What a day it was yesterday. It was my last day at my job at a large high company in the Boston area. I got to work at 8:30am and parked in on of the large lots in front of the building where I work in. I went inside and sat down. My co-worker came to my office around 8:45 and told me that he noticed a couple of guys in a silver Acura speeding away. Well, that was my car. It was stolen within 15 minutes from a busy parking lot early in the morning. I couldn't believe it! My luck! I just picked up the car like a month ago.

Anyway, around lunch time, it hit me that I could track the car using OnStar. I bought the car used and I never put the OnStar service in my name. OnStar was initially hesitant to help since I didn't have an account number and my name wasn't in the system. However, I convinced them to help and gave them the last 8 digits of the VIN. They found the car within 45 minutes. It was sitting in a parking lot about 40 minutes away. I picked it up and there was no inside or outside damage. They did however take my radar detector, my manuals along with my registration, and my garage door opener. There was no apparent slim jim used since the black rubber around the window was not damaged at all. Also, there weren't even any scratches by the ignition. They must have a KEY which is scary.

My question is how the hell did they get a key?? Any ideas??

The Acura dealership said that they could change all the locks + ignition for about $1,000. Ouch!

Tom

 

they probably got the key from the previous owner, without a key it's hard to drive away the car in 10 min, unless they are real pros

did u file a police report???

i suggest you should change the lock to avoid the same thing happen again, since they know where u work.

or you can install an aftermarket system that wont' start the car unless with your remote so you don't need a new lock

 

I did file a police report within 10 minutes of the theft. If I had thought of Onstar initially, they probably would have caught them on the highway. Oh well, next I know.

There was one previous owner who leased the car. When the lease was over, he gave it back and got an MDX. I did get both sets of keys to the car along with the valet key.

I think an aftermarket alarm is a good idea since it will be cheaper than replacing all the locks.

Tom

 

there are lots of ways to get the keys, they could have just copy the key if they knew someone working at a dealership/garage

make sure you get the system that the car won't start with just the keys, so they can't get away~

my dad used to have that on his S320, but that wasn't cheap either~

 

Like...immobilizer?

 

Hmmm....sounds very suspicious... If you are not planning on changing the locks on the vehicle, I would do everything in my power to put every anti-theft device on it... I don't know what year your vehicle is, so I'm not too sure if it has immobilizer in it at all, however you should do the audible alarm, with a club, and consider getting the window acid sketching insurance that will protect you.

 

MY understanding is that the car requires the correct key to start. Isn't that the case for the TL?

 

If his model has the immobilizer, then yes you need a key with that signature, however thiefs these days are becoming more and more innovative on the ways to steal cars.. this may mean that they have special tools to bypass (???), or it may mean that they have something setup with a service rep at a dealer...who knows.

They could have been checking out the car for a while and gotten the VIN and prepared, but who knows... you would think tho, if they were speeding off and making a scene, they weren't planning things well.. My guess is that they got a 'tip' from someone at an Acura store (possibly a shady mechanic/service person who was workin with them) and they went and waited for the car....

If you think about it, if someone is peeling off, it draws attention....which is exactly what a thief would not do..

 

My car is a 2003 so it does have it.

Yeah, I am sure they have sophisticated ways to steal cars these days.

I will look into an after market alarm system. I have the club but don't use it since I wouldn't expect that it would be stolen at work. Plus, there are some high end cars in that same lot like BMW's, Mercedes, Porsche's. I guess the Acura is easier to steal, especially if you have the key!

Tom

 

damn, glad to hear you got your car back though, times like this i wish i was just driving a ugly car so no worries..

on another note, anyone know why they steal manuals? i heard of some otehr BMW and they just stole his manuals as well, is there a market for this?

 

lo, who knows why they took the manual... my guess is that they just took everything to do with the car with them...?

Thiefs aren't the smartest people in the world... ya they can be innovative, but when it comes down to pure intelligence...they need some help.

Ya they may make a lot of money in a week, but WHEN they get caught...not IF...but WHEN they get caught, how much will they be making in the slammer?.

Crooks - idiots... get real jobs like the rest of us and prove that you are successful... don't try and take success away from others..

 

Becareful...since they took your garage door opener...I would be cautious if anyone follows you around...if you have a house alarm its okay..but still be careful dude.

 

They took your registration, which has your name and address on it. And they also took your garage door opener.

Most thieves wouldn't steal garage door openers, since they are not worth much, if anything. Change your garage door opener, or unhook it from the track, and lock it manually. This way, when they try to open the garage door, the track would just keep going, but the door would remain in spot since it's not connected to the track. And they wouldn't be able to manually open it, either, since it'll be locked.

Or leave nothing of value in the garage, and lock the door connecting to your house.

 

Good to hear that you got your car back though I would just be very careful from now on.

