Better.... Just pay for a transport service to the airport.

In Stl its about 14-18 per day to park in a secure garage, depending if its indoors or not. Its $40 each way for me to have someone transport me to from airport. If you are traveling for more than a 5 days, its a wash, and your car is safe.

 

The only thing I don't do is leave the doors unlocked or keys in the ignition and/or leave something of value or "of interest" laying on the seat....

If they take the car so be it. Sure its a pain in the ass and will cost you some money. I for one would not want the car back,,,,,, period!


As mentioned above, all you can do is make your car less desirable or less "steal-able" than the next one... But if it's your car they want, it's your car they will take.

That's why I'm insured...

 

Sorry brother !......, that suck's!.....I felt the same way when my 98' INTEGRA TYPE R was stolen!

 

man I hate reading this. Im sorry bro, for your sake lets hope they find it somewhere burnt to a crisp.

I would hate to get mine back know some assholes were in it...

 

sorry to hear your loss. concerning to me, as i just parked my TL there last month... the long term lot at Sac airport.

Good luck...

 

I feel your pain.

...had my 94 Legend stolen but was recovered a day later along with 3 or 4 other vehicles.

IF my TL ever does, i will commit suicide.

 

Sorry to hear it man! I feel your pain. Mine was lifted in the spring from my work parking lot. Cops found it on the 29th frickin' day and the body shop took a month to repair the damage the tow truck rednecks did to it while they dragged it onto the truck without any wheels.

Got it back and traded it in a couple of days later. It just felt foreign and the air in it was stale. Just really creepy. Hope everything works out for you, better than it did for me.

BTW don't worry about your garage or house. Like an idiot, I kept an "emergency key" for the house in the console and it was still there when I got the car back. Had the locks to the house changed anyway.

Best of luck!

 

Great question! In my 20+ years of air travel, I never never never leave the parking ticket in the car. I take it with me always, just as I did this time. I also check twice to confirm that the car is locked, and I never keep an extra key in the car.

My guess is that it is either an inside job or a two+ perps came into the parking lot in their car. They somehow got into my car and started it, and one of them used the parking ticket that they just pulled to casually pay to exit. The perps car then tries to leave, saying that they lost their ticket. At most airports, if you lose your ticket you must show your license and registration. If it doesn't match, the police are called.

Someone should think of a way to encode the drivers license number and the car's plates onto the parking ticket upon entrance. That would make things a bit more diffcult.

Either way... I hope it's never recovered. Who knows what has been done to it. God forbid that someone was smoking in it... or FOR HEAVEN SAKE THEY WERE EATING IN IT!!!!!!!!



~Steve

 

I'm sure I won't say anything that hasn't already been said, but let me express my sorrows for you I can't imagine this happening, but hopefully the insurance company will help you out and make things as painless as possible - if not, maybe it's time to switch afterwards.

Until then...

* Hope it doesn't turn up in the next 30 days. I've heard of too many people getting their cars back only to be trashed, ya know?

* Like the cops told ya, I doubt the theives are going to show up at your house...they're in it for the car. If they wanted your home address, they could have just busted the window and read your address on the registration.

* Lastly, something to make you feel better about it all....start looking for your new TL, or maybe even a TL-S.....?

Let us all know how it turns out in the end and how the entire process goes.

 

I have Lo-jack on both my car and my daughter's 07 Mazda3!

Which is kinda contradictory to my previous post of not wanting it back...damn!

 

Better than the Club is Master Lock's steering wheel lock. It has 4 prongs that involve the upper and lower sections of the steering wheel.

The locks that involve the clutch or brake do not "mash" down on those pedals. They keep the pedals from being depressed. I have two in the basement and both are crap.

For joy riders or quick-in-and-quick-out thieves, a steering wheel lock is an excellent device since those types of maggots are not of a mind to take the time to remove them.. they'll just move on to some other car. However, the "artist" thief who wants your car is most likely going to get it unless you are standing close by with a gun in your hand.

