jled

Long story fairly short - 3 weeks after taking delivery of my 05 TL Navi w/ A-spec wheels, it was broken into by some idiot. I wasn't even out of the break-in period yet :angryfire

Instead of smashing a window and opening in the door, which would have triggered the system. The thief cut (ripped) a fairly large hole in the driver's door just below the lock. Once inside the door it's apparently easy to just disconnect whatever wires/connections are necessary to open the door without activating the system. I'm 95% sure they were looking for the key to wheel locks (which is NOT kept inside the car) as every conceivable part of the interior was opened, but nothing was taken.

The car never made a sound.

I know the factory alarm is not a true "security system", but I was shocked at how easily it was defeated.

Oh well, it's at the dealer now who assures me the door will look the same as the day it rolled off the truck. I guess that's what insurance is for.

Just had to vent. Now it's time to continue searching the forum for a real security system that will integrate with the Acura remote.

The service tech at the dealer said he'd never heard of someone getting into a TL this way. I found that a little hard to believe. Anyone have a similar experience with the factory alarm?

I wish I could have caught the idiot(s) in the act, an arrest would have been the least of his concerns...

Jeff

PPLAPW

Thanks for the heads up, I live near that area.

rets

Sorry to hear that. Do you have some pics for us? I just like to know how that hole looks like. Thanks.

avs007

This is why I was pissed I couldn't figure out how to configure our stock TL's alarm to not disarm when using the key, like I can in my pontiac. I'm sure the thief just accessed the wires on the lock tumbler to disarm your alarm. There is nothing else they could do to prevent your alarm from sounding, as the door switch mechanism is on the frame of the car, not in the door.

zeezz

wow, how did they rip this 'hole' ?

jled

You know, my first thought was to take pictures then I just decided not to. Can't say exactly why. Kind of made me sick to look at. I should have, but just didn't.

Zeez - it's appears as if the door skin was probably "punched" first with a knife or screwdriver then just "peeled" back with pliers maybe. First thing the body shop guy said was "wow, just like a can-opener" or something like that.

Acura_Kid

You have every right to bitch about how easy it was to bypass the alarm. Honda should take their head out of their $#@@$ $ss and stop engineering worthless engine additives and engineer a better alarm system along with keys that have chips in them !!!!!

6mtV6

Our keys do have chips in them.

eyescream

Acura_Kid

Are there really? What does that chip do?

If so then obviously not tied into the alarm system in any meaningful way. I say, "Honda, skip the additives, make the alarm system better so that a can opener cannot bypass it !!!"

chusteveb

Sorry to hear,
With all this said,I may just have to go into the drivers side door and find the wire that disarms the factory alarm and unplug it. Are we able to disarm the factory alam from the ignition if needed be?

What wheels did you have on your TL that they may have wanted? Maybe I shouldn't keep my key in the trunk; but what if I get a flat? So many things to worry about, I hate theives!!!

rbf351

there is no factory alarm, all any new Acuras have is just like most cars, which is a keyless entry with an imoblizer

boosteddsm

Read the first line of his initial post.

Ron A

I agree that the alarm system should be better, but you should know that the chip in the key allows the engine to be started. Without the chip, you can turn the radio on, but you cannot start the car (unless of course you are a good thief, then you can do anything you want).

havokgroup

We do not have "True" alarms. It's mearly a keyless entry system with user memory settings stored in the fob. If you want a real alarm..than get one installed.

golferboy1862

Seems the "idiot" may have been prepared. If they're going to cut rip body panels not many alarms are going to stop them.

ONAGER

if they want in and there good enough.... NO ALARM will stop them. a smart crook can do anything.... who else hear would have thought to peel the door back and cut the wires? how many aftermarket alarms will prevent that?

Prolanman

There's an old saying, locks keep honest people honest. The same applys to an alarm. A professional will be able to enter your vehicle no matter what. Some theives will even tow the car. I believe that all alarms must have a mercury switch in them that turns off the alarm at a 45 degree angle so if the vehicle is parked illegally it can be towed without the alarm staying on.

rbf351

i think they stopped using those mercury switchs a long time ago

NSX-Tuner

That's why I upgraded to a Clifford security system; complete with proximity, shock, tilt and entry sensors. And no, I don't get false alarms.

Prolanman

Actually there are a lot of alarms that use the mercury switch. Most of them use it for motion detection of the vehicle. I know that older ones would disable when tilted to a 45 degree angle for towing purposes.

kona

Which model did you upgrade to?

NSX-Tuner

Clifford Matrix RSX 3.5 2-Way Security with Responder...

J RIDE 81

Man I'd be pissed. By reading you post, I'm wondering how this guy cut through the door without anyone waking up or noticing him. Sounds like a loud process. Where do you live?City or Rural? Where was the car parked? Parking garage, street...?

