If it ever did come down to it (replacing with AE's), I know that in the end, I'd still miss my Xenons.

 

Really? I've never heard of locking covers or closed-loop sensors for it. How much do these run for? If you can get a sensor for a cover, then that avoids the jet vibration, cat/dog disturbance-type of false alarms. That's definitely something I'd look into.

Tim, any links showing these covers?

Thanks.

 

Good idea on the tails. If they see the car from behind they may keep going. If it saves you once it was worth it.

 

The Glock 26 is a 9mm that is also highly concealable. Florida, like where I live, has a concealed carry law. But, even though I carry one, by law I can't use it if someone is merely stealing/vandalizing my property. So, when we get twisted everytime someone looses their HIDs, don't think having a gun handy solves everything.

On the other, in Texas if "skillet" decides to take your property, they're fair game.

Buzz

 

The stock alarm is obviously useless since you and so many others on here have gotten their HIDs stolen. I got an aftermarket alarm w/battery backup siren so that I can worry less about it. So far, I still have my HIDs after a year (knock on wood). Luckily, I don't live in NJ or NY which seem to be HID theft capitals of the country.

Most aftermarket alarms have shock sensors mounted under the steering column and you can adjust the sensitivity of them. An alternative to a shock based sensor is to get a proximity alarm. I strongly suggest you get a battery backup siren so that it'll still go off if they cut the battery.

I wouldn't suggest adding a shock sensor to the factory alarm since the dumb factory alarm flashes the HIDs which is bad for them (according to the manual).

 

It's funny you mentioned that considering the Sales Manager advised me to get the factory alarm over an aftermarket alarm because in doing so, the aftermarket alarm would void any electrical problems with the car later down the road.

So with that been said, its ok for the factory alarm to be installed and flash the HID's everytime you lock or unlock your car, even though its bad for them, and you also risk them being stolen, but it wouldn't be ok to get an aftermarket alarm to "protect" your HID's from being stolen because it would void the warrantee for any electrical problems incurred down the road.

*sigh* I give up!!

 

Sorry, it took me a little while to catch up on this post..

this is just another lovely side of nissan we see here..

What kind of alarm do people suggest that would do this kind of thing? If you have URLs handy, paste those too.

TimW: Do you have more info on the closed loop alarm car cover thing? I would def. get one of those as soon as I found out about it.

Thanks again

 

I dont off hand. A good friend of mine has some sort of limited production racing bike, still in the mfg crate, in his garage. He has it covered (the box) and alarmed (tied into his house alarm). I'll ask him. As for regular closed loop sensors, Directed makes one and its cheap. Could be easily run a wire with the car cover cable.

 

Dude,

I'm so sorry to hear about that. If you would have lived near the NJ/NY area, we could bring a couple of Maxima org brothers with their cars, and we could stake them out. I can imagine what I could do to one of these guys when they invade my property.



Andy

 

mercury switch?
yes guys..that same stuff that shows u the temp...
that's stiched to the cover or glued on. once the cover is tilted/lifted the mercury moves and it triggers the alarm to go off.
some skill in wiring and you should be ok.

 

Well,what about etching (I think that's how it's spelled). Many car makers etch the VIN code on every window. Maybe we can do the same thing on the HID's. Another suggestion is to etch the driver's license number too.

 

Wow, this is a great idea. Where would you put the etch, just on the outside plastic cover? My original thought was to write with permanent marker "Stolen from <license plate>" on the back of my new HIDs. Maybe a combination of the two would deter them from taking them? The thieves would have to be able to see them before they start the job, tough, if it were to work as a deterrrent as well.

 

The major problem with these thefts is that many of them who are stealing the lights are not keeping them the way they are. They are disassembling them to take the bulbs and ballasts to use on other cars. So the etching probably won't deter anything.

 

Well, I think that some of them are also owners of 00-01 Max's and at least we can try to stop'em. Maybe a combination of different techniques would work.

