spaceboy

It was in a costco parking lot before 6pm, someone broke my window and took my backpack, it has my spare key in it. So I went to dealer today to have the remote and keys reprogrammed. Although the other remote will not work anymore, the guy can still come back to my house and use the key to open the door but can't drive the car away. How does he know where I live? Cuz I just renewed my insurance policy and the docs are all inside the backpack (with my address on it). Dealer said it will cost $1400 to replace the keyhole, I thought about destroying it by using a flat head screw driver, if the battery ever die I will just call AAA to come and open my door. my concern is, besides not being able to open the door with a dead battery, what others cons are there for having no keyhole?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

he was looking for something expensive in the back pack.


NEVER leave anything in your car visible.

NvrDwn

^^ exactly. You would have been over looked if you didn't have that backpack out he would have passed you up. He probably thought a laptop, cell phone, camera, or any other small expensive equipment.

My"S"exyUA7

I've had my TL for just under a year and have yet to use the actual key (besides starting the car). So dead battery...I think would be the only con.

spaceboy

I have mine for about one and half year and never get a chance to use the keyhole, and i just got a new battery less than 6 months ago

spicynoodle116

Do a keyhole delete mod? It uses the small passenger door handle piece that doesnt have a keyhole. You dont have to destroy the lock. Hopefully he isnt that smart to remove the door handle piece to reveal the keyhole. If he wants whatever is in your car again or wants to steal your vehicle, he'll break your windows again.

My"S"exyUA7

I had my car broken into along time ago and know what that feels like...can you park your car in a garage until you decide on what your doing? Or pulling all nighters till you fix it one way or another?

jgj925

i agree with spicynoodle, keyhole delete. no way he'll be smart enough to pull it off the handle. hopefully you can catch the guy. way back in the day in the early 90s my father's honda accord got stolen from a costco (price club back then). now i will make sure to be cautious at costco.

TheLowLife

if he wants the car bad enough he will figure out that there is only a cover over the hole

spicynoodle116

$1400 for a new keyhole.
Free to damage your own keyhole with a flathead.
$20 to cover it up.
You decide.

At the end if he wants to steal your car/whatever is inside, he'll do whatever is necessary, doesnt matter if he knows the key works or not.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

Lol, you should be cautious everywhere. One isolated incident, 20 years ago and another one currently at a different Costco doesn't make Costco a higher than average risk for theft.

spaceboy

Thanks everyone for all the opinions, u no i always thought about deleting my keyhole now i think its the perfect time to do it, i bought the keyhole cover while i was at the dealer, i will not destroy for now and but if i notice my car has been entered then I will destroy the keyhole, some of my friends are telling i should sell the car and get another one....eh~~~~~~~~

i parked my car at a safe place tonight and tomorrow it will be receiving a new glass window and new tint on Saturday,

Is it hard to install the key hole cover? it was very easy to take off the one on the rear but couldn't move the driver door with a bare hand at all!

Hi speed

iTrader: (3)

Was this in SJ?

spaceboy

Yes

spicynoodle116

Use a flat head to release the tab, it'll come right off.

UA6

Pretty ballsy especially in a Costco parking lot in broad daylight. Usually those parking lots are pretty busy.

simran4h

can we do shaved door handles on the tl? lol one guy i kno has this done on his chevy after his keys were stolen

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

But but the thief only wanted what was in the bag.

you guise can do the keyhole delete by buying an extra door handle piece, but that wont stop him from figuring it out.
but again, all he wanted was the bag

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Man, there is some desperate fuckin low life people out there that are willing to go through all that in the middle of a busy Costco parking lot in middle of the day to steal a backpack. There are some dumb ass people out there.
Hopefully something bad happens to that person, then again, his life already sucks ass if he is resorting to stealing backpacks from peoples cars.

story.customz

Shitty feeling for sure OP and sorry to hear. My dad's truck got the back window of his truck smashed and both sets of our golf clubs got stolen a couple years ago. Always keep stuff in the trunk if you can. Simple and effective, because unless they plan on stealing the car, they'll pass on to the next car with visible goods.

Comptechtl2367

This sucks man. I would do the delete but my guess the guy wont go from back pack theft to grand theft auto... thats a huge jump! Does the Costco have a camera? I know the ones in the Cities have them.

madrussian190

I don't think he is dumb enough to come by your house and try to steal your car. He probably thinks that you have a tracking device on your car now and a cop sitting outside your door.

But I wouldn't destroy the key hole, just cover it up.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

+1 on not leaving ANYTHING in the car. I'm super anal about that. Backpack goes in trunk, iPod goes in center console, ect. My car looks like a modified rental no visible personal items whatsoever.