 

a blessing in disguise! =)

 

you have a daughter that has a car!?!?? dude I thought you were like 25 or something LOL

LOL!!!!!!!!


but anyway, trying not to highjack the thread here but sorry bro that sucks...I never really thought about the ticket in the car piece, I park my car in JFK / LGA all the time in NYC...I don't think I'll be doing that ever again nor will I ever leave the parking ticket thingy in my car.

Lesson learned...to the OP, best of luck getting things figured out

 

How many cars are being stolen at that particular airport each year? I mean, do they not realize cars are being stolen to up their security measures? If it's something way too common, the local police dept or the airport police should conduct a sting operation...

Honestly, I've never parked my car at an airport overnight, so I have no clue as to how it works, but if I were part of airport security...I'd implement some kind of card/key to be assigned to each individual leaving their vehicle overnight, so when they leave the airport, the card/key goes with them, and NO one would be able to leave the parking structure without that particular card/key...thus, preventing those unlawful entry to our vehicles...

 

The trouble with Lojack and the reason why airport parking lots are targeted is because it is usually long term parking. By the time you return and discover your loss, your car has been stripped and disappeared, in spite of having the Lojack.

I would like to take the 'Club' to the bastards heads. Unfortunately, the battle between the haves and the have-nots is perpetual.

Hope everything works out with insurance.

 

good luck on stepped up security....they dont give 2 sh*ts.... until the people who own/run the airport get jacked the way everyday regular people do, nothigns going to happen and those shitty cameras that have like .00004 megapixel dont do a damn thing.

 

Thats why you get "Lo Jack Early Warning".

You get an extra key fob. Essentially if your vehicle is ever moving without that key fob in it, you get an email, a call to your cell phone, your pager goes off, a call to your home and a call to your office. Basically this call lets you know that your car is being moved without your authorization. Once you get that call, you call the police to have them activate the LoJack. You could be on the other side of the country or the other side of the world (as long as you have cell coverage or access to email), the minute your car is moving, you'll find out.

If you are truly worried about theft (not just going for the insurance discount), this is the system to get. It will even go off if your car is being towed by the police.

 

This is a real eye opener. I have a CLUB for the steering wheel but this has got me thinking. I'm looking at this tire claw. Does this actually work? I looks to me that if they were able to start the car, the claw would break off when the car started rolling. Could be time to invent a car seat with a tazer.

 

They were trying that idea out for NYC cabbies a few years back. The back seat was basically hooked up to a taser so if the cabbie found himself in a dangerous situation he could taze the passenger.

 

Ask them to investigate people who "lost" their tickets shortly after your car was jacked.

 

If I saw that on my boosting rounds and decided to take the car, I would simply swap that wheel with the spare in the trunk. 5 minutes... done.

The only way it would be somewhat effective is if 2+ wheels had a lock.

 

add the club and different wheel locks for the tire that the wheel has the club on lol

 

wtf??? I dont want to insult anyone but the wheel locks ok no prob if the penis doesnt know what he's doing or doesnt have the right tool for it hes not gettign anything off and the wheel claw is the stupidest shit in the world; your more likely to forget its there n fuck ur car up more than they would by trying to steal it..... if they want it they got it.... no wheel locks n wheel claw is going to prevent anyone from taking it. ESPECIALLY in NYC

 

how many times does it need to be elaborated that these are theft deterrent measures?

If I was a thief would I want to spend 30+ minutes trying to

1) find a way around the tuner lug nuts
2) find a way around a claw(s) on the wheel
3) find a way around a club on the steering wheel
4) find a way around the factory theft prevention mechanisms

Or 15 minutes on the readily available lexus 2 cars over?


bottom line. IT DOESNT HURT.

 

90% of security is about deterrance. You want to make your car/house/whatever a less appealing target than the car/house/whatever right next to it. For example, I know several ways to break into my own house, even though we have a monitored security system, locks on the gates to the back yard, deadbolts, a safe, etc... The point is, it's less effort to break into the place two houses down, so maybe the theif will just go there.