 

I had this idea a few months ago, but the .Org'ers thought that it would not make a difference because they would scratch it out. The problem is the people who are buying the stolen HIDs. Nissan should lower the price of HIDs so they are not worth stealing. The only time this is going to stop is when there is no market for them - ie: when every car has HIDs. But even then there will be a small market for people who need to replace them after an accident.

I'm so sorry to hear about these lights. If you do catch them (I sincerly hope you do), just be careful how you handle the situation. If you shoot or stab them, that's when the pri*ck cops will bust out the finger printing gear. From what I understand of the law, you cannot kill somone because of property theft . Only when your life is in danger. If it ever comes to that for anyone, just say the person was attacking you with the crowbar that they used to steal your lights.

I don't understand how someone can break into someone elses property. It just doesn't compute for me how people can risk getting killed or going to jail when they can just get a job and work for nice stuff with much less of a risk.

In one of the above posts there was a story in LI (my area) about people getting hit. The police made 3 arrests in October and the thefts seemed to have gone down considerably. It's nice to see that they are doing something, but only after many people were hit.

I'm fortunate that I park my car in my garage (with a centrally monitored alarm system on my house) but I am still nervous when I go out. For all of those thinking of getting AE lights, consider instead getting a 2nd beater car for $500 - $1000. You can take it and park it anywhere and your insurance will probably go down if you put it as the primary car!

 

Ya know, its not a bad idea, but what happens when that beater car decides to go on you, and your stuck somewhere. Here ya are, ya paid a substantial amount of money for the max because you enjoy it (not that the Max couldn't break down either), and this is what you want to be driving in, but yet, it would be like we're all driving in fear now because we can't take our 02's and 03's out w/o worrying about the HID's being stolen.

I don't know if you've seen it, but I'm interested about that HID Theft Deterrance Kit Courtesy Nissan is offering. I don't know if anyone here has bought it yet, but some people in another thread have talked about it and said the design seems to have some shortcomings as well. Here's a look: HID Theft Kit

It would be nice to find a "sure-fire" way to stop this altogether.

 

Guys (and gals), just out of curiousity, why are the Maximas more prone to this kind of theft (or so it seems like they're more prone). Are other car manufacturers (Acura, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, etc) using some sort of deterrent or what? It just seems like we, the Nissan owners, are having more trouble than what I've seen by browsing other forums. What is it about OTHER cars that prevents them from being hit as much? Anyone know?

 

Luckilly, my sister gave me her old car for the beater. I would be lost without it. I've had a 2nd car every time I bought a new car and it has been the best thing ever. I don't drive it many miles (just 1 mile to the train station every day, trips to the mall, or anywhere in a snow storm). When you keep the miles down, they tend to last a lot longer (knock, knock, knock )

I was thinking about getting this kit, but I'll have to see. There will never be a "sure-fire" way to stop this short of making the front look like an off road truck. Also, they can just take the whole car if they want to. I would love to be able to wire up some sort of shock device that electrocutes the would-be theives if they touch the car at all

 

Yeah, I see what you're saying. As for the shock device, I'm down with that! Or some kind of spraying mace contraption, so they can't see what their doing! Yeaahhhhh................

 

I know this is probably a stupid idea, but I'm just brain-storming here. How about putting some sort of label warning on the lights saying that there is a tracking device inside the headlight unit that will activate itself when the lights are removed? Something like a lojack, but strictly for the lights. Now, this may not deter a lot of thieves, but for some dumb ones, they may actually believe this, and pass up on your Max. Just a thought (perhaps a stupid one)!

Also, I had a friend in high school who had his fog lights stolen (he had an Accord, and these were aftermarket fogs, nothing special). Anyhow, what he did is he put knife blades underneath the car where the thieves would usually go to disconnect certain wires (not sure which ones, but I think the security and/or the fog light wires). He said that if they try to take them again, they may end up losing an arm for them (literally). Just something I wanted to share with you guys (by the way, as far as I know, he never had his fog lights stolen again! )

 

I like the knife idea...

 

It was shown here, on our local news how thieves do it.

