My 99 TL was just totalled by the ins. co., I'm on the market for a new car. I was going to get a 2002 or 2003 TL but my concern is the HID theft problem. Has Acura done anything to prevent this as far as the way there built? Have any of you guys heard of HID theft from a 2002 or 2003 TL? Thanks in advance

 

there is nothing Acura can do. The thieves jamb a BIG screwdriver in between the side of the headlamp and the fender and pry outwards till it breaks out. Nothing much besides a loaded pistol can stop an idiot from doing something like that!

 

well to be honest if u had a 1999 TL u had the same problem that 02-03 TL has. The take the HID from 99-03. Me personally im gonna get rid of mine(03TLs/navi) sometime next year for a car that i dont have to be paranoid...new GS430 maybe..maybe even new 5 series..but darn they cost so much..why them fools had to be ripping out our headlights...Slim229, if u get the Tl get it cause u love it.

 

What you can do, is install shock sensors. You make the sensitivity really sensitive so the smallest bump will make the alarm go off. This might stop them?

 

but that causes ur alarm to go off every 5 mins too... even from guys driving by with huge exhausts. lolz

 

Nothing has been done so far but realistically, I don't think they would do anything for this current version of the TL 99-03??.

The problem is the fact that the ballasts are mounted on the headlight bucket/housing itself. Rip them off and they have everything they need. Other makes mount the ballast away from the housing so it isn't as easy for them to take off quickly.

I would imagine the next generation TL's would have their ballast away from the bulbs........I hope, as this may be the only way to stop this B.S. . The present TL being made along with the Accord probably resulted in the ballast mounted on the housing....for ease of assembly.

Now, I've been thinking of relocating my ballasts for a while now but a couple of things come to mind.

1st. Why bother to do this if the thief doesn't know any better and still rips my lights off. Then he realizes the Ballasts aren't in his hand as well and takes out his frustration on my car. What to do.....leave a note

"Dear headlight thief, don't bother with this ride......the ballasts have been remounted and hidden away, now piss off!"

2nd. I do not know if is ok to just splice and extend the HID harness. It isn't just the normal 12 volt flowing through, it's a whole lot more then that. I am not sure if the extra resistance from having a longer wire is ok for the ballast's.

This whole situation with these HID/thefts is just F'd up. It just plain sucks!

 

I have shock sensors mounted on each headlight already but the sensitivty has been too sensitive even on the lowest setting .

I need to play around with a different mounting location or sensors to get it "just" right. What a PITA.....

 

After my HID's were stolen from my 99 TL I had a clifford alarm installed w/ extra sensors & airhorns. It was comforting but at the same time annoying. Everytime some a$$hole would try & mess w/ my car it would wake the whole neighborhood. The thing I really hate is that these clowns catch u when your "out" (movies, shopping, dinner, etc...) I love the TL (especially the 2002-2003) but it's not worth the HID headache. I guess I'm going 2 have 2 say good bye really soon. My choices are 2000 or 2001 Infinity I30, 2001 or 2002 Maxima (gle) or 98 or 99 GS300-400.

 

try installing a a motion dector aka proximity alarm on ur system its much more acurate and not as sensitive as a shock sensor also to address the issue or re-locating the ballast,,,,,,sure the 12v wire is easy to extend but dont forget that ur gonna have to extend the output side of the ballast also and thats high voltage 400 - 600 volts i dont know if u wanna really mess with that ,,,maybe u should try a car cover ,,,out of sight ,,,,out of mind......its only a suggestion

 

get a new TL, then get shock sensor(s) installed on your car OR upgrade from the factory alarm to something with a 2 way pager. Then park in low risk areas.

The 2 way pager alarms are very comforting... I used to have a compustar alarm -----> www.compustar.org/ and sometimes I would almost hope someone would try and mess with my car... I was just looking for an excuse to splatter someones brains on the side of my car (I'm normal now)

The range of the 2 way alarms is great and you can get an extra antennae that extends the range to 1.5 miles

 

WOW! You wired the shock sensor all the way there and hooked it up to the hoodpin wire inside the dash? I want to do the same too but wouldnt the wires be too long? What's the easiest way to mount it on the headlights? I have one mounted underneath the dash right on the ignition wires, but sensitivity sucks BIG time! I can bang on all the windows I want and still not set it off.

