MikePA

It might be obvious, but I will say it anyway....People would not be stealing the lights if someone wasn't buying them. I am certainly not defending these cretins, but someone out there who owns a TL is probably bragging about the great deal he got on a pair of headlights at a flea market, at an online auction, etc.

MeldyS26

also from my last post, after the headlights got stolen, my dad had the car at the time, obviously called the cops and then you know what they told him....you can drive your car home or else leave it here over night and then pick it up the next morning (this was at night) haha my dad started laughin and said are you kidding if i leave it here over night it'll be sittin on cinderblocks.....dumbass cop

MeldyS26

and...from what i saw on the damage of the headlights it looks like they are conneted to the car buy a plastic, plus wouldnt those people buying these see damages? so why steal em and sell them damaged

MikePA

The lights have to be reusable as lights or why steal them? If they are not being resold to individuals, then they are being resold to body shops.

bkzjimmy

what the thieves want isnt the housing...its the hid kit....thats what cost so much and what everyone puts in their cars!!!!

njzprettyboy

honestly, all the methods listed will not deter the theives from taking your lights if they want to. An experienced guy, most of whom are still doing this are, can rip the lights in less that 30 seconds, and thats both of them. Mine were stolen about 2 years ago, and in broad daylight in a coporate parking lot at a Prudential property nonetheless. I had just got the headlights back from a member on this forum after having BMW X5 projectors retrofitted into the housing, as well as 6000K bulbs. The whole setup ran me like $900 when it was all said and done, which I lost because I came to work a little late. 5 other cars were hit in the same business complex. What I do advise anyone who has to go through this to do, is to purchase the parts, if not all, than AT LEAST the HID parts (bulb, ballast, and ignitor (for 99-01 nly) off of ebay, or from someone selling them on the forum. The insurance company pays about $2000-$2500 for parts that can be had off of ebay or this forum for approx. $200-$250. That way, you save some money, pay your deductible, and have a little extra to pay for the increase in insurance. Me personally, I put the money towards a front end conversion, and paid the rest out of my pocket. Needless to say, my headlights were not ripped again (knock on wood). I hope that this post helps people, as I am tired of reading about this bullshit, and even more tired of seeing people pay upwards of 2 grand for these parts.

PS--A friend of mines headlights were jacked about 3 weeks ago. Insurance estimated about $4400. We fixed it for about $800. Guess where the rest of that money went...

bkzjimmy

PS--A friend of mines headlights were jacked about 3 weeks ago. Insurance estimated about $4400. We fixed it for about $800. Guess where the rest of that money went...[/QUOTE]
did u change anything on ur friends car so that they cant be stolen again??

MeldyS26

yea but for the hid kit you need the adapter which is deep in the enging bay and when they steal em they only steal the housing

TeknoKing

now you see why it easy to steal Maximas and Acura headlights, because the manfucatureres included the trasnformer, the box, woth the headlights. Now, if they moved originally that box deeper in the engine bay, theft would diminish.

Now the only thing they can do is to change the plastic casing to metal material, so the clips would snap off that easily. For anyone who ever removed the headlights, knows pretty much whats holding it: nothing.

My car is always visible if I park outside somewhere, my LED flashers does the job, my Clifford alarm seems to help. Take it from a guy who already had a car stolen, if they want it, they will get it.

bkzjimmy

i have led flashers im mine too...still dont feel safe, acura or anyone out there has to come up with something!

bkzjimmy

and bulbs plus the damage!

benzo555

I think half of those so called ebay solutions are part of the problem.. Many of the peeps that sell these HID "parts" are all from the east coast from what Ive seen in the past. So until all these people stop supporting them, there would be no end to this dilemma.

sxlova07

so I am assuming correctly that you dont need to adapter to utilize the hids tho

MikePA

Exactly my point.

Lights, HID parts, whatever pieces they get off the car they are selling them. They are not doing it simply to vandalize the car. For them to sell it, there have to be buyers.

AtOmiC#81

Watch out everybody!!! This is a new trend now. I just saw a segment on the nightly news about two days ago regarding the growing trend of stolen Xenon headlights which in turn is being sold in the black market. The LED rear lights on the 3rd Gen models are also being jacked. It sux!

aaronnn

this is really getting frustrating. so many of my friends that have HID's installed in their cars, are either getting their headlamps all scratched up from attempts or actually stolen. it was attempted on my car a numerous times. i have scratches all the way around my headlamps and there are big gashed above the headlamp on the hood. its pissing me off because once i cover it up and repaint/touchup paint it, it just happens allover again when i go to newark, jersey city, or new york city. i have two office locations one in jersey city (newport area),and one in new york city (broadway and 38th, manhattan). and im at newark alot since its another city area and my job is real estates. the car goes wherever i go and it seems like every single time i bring it to my office, the headlamps get looser or more scratched up. but mine wasnt the only one, since im usually parked with other business men, i see scratches allover their audi's, bmw's, benz's, infiniti's, lexus', and other acura's. its really ridiculous, it seems like i cant trust taking my car anywhere in the ny/nj area!