Mrtastygoody

iTrader: (1)

The only downside to covering/destroying the keyhole is rolling up all the windows, if you do that.

abirvalg

Uhhh ... the beauty of being miserably cold or having other kinds of bad weather ...
no thugs on the streets looking to loot something, they die off in winter

now i have a real reason for not moving to a better climate

on the subject though, he's got a key, so he CAN start the car
why are you saying he can't drive it away?
did you swap the ignition lock?
broken or covered lock is no issue, to someone who doesn't care much about opening doors the civilized way

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Sucks to hear man. And trust me, I feel your pain! Mine was just broken into at work 2 weeks ago. Luckily, I had my extra key at home and they just took my shitty radar detector.. pathetic low life douchebag losers.

I would also definitely get the keyhole cover because not only will the locks still work, but it will still look good and it's astronomically the cheaper option.

geekybiker

+1 on the keyhole cover. He can always break the window, but that's no different than normal and the chip is disabled from the ignition. Chances if he does go to your house that you'll have the same outcome no matter what. Go cheap.

spaceboy

dealer reprogrammed the key and the remote for me, so only my remote and disarm/arm, only my key can start the car. The other remote is no longer good, but the other key can still open the car door.

yeah i was stupid enough to leave my backpack cuz i thought nothing would happen since i was only gonna be gone for 20 mins! my text books and calculator were also in there and this week is my final week.....ARHHHH

I talked to the costco supervisor and he said there is no camera or watsoever set up in their parking lot! Should I still file a police report? No disrespect but they never seem to be helpful in this kind of situation

spaceboy

Although it was easy to take off the rear one, i find it super hard to put it back on. So my window guy put some of his heavy duty glues to finally set it in place, i think that;s what i will do to the front one too!

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

i would not do that to the front one. they pop off and pop on very easily.

you may need to get access to the keyhole at some point in the future. do not glue it on.

JacOOlito

iTrader: (1)

I got my car broken-in to a few years back. They stole my car manual which at the time has the valet key, also got really paranoid that they'll see my car and drive off in it. So I got an alarm with this installed:

Clifford BlackJax 5:
Fully automatic: No buttons or transmitters to push when a gun is involved. Just get away from the vehicle. Quick response: BlackJax allows the criminal to drive away a safe distance. Then, a few seconds later, BlackJax blares the siren and flashes the lights to alert other drivers and witnesses. It then pulses down the ignition system to safely force the vehicle to slow to a complete stop. Siren blaring and lights flashing, unable to restart the engine, the carjacker has no choice but to abandon the vehicle.

...A pin needs to be entered everytime the driver door is opened. I think I took to the extreme, I paid for my peace of mind.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

That is probably why they stole my manual too lol.

spaceboy

does anyone know where i can get "Honda" sticker that is on the OEM glass?

YeuEmMaiMai

put your stuff in your trunk and cover the key hole as suggested. also disconnect your trunk switch if you are really parnoid so that you can only use the keyfob to open it.

spaceboy

good point, how do you do that?



I was finally able to do the keyhole delete, i tried to take it off with bare hand but it became impossible to do so, it's probably easier to break the window rather than fighting with that cover. It received a new glass this afternoon, its kinda weird because that's the only glass that is not tinted. Will be getting a tint this Sunday..... man the last 2 days have been stressful, going to give it a nice wash with clay and wax this weekend because i feel like i really owe my TL a big apology, feels like my baby just raped!!!

Lesson learned, will never leave anything that attracts attention inside the car no matter how long i will be gone for!!!

spicynoodle116

I think he meant the switch in the glove box compartment. /shrug

Costco

Sorry to hear bud. Which Costco was this?

San Jose is turning into a ghetto. But then again, most big cities have their nice and not-so-nice areas, with plenty of overlap.

and yeah, no spare keys in the car. Hide the wheel lock key, if you have one, in a hard to get to spot.

spaceboy

now i have no spare keys, and i dont plan to get one anyway,

This happened in the costco on Hostetter in San Jose, i usually park away from the crowd because i dont want any dents or scratch by people who dunno how to walk or park right! i didn't realize that put my car is a risk, i will still park far from crowd while making sure there is nothing inside the car!!!



i am also thankful that our car only has one keyhole

YeuEmMaiMai

^ open glvoe box remove switch (should be able to un screw it or if it is like some of the dash switches, carefully pry up) and unplug it and tuck the wire away.

Comptechtl2367

Only way you can get this is buying a Honda piece of glass. Should have gone with a used window!