 

Those ideas are great, but I've already been there w/ the sensors, alarm, & pager. Like I said before, the problem is when you can't see your car or hear the alarm. When you go "out", is when you'll most likely become prey to some thief. I just went to some other forums & there're HID theft problems w/ the maxima as well as the I30. Your right AK, I think I'll just stick w/ the TL. (think) Hopefully a hoodlock & my alarm will prevent them from being stolen.

 

didnt someone say they just pry the whole damm headlight assemble right out of the friggin front.......i cant see anything stopping them if the access to the hid set up is so easy ,,,the only thing to do is keep ur car out of sight n out of mind .......i wish we could do some james bond shiet and hook up some c4 to the light assemble so if they remove it they will get a surprise

 

ohhhh by the way i had a compustar alarm on my legend too,,,,,,had it installed after they stole my rims ,,,,,but what a great alarm

 

Edgalang, I have it hooked up to an aftermarket alarm.......living in NYC requires more then the factory alarm, IMO.

You can wire your shock sensor out front on or by the lights. The wires will not be too long, just have a good connection, not using crappy thin wire....ahhhh, you don't need to be told that.

As for mounting the sensor's.....I have mine zip tied to the headlight harness although I have seen a fellow members shock sensors mounted on a "L" bracket hanging off the radiator support, i.e. the part of the body that the radiator, hood latch, etc . mounts to.

One piece of warning. The life of the sensor may (probably) shorten the life span of the sensor due to the enviromental conditions under the hood compared to being mounted under the dash. I would seal the sensor where there are visible holes or seams and put a piece of tape over the adjustment hole. If it's a knob........hmmm maybe grease placed between the knob and housing. Ah wait, the grease would prob come off due to the heat, depends on the type of grease I suppose.
Who knows.....it may last a few months or years. But considering how cheap a shock sensor costs, it's no big deal

Chris.

 

Don't mean to make you guys cry or anything but here is a pic of a TL-S with it's eyes "Ripped" out;


:devil:

 

yea, i've been seeing more and more TL's with no headlights. god i love my garage

 

OUCH !!!,,,,,IF THAT NOT ONE OF THE MOST HORRIFYING SITES A TL OWNER COULD SEE,,WHAT IS ?,,,,,,I HOPE THAT WASNT UR CAR WITH THE EYES RIPPED OUT

 

Hey Chris,

You are scaring hell out of us!!!

 

here's were someone's lights ended up...

 

a tear just welled up in my eye when i saw that photo. BTW I noticed the hood wasn't even touched. That would mean a hood lock would be a useless defense, wouldn't it ?

 

Yup...but some thieves just go to town with a crow bar and wreak further havoc.

We need to make the bumpers out of steal

 

EWven if acura makes the hids unstealable on the next TL, the thieves will still rip out our headlights. It will take the thieves time to spread the word that the ligts are not stealable. Of course the media jumps on stolen headlights and lets all would be thieves know how to take them, but watch when acura makes them unstealable, the media will not let everyone know and thieves will still try. Either way we loose. The next gen owners will have the anger taken out on the car. BTW here in NY theives are just jumping on the bumpers and they are ripping off, After that the light just falls right out with little effort.

 

hey bigman sounds like u have some experience with stealing hid lights there ......lol.........j/k

 

Unfortuantely or Fortuately i sold my 99 TL 2 weeks ago. yeah i really miss it alot. However i don't have to hold my breath everythimg i wake up in the morning. For people born and raised in NYC they know it's hard to have anything nice. So i'm happy that it is gone but i sure as hell miss it but what can you do it happned to me twice. Enough is Enough.

 

NUFF SAID

 

Easier said than done AK especially when places like NYC pay alot of $$$$ to work. It doesn't matter where you live, every place in the world has a different problem, ours just happens to be theft.