asmestates

the question at this point is, aside from installing expensive after market alarms wired to the headlights and other means of securing same to the car (like maybe a midget rottweiler behind the light housing), what can be done to abate the issue? the fact is, the lights get stolen w/frightening frequency. what if ones family is in the car far from home, and upon returning to the car in the evening, notice the lights are gone? stay at a hotel till their fixed (who'll reimburse you for that?)? leave the car where it is (and travel back & forth a bunch of times until the repair is made and you can pick up the car?)? attempt to drive it home and maybe whack into a lightpost or something? stolen headlights pose a safety issue in addition to a monetary, insurance and frustration problem. We all know they are being stolen and resold - what other motivation (other than the usual profit) can there be? there isn't someone out there w/ a collection of 300 lights hanging in their den, right? rather, someone knows that the lights are incredibly expensive to obtain, and as such are charging around ripping them off. so, if that's the case, what can we do? I think acura needs to come out with a) a securing kit, b) a cheaper replacement option, and c) perhaps a design that prevents, to the degree possible, this plague. I mean, what's the point of a great product if you can't enjoy it. knowing why the lights are stolen, what's done w/them after and so on doesn't lessen the problem for those of us that are simply victimized, so i think we should do something about it.

aaronnn

right. but that's what we've trying to figure out. i hate to have my headlamps stolen and front end of my car all screwed up, but i also hate it that i have to drop the entire bumper just to get the lights out on my own. if i have the key and a way to open up the car, i think it should be easier to take out. but without a hold of the key no one should be able to take any parts off the car. its not like honda/acura could do much about that, and if they do then obviously dealer prices would go up. even if we want to do something about it, what can we do? if someone can come up with a way to wire the lamps so that even if someone touches it when the car is locked or something, that would be great. the thing is, buying a good enough alarm to protect parts of your car is really worth it. alot better than getting it stolen, dealing with insurance, buying a new part, installing it, then looking for an alarm system. i rather take my precautions now and go for it. although there were about 5 attempts of someone trying to take my headlamps... and i still dont know who, all i know is that its happening in central to north jersey. since im out in newark, jersey city, and paramus/hackensack area most of the time.

bkzjimmy

all i know is if someone came up with a solution for the problem they would be RICH!!!!!

asmestates

I agree that alarms will act as a preventative measure. however, if they want your lights they're gonna get 'em unless you post a marine battalaion around the car. fact is, if you're asleep and your alarm goes off, the thieves are gone by the time you yank on pants & shoes and get out to see what's up. alarms, mini-cams, whatever - I know that if i spend $5k on various alarms and whatnot i'll be better protected, but why should i have to? fair is fair.

bkzjimmy

your right , those cheap f#cks at acura should of came up with something

MikePA

While Acura might want to do this for marketing/customer service reasons, I do not see it as their responsibility. That'd be like saying Subaru has to come out with a solution because their Impreza WRX is the most stolen car in Canada.

asmestates

you speak like someone that hasn't had their lights stolen, correct me if i'm wrong. fact is, as i said, we can';t blame acura for theives, but if they're aware of an issue and still don't take action, then i think we can - and believe me they're aware of this one. as to your subaru example, if the car comes w/an alarm/immobilizer, they've done their part. acura has not done any such thing - again, i don't blame acura for the existence of lowlifes, but if they continue to act as if the issue doesn't exist, when it in fact does, then they, as the manufacturer and the only ones that can assist (otherwise warranties are voided and so on), should be willing/able to help, which they've not.

summerlun

Don't you think this is the design's probem? Obviously, the design of the headlights is inferior than other cars with HID. That's why those MF don't choose Lexus and Benz.

aaronnn

it was said before that the design of ours and that of maximas are both the same. there's nothing thats really holding the TL's headlamps, unlike other lux's with HID's which have metal clips. the thieves can easily yank the lamps off ours and maximas. if ours were also a little deeper into the engine bay and had something holding on to it, than we wouldnt be having this problem.

summerlun

Absolutely agree.

Now, same situation with the Maximas. But Nissan did something anyway , even though after the lawsuit. So, should Acura do something about it? Or, Acura is willing for us to sue it, then it will take action to fix the problem.

Problem happened, where is the remedy?

McChicken

What did Nissan do to fix this ?
Is there anyway to retrofit the Maxima locks for our cars ??

bkzjimmy

they put a steel rod behind the headlight to hold it in

sxlova07

is there some way we could fashion such a bar? ....when I get my car back I will def look to see if there is anything I can do....I have thought about welding some sort of clamps from the headlight to the frame of the car (yea silly but if it worked would prevent somone from gougin my TL)

NFLblitze1

They Stole 3 more in morristown/randolph area....these things must be worth a shitload....

asmestates

thats' right, and that show is coming to a neigborhood near you soon, count on it! (I never believed it would happen to me either)

Mr Hyde

You can put locks in, bars, alarms, whatever you want, but a guy who wedges a crowbar between your body panels, and the headlight housings is going to serioulsy damage your hood, fenders, and the headlights themselves. They may not get the HID units themselves, but they'll still mess up your car. If they dont know the car has antitheft measures, they'll still attempt to steal them, and damage the car.

These thefts are hitting the Lexus RX300, and 330 pretty hard too. Also have heard of Audi's and BMW's getting hit too, but not as common as the Acura's, Maxima's, and Lexus. Standard HID's means a score for every hit with no gambling that they'd only end up with useless Halogens.

viper-tl

Well, lets hope the problem is contained within the NY Metro area. I moved from NJ to MD 8 years ago - now that I'm getting my new '05 TL next week I guess I'll have to tell the family that I won't be coming back to see them that often! On top of that, its just another one of my reasons why I'll never move back to Jersey.