 

All they need is a master key to unlock/start your car. I've seen it done on my 02 TL-s and it took him less than 90 secs. I suggest you get an alarm with immobilizer. One with a two way remote pager would be good. Glad your car was ok though. Some would of stripped your car (headlight/HIDS, rims, seats).

 

yeah, and hey, he might be on the next onStar commercial on TV! did you say something like, "so onstar DOES work! thanks onstar, you're the best!"

 

The car can be easily stolen even with the Immobilizer. Anyone with access to a Helms manual can figure it out.

 

agreed. id change/the opener, or see if your model cna set new codes. with reg and opener, they know where you live and can get in easy.

 

no shit, people like that really piss me off!!!! they think they are smart cause they can take a car...get a life and earn some real knowledge.

Good luck with everything and be sure to keep a close eye on your house and family

 

Wow that's a crazy and shitty story. WATCH your house as close as possible and bond with your neighbors for when you're at work. They are going to hit your house I guarantee it. Why would they take the registration?? kind of scary. Good thing you got your car back and they didn't just scrap the shit oiut of it.
Watch yourself and have a bat or a gun in your trunk or by your bed.

 

lOOKS LIKE THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN FROM THE DEALER MAYBE IF THEY GAVE YA A GOOD DEAL THEY HAD TO FIND A WAY TO RIP YA OFF!

 

people nowadyas can steal ur car Sooooooooooooooooo EASILY. all they ahve to do is get ur vin # then go to the dealer and said they lost their key, then with a lil luck or a hot girl they wont id u and i jsut got a key for a stolen car. go and try it, its suprising how easy it is. so ya if a theif has a key to your car it just makes it easier to get wat they want and make the car worth that much more

 

scary really how right you are

 

I don't think that's how immobilizer works, but if all you need is a helms manual to bypass it you would only need a master key to get any TL you want. If someone here has a helms manual tell us how to bypass the bypass .

 

To bypass the immobilizer, all you need to do is to bypass the relay that controls the fuel pump.
Basically the immobilizer activates the fuel pump relay, if the code isnt given, the relay remains unenergized.
So without giving wirecodes and locations, if you energize the relay, you dont even need the key if you are inclined to force the lock.
Incredibly, you could steal the car with just one minute worth or work, (if you knew the color code of the wire you are looking for) and if you had a copy of the key, its yours without even the horns going off since unlocking the car with a key disarms the alarm.
And yes I do have the helms manuals, and its not just for the Acura, its also for the Honda line as well. I had figured this out years ago when I had my Accord that came with the same system in the 90's.
Its the same system up until 2003.
I havent looked at the Helms manual for the 04, since I dont own it, but if I trade in next year, I will certainly get the manual and see if they made any changes.

 

I remember seeing a documentory on 60 Minutes about this. Needless to say, I was shocked!

 

they were probably waiting to see what happened with it... some crooks arent dumb, they will steal the car, get all the lose stuff and park it. from there they watch the car. a car parked in a lot doesnt draw lots of attention. if no one gets it within a few days they know it cant be tracked as this one was....

 

I am still pissed off at these guys that they had the balls to steal my car from a busy work parking lot and then take a garage door opener + registration. I would think that car thieves stick to stealing cars and have no interest in robbing homes. Another possibility is that they aren't the brightest people and thought that they could just get into my garage and steal the car again not knowing that all I have to do is to change the code on the garage door system.

Luckily I live in a cul-de-sac so it is pretty easy to notice a car that doesn't belong there. The neighbors are always in and out. Hopefully thieves would see this as a high risk of getting noticed. In any case, I will be watching my back.

The local cops know about my situation too. They send cruisers once in a while to check out the street.

What I should do is not change the garage door and just sit in the garage with a 9mm and just wait. I would love to see the faces of these punks when they open the door and see the barrel of a gun!

Tom

 

Well, QuickDraw Mc Graw, what if both of them have guns as well (the smart choice, given their profession)? You'd have to shoot 'em both at once! LEave it to the trained professionals, and change your locks!

 

I'm assuming you signed up for OnStar, considering that it paid for itself for a few years (since you didn't have to cough up your insurance deductible for a never found again car). :-)

Seriously, OnStar is great. I'm glad to know it's there.

Change the code on your garage door opener ASAP. If you can't, get a new one.

 

kinda crazy that they pulled some gone in 60 seconds stuff and only took a few small things. To me it looks like they had connections and are also looking at the big picture i.e trying to get into yourhouse now that they have all your info. Amazing how easily top of the line cars can get stolen. The escalade is $50gs and it is one of the most stolen cars around, go figure.

 

Since they stole your garage door opener, this might be a good reason to use the built in Garage door opener in the car (HomeLink). That way if they steal the car again, they can't steal the garage door opener. They'd need to take the car to your house to open it.

 

those bastards.

But you should get an alarm if you are still worried about anything happening.