Here's info on LoJack:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoJack

The LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System is an aftermarketvehicle tracking system that allows vehicles to be tracked by police, with the aim of recovering them in case of theft. The manufacturer claims a 90% recovery rate. The name "LoJack" was coined to be the "antithesis of hijack", meaning the theft of a vehicle through force.

Today, LoJack’s core business comprises the tracking and recovery of cars, trucks, construction equipment, commercial vehicles and motorcycles. Additionally, LoJack is expanding into newer, emerging markets through licensing agreements and investments in areas such as cargo security and people at risk of wandering. LoJack Corporation claims that over 250,000 vehicles have been recovered worldwide since the product was introduced more than two decades ago.