Same thing with your car. Get some kind of cheap but a-hassle-to-defeat deterrant (Club, whatever), and park next to another TL or a nicer car. Given the choice, the theives will probably go for the other guys car instead of yours.

Sorry about your loss though. That's a suck ass thing to have to deal with after a flight.

 

Hey, I'm only stating the obvious when I see that poorly designed wheel club. If the wheels are secured with lug locks, great. The keys better be hidden though. But like I said, the designers didn't take into consideration people who don't use locking lugs.

Now this is a much better designed device...



Never underestimate thieves...

 

^^^^^I'm with above stupid but I'm NOT with ALL OTHER ABOVE STUPIDS, only THIS stupid

its a deterrant...that's it! Nobody is saying these are going to 100% stop your car from being stolen, its just to DETER. that's it

 

^^^^^^^^I'm also with this above stupid

 

Update from the Sheriff's Department:

On the night that my car was stolen, the back gate (where the parking shuttle bus enters) was broken. Video surveillance does not show my car leaving the parking turnstyles.


So it looks like the crooks avoided the checkpoints that might lead to their arrest by slipping out the shuttle entrance. Also, I was told that several car theft rings target mid-to-upper level luxury cars (especially the TL), tow it away to minimize the damage, and then ship the car intact to Europe to be sold on the black market. Wow... my poor TL...

The insurance wheels continue to grind... I have to wait a few weeks to confirm that my car is not recovered. How sad... but maybe a new Acura would cheer me up?

Thanks everyone for your supportive messages. It really does help me get through this. AcuraZine rocks! You are all wonderful!

~Steve

 

That is the worst feeling!!!! I have been there before. I use the Sac Airport all the time. I will definitely think about the club for the tire. I already use the steering wheel club religiously. Good luck with the insurance and stuff.

 

I hate car thieves. My Integra was stolen and stripped. Convicted car thieves should have one arm amputated to signify their crime and deterr them from future crimes . I wouldn't mind paying extra taxes for that. I think I'll start a petition. Besides, they can still brush their teeth and and wipe their ass. I appreciate good hygiene.

 

The hell with their hygiene; let them first wipe their ass then brush their teeth, without a toothbrush. They are scum anyway.

 

If you go to the trouble to add the tire claw, you could add a note to the front seat to at least warn them what they have gotten into..

 

I have the lojack early warning thingamajigy where you get a phone call/text etc...

found this which I think is rather interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxgZI0Lj5Ao

 

news reporting on the lojack - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxu04FIYHYE

 

Kinda off-putting for an amateur, but that's just an invite for the professional.

 

lol you think professional thieves think, 'oh a wheel lock, thats a challenge! yippee'? no, they think a wheel lock adds 15 minutes to the time it takes me to boost the vehicle, in which time I will be exposed and a passing pedestrian or cop can report/nail my ass, or the owner can return, plus if I cant figure it out my time will be wasted.

Professionals will take the path of least risk/resistance that leads to the most benefit.

 

For anyone that routinely parks at Pittsburgh International Airport you'll be glad to know that the Allegheny County police have a pretty good presence there overnight. I've come back from business trips several times past 1AM and I always see a car patroling the lot and another patroling the road.

Also, and I don't know what good this is, but they have a kid that walks around the lot with some sort of handheld thing and types in random license plate numbers. Not sure what they're doing with that info as they don't scan every car.

 

Since conspiracy theories seem to be the plan of the day, let me contribute this...The "kid" walking around probably isn't associated with the airport but may rather be one of the group of thieves. He's simply writting down good "suspects" and documenting the typical duration a "target" is normally out of town. ...maybe...Ever asked for proof of who he is and why he's there?

 

I've seen him twice and both times the cop was three feet behind him driving 2mph. He's associated with the airport taking down random plates.