Parked the car for an hour on the street and POOF - they are gone.

I promised my self the day it happens I sell the car and that is exactly what I am going to do. I love my TL and there is no other like it but I have too much to worry about and don't need my car on that list.

I am thinking of the Saab 9-5. Does anyone have experience with that car? Are they reliable? Do I get the 4-Turbo or the 6. A local dealer has three 2001's for a decent price and will take my TL as a trade.

Almost every other car I like comes with Xenon's and that will pose the same problem as the TL.

Help, please.

 

i think the xenon problem is only a HUGE problem for the TL's because i heard that they are perfect substitutes for the accord and street value is huge. so i would think other cars with xenon would be fine, but ya live in ny yo, ya have to have a alarm with battery backup and a hidden horn. just the way it is

 

Where in NYC did it happen? Sorry to hear that. Damn thugs

 

I went into the movies at sheepshed bay and then when i came out i saw a TL without headlights and it was parked backwards, hood facing out.... my car was just 10 cars down. It was sickening when I saw that happen. This is just the past weekend.

 

I always park like that so it makes it harder for them to steal them. I saw one not to long ago on the cross island parkway with no lights. I live in Whitestone / Flushing area and they stole my fiances fathers Maxima headlights twice. Second time a neighbor saw them and started chasing them but they got away. I hate parking late in front of her house because i feel i might be next!!

 

Where do you put the battery backup? Is it one of those things that comes with the alarm or addon? or an actual 12v car battery.

 

You see that commerical with the car cover disguise for a beat up car? Maybe we should get those for us in NYC

 

Yea we should start a NYC group buy...would be funny as hell!!

 

Those people should be shot....really.

Are you looking for better mileage? I would think the Turbo-4 would be better in that case (as long as you don't normally lay on the gas). I personally would get the 6 though.

 

I was just there tonight. I refuse to park in that huge parking garage, something just scares me about that whole situation over there. I usually wait to find a spot outside or on the first level since people are usually going in and out over there.

By the way, sorry about your Xenons, I park my car in the driveway basically because I'm so scared that I'll come out and my hood is popped and my headlights are gone. Damn thugs in this city...

 

na na its a add on. like 30 bucks more. goes inline with power.

 

It was on the first level, but just near the exit, that i saw the car that was raped.

 

In happened right in front of my house - and I live in an upscale neighborhood in Brooklyn. The car was on the street for one hour and it took them about two minutes to pluck them. My daughter heard a little banging ran out and it was all over.

I have been keeping the car in my garage since I bought it and have watched my neighbors lights getting stolen left right and center. One hour in front of my house was all it took.

My neighbor owns a big body shop and here is the latest Xenon scoop in NY.

TL's, RL's, Maximas, Lexus especially the RX 300 are all hot tickets. Get this, he's already seen two brand new 2004 TL's in his shop - the idiots at Acura haven't even fixed the problem. All they have done is etched the stupid lens which we all in NY know is worthless. They want the inverter and other components - they throw the lens in the trash.

I am disappointed at Acura but love their cars. I would love to buy an older RL - pre 1998 and trade in my TL. Anyone out there know of something I would appreciate it.

 

It is sad and I agree, when i leave my car in the back of my head i always think... "i hope that my headlights are still there"

markhorowitz, where is this body shop? do they charge a lot and do they do good work? always nice to know a good place to go to.

 

Culver Auto Body Works
(718) 438-8523
824 39th St
Brooklyn, NY

My friends name is Izzy and they do great work and are well priced. If you ever need them let me know and I will negotiate for you. I send them a lot of business.

 

Happend To Me Too Right In Front Of My House In The Over Night Hour's About A Year Ago But The Couldent Get Them Out But The Whole Front End Was Fu**ed Up 2500 In Dammage

 

Everytime I hear a story, I just want to shoot them! It drives me mad that we cant own a nice car in peace.

 

There is another article in Car and Driver talking about this issue with the TL and others. Pathetic

 

This is b.s. I live in Los Angeles, in the armpit of the valley really (only area we can afford), and it looks like it'll only be a matter of time before mine are stolen. We have a lot of little bastard thugs around here who spray paint walls, throw glass bottles at people's cars, etc. You know, I wonder if should've just kept my little 1993 Honda Accord. I love the TL but I find I'm always worrying about who is gonna take it or take something from it. With my Honda, I was like "Who the hell will want this car?"

Isn't there anything that can be done? Like some kind of lock on the hood or inside where the headlights are taken out?

Also makes me feel like shooting these little idiot thugs. But then, they'd probably sue me and win if I did that.

 

Put a car cover on your TL.... Maybe that will help....

 

Damn you guys. I think some punks were trying to grip my xenons too, right on my fucking driveway about a week ago. I'm paranoid as hell now....I hate parking my baby outside at night. :'( How sensitive are the factory alarms(i got an 04) in these cars? Are your alarms even going off when they steal these things?

 

It should go off if anyone try to do something to the car without opening it with the key or remote.

Once i locked my car with window opend, and i forgot about the fact that i locked the car. I tried to pop the hood, the alarm went off.... ebarassing my ass.. Whole crowed looked at me as if i am stealing the car or something... "Common im the owner here!"..

 

I thought the thefts had stopped for the most part? Geez, I guess I was wrong!

To the guy who said these guys should be shot......WORD!