NSX-Tuner

I say, get his finger prints, track him down and ...

golferboy1862

So when your alarm goes off do you head out the door to tcob? Take care of business!!!

Acuraluvr

iTrader: (2)

i wonder how think is the body panal...... wonder how it looks with a hole ripped into the side.... i wonder y he didnt take anything..... come to think of it, i havnt heard the alarm of the acura and never thought to press the panic button...... hmmmmm srry dude, hope they replace the 'hole'

jled

havokgroup - you need to read the original post

rbf351 - as stated earlier I realize it's quite a bit different and less full featured than an aftermarket system, which I had on my previous two Acuras. However, in additional to the keyless entry and imobilization features it is supposed to give and audio (horn) and visual (lights) warning. I think this can be defined as an "alarm", however crappy it may be.

golferboy - the term idiot was not meant to infer he did not have knowledge on how to break into vehicles, that much is obvious. The criminal may even be an intelligent person, some are - particularly the good ones. It was more directed toward the type of person that would do it. I stand by my assessment of the person(s) character.

J-ride - Yes I was and still am pissed for a variety of reasons. If it had been in the garage I wouldn't be typing this now. I live in an area where a very nice suburban neighborhood turns into a nice kind of semi-rural neighborhood (1 - 5 acre lots). Basically the type of place that you would not expect it to happen. Not to imply that I believe any area is completely free of crime, but very unexpected. In fact, the first thing everyone asks me when they hear about the incident is "where were you?" No one could believe the car was at my house when it happened. As far as the noise- I have three dogs (inside at the time) and the neighbors all have dogs, none of them made a sound. Actually I don't think it would make much noise at all. The loudest part of the whole ordeal would probably have been the initial sound of shoving a sharp instrument through the door skin, which if you can picture it, wouldn't be loud at all. Although I don't plan on testing my theory on any of the other doors once I get the car back.

jled

Acuraluvr - thanks.

As mentioned before I was going to take pics, mostly thinking about posting them here, and then just decided not to for some unknown reason. I kind of regret not taking a few now; I was in a funk that day. Although after reading the post and seeing the pics of the guy whose TL was hit twice in one day made my little hole seem not as a bad.

As far as fixing the hole, according to the dealer's body shop manager, they just replace the entire metal "skin" of the door in one piece. The rest of the door remains original and intact. This made me feel MUCH better when he explained the repair process, as I was concerned about original fit and finish of a replacement door.

jj87

maybe a picture of this break in? like what he did to the car to get in.

Jinen

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6889452/


check that article out...it kind of relates to this topic!!!

Acura_Kid

Pics would be nice, I'd like to see how they peeled open door steel. This story without pics is hard to believe.

jled

I've already addressed the pics several times. You got me, I really had nothing better to do last night so I made the whole thing up. Amazing...

MR1

Sorry, I suggest that you remain concerned! I have a '93 delSol that had a door crunched with me sitting in the car. The door was reskined. They repeated the process about three times before I gave up. Apparently a very good body shop has to align the new skin perfectly.

My door still sticks out 1/8 inch +- and the window moves slowly. The new skin also has about two pounds of putty around the inner seam. This on an otherwise still pristine vechicle that has 128K. Guess I didn't have a very good body shop, hope yours is better.

special-ed

After reading this post, i'm all friggin paranoid now. How much for the system and install? Saw their website for this particular model and that thing looks tits. Thanks!

NSX-Tuner

It aint cheap. Base price is somewhere around $500. But after all the extra sensors of various types and backups to backups I had installed, it was about $1000 installed. With all the mods I have, it was worth it to me.

AcidHorse

Damn, I guess you really can't anything about the hole he did. He really DID want your car!

rontatuaf

It's a little more than that. It does have intrusion sensing and the audio system protection is as good as any available.We may not have motion sensing and features available with high end after market alarms but it ia a little more than remote entry.

jled

That was kind of my point when I started the thread. I know there are much higher end aftermarket systems and none are infallable, but it just seems much too easy to defeat.

As a side note - I had SO many requests for pics (including one inference that the incident was a fabrication since I didn't take pics) that I went to the dealer with a camera because they had not started work as of this morning. Murphy's law: by the afternoon they had finally started on the car, the door was already off when I got there. So again, sorry for no pics.

Yoda117

Actually this is not an uncommon method since it defeats so many stock alarm systems.

That said, it still sucks.

I intentionally upgraded to a better alarm with a motion sensor to deal with this kind of problem... in some states you can go so far as to use high-voltage as part of a theft-deterrent system (not quite sure how it works since the car is supposedly grounded).

Guys, this should be a lesson to all of us... as the TL gains in popularity, especially with those who like to mod their car a bit, this kind of nonsense is going to continue.