 

I live in queens and I have yet to see this...i can only imagine what a horrible site it must be........

 

I got shock sensors installed on the headlights a third party alarm system with the paging unit and airhorns and I still dont feel safe enough almost a grand to just keep my sanity.

 

not true at all, any car w/ xenon is in a lot of trouble. The acura's are actually probably the least desirable because they aren't as easy as most to get out. For the maxima's and 996 porsches all you need is a flat head and 30 seconds. Selling your car because of this is pretty dumb IMO. This shit happens to anyone and everyone. Audi's are also a easy take. These automanufactures need to learn to secure their lights down better, esp. when some people are paying for xenons as a pricey option.

 

IMHO selling the car makes a whole lot of sense if you are sick of worrying every time you park it. Not to mention my $500 deductible and my insurance rates going up.

Factory alarm is worthless in protecting the car - mine never went off. Even if it did, it takes them two or three minutes to finish the job so by the time you run out it is too late.

In NYC the TL is by far the hottest one, Maxima a close second. The adapt well to the older Hoda's and Nissan's. I have heard this from several body shops here in NY and anyone that lives in Brooklyn has teen TL's driving around with their eyes gouged out. They hardly touch the Audi, BMW or Mercedes because the inverters are in the bumper and not right behing the lights.

Acura could have solved the problem to a great degree by moving the ballasts and inverters into the hood but they didn't.

Funny thing is everytime I see a punk in a POS Honda with Xenon's - and I see them all the time, I yell out "Nice Xenon's - where didya steal them"?

We live in a jungle, let's not kid ourselves.

 

I agree if they made it harder and placed it in different locations it would make the rethink about stealing them. You could possibly relocate the ballast but they wouldn't know that. They'll probably only get the bulb and claim insurance for the ballast too

In any case it sucks, I don't see many TLs around Brooklyn or in Manhattan, mostly in LI and sometimes in Queens. Maybe I am just at all these places at the wrong time.

 

I was just thinking to myself......Whether we like to admit it or not there is a hidden incentive to acura by not making it harder to pluck out the headlights..........they get to sell more parts......Because I am sure they are aware of this problem and should have helped their customers making it harder for those crooks to disfigure innocent people's cars

 

To clarify, you get a backup siren which comes with a built in battery. So if car thieves pop your hood and cut the main line going to your aftermarket alarm system, your backup siren will trip and go off. Because the backup siren is built tough to withstand blows, the only way the thieves can disable it is if they rip the backup siren out and huck it far away (as it will keep on sounding until the battery drains out). This is why it is important to locate the backup siren in a location that is difficult for thieves to get their tools in to disable it. If it's too much work, they will leave quickly. The best location to install the backup siren is under the front wheel well. You have to remove the front wheel AND peel back the wheel well cover to get to the backup siren. It's great, thieves pop your hood, cut your battery lines, and they still can't find where the siren is coming from!

 

What you are referring to is a hood lock. A hood lock is exactly what it does, it locks your hood down, and cannot be pried open (unless you rip the hood off, but that's a totally different story). The hood lock is usually mechanical in nature - it provides a constant force that pulls on the hood latch wire so that the hood can't be popped (from the inside via the hood release lever or from the outside if someone were to yank on the hood release wire). You could yank on the hood release wire (from the outside) to pop the hood, but you'd have to be Superman in order to do that (yes, it's that strong). The only way to pop your hood is if you use a key. I'm not up to date on the newer versions of hood locks that are available, but they all do the same thing as described above. I believe (but not 100% sure), that there are electronic versions of the hood lock (ie no physical key is required). Hood locks are a must for any extreme audio enthusiasts with a system that are in the tens of thousands of dollars, but can definitely have an application towards keeping our HIDs safe from theft.

 

Mine got stolen in NYC last month as well. I lent it to my bro(who lives in queens), and it only took 5 days for someone to rip them out. Damn bastards. I see TLs in the city all the time, wonder where they park them at night...

 

Hi Guys,
my 2000TL lamps were plucked out of my car on rainy friday evening in NJ.
the bumper is pulled down and bars bent and headlights removed. No alrms nothing.
watch your cars in NJ
the lights are worth only 1000 but damage 5k more and insurance increase.
Damn the robber. Is there any good brand motion sensor shock alarm that
can prevent a repeat?? please help.
robbed in NJ

 

where exactly is this upscale neighborhood, why do you have to wait 25 posts to actually type out where you live?

 

whens the last time they had to pop a hood to steal headlights? what the hell are you people talking about??

 

AHHH!!! I just got a nice 99 TL this summer and your stories scared the shit out of me. I go to Lehigh University which is located in Bethlehem, PA. If any of you have ever been in Bethlehem, you know what I'm talking about when I say it's a scary place to park a classy car. Where can you buy these self-powered aftermarket shock alarms or whatever you guys are calling them and how much do they usually cost?

 

The only protection you have is to block access to the front of the car. The thiefs use a four foot crow bar to break your headlight housing off the brackets. I always park my car close up to the front of my garage and there is no rooom on the sides and this makes it hard for them to get the bar in on the right angle to pop the lights. I had an idea to build a housing to protect the lights if anyone wants to know my idea you can pm me.

 

Is that at UA? shitttt...thanx man, Im never going to the movie again, at least not on a TL...

Freaken NYC.

 

maybe we should make a brushguard for our TL's

 

only in ny..