HID Theft

Doing a search for HID Locks on google, I saw an article about a women who had her HID's stolen from her TL. If you watch this video carefully, it isn't all that hard to do, and with a little practice, it can be "Gone in 60 Seconds" (Sorry, had to add some humor there! )
But IMO, I think Nissan created a SERIOUS design flaw with the way the Max's HID's are layed out. I'm not sure what the other manufacturers or doing or have done, but their HID's don't look as easily accessible.

 

Yeh, I saw that video, and I've heard about their "technique". I'm just wondering how, for example, the TL keeps its lights better. I know the HIDs are standard on that car as well, so I would imagine the thieves would target them as well, but from reading acura-tl.com, it's by no means as big of a problem as it is here on our org.

Also, if they're just interested in the lightbulb and the igniter, what's stopping them from just breaking the headlight cover and pulling the entire "gut" assembly out?

 

I don't think that's true. I have a friend who works at state farm, and up until a month ago, he said he never heard of lights being stolen from maximas. He said he had many claims for the Acuras. I'm sure things are a bit different now. But I think (especially here in New York), loser thieves don't discriminate.

 

I had my HIDs stolen a week and a half ago (NYC), looking at the pictures of your car brought tears to my eyes, I have the same color '03 GLE. I decided to replace HIDs with '01 lights because the risk of new HIDs being stolen is almost a certainity the cost to repair them is eye popping (3,500 smackers and up). The new (old) lights actually look pretty decent, the shape is almost the same and it is a nice match with the grill. I miss the xenon illumination but even with these I can see the road just fine, and if that's the cost of peace of mind, hell I'll take it.
You should consider putting in the 01 lights, you will sacrifice on the looks but you'll save yourself a nervuos (and financial) breakdown.

 

Alex,

I'm picking up my '03 SE in less than 7 hours, but I'm also in NYC and I'm anticipating the theft of my HID's. In case it should happen, I have a couple of questions about the '01 lights.

Were they easy to install? Did you have to rewire? Do your highbeams still work?

I'm with you on this idea. I'd rather have peace of mind than HID's.

thanks,

Dan

 

Sorry to hear about your car NYC is definetly "Hell-Central" when it comes to HID's and cars stolen. Which is why, I will NEVER drive my car into the city, let alone pass through it, unless I'm DEFINETLY sure I don't have to park or leave it unattended for more then 15 seconds (with BOTH my eyes on it). I agree tho, the peace of mind factor having the AE's in is a BIG plus, considering you won't have the luxury of the Xenon's anymore. I'm still debating about it now, but I'd rather see a bolt or lock for them so that they are bulletproof, rather then go the alarm route, which, I think alot of people are looking at, or switch to the AE's.

 

I'd hate to give up Xenon

 

You can get any door open with a screw driver, not just the Maxima. The real problem with Nissan security is the lack of a shock sensor.

 

*sigh* yep.......

 

There was a news report on it a month or two ago. TLs are hit all the time. They also suffer more damage than Maximas, because they are harder to get at. They pretty much rip the whole bumper off.

 

What about BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus, and all the top end luxury models? I have yet to see one of those with a missing headlight(s), but have seen TLs and Maxs with them. Any idea what the top end manufacturers do?

 

I don't want to give any bad ideas... but how about relocating the hood sensor so thieves can't cut it? I got a pair of light a while ago and I'm afraid to put them on.

 

So Nissan must've saw this and said, "well, we don't want our customers to have ripped off bumpers, so if thieves are going to steal their HID's, let's just make a BIG-A$$ grill for them to pop out, open the hood, snip the wires to the alarm, and leave as little to minimal damage to their car as possible!" It's that easy!

 

ya, i was wondering that, too. why aren't people stealing 5 series hid's with angel eyes, like they're taking max hid's? i guess:

1) sub-standard factory alarm
2) easy access at door to window, wiring
3) plastic tabs on light assembly
4) easy to open hood
5) ballast, etc. all part of one assembly
6) most maxima owners are not millionaires, we're regular people parking in driveways, streets, etc., not secure garages.
7) public knowledge - people know they're easy, so they a target

combination of all those, i'd say. some of those we can fix:

1) a better, aftermarket alarm (shock sensor - hello!). tampering with the door wiring would set it off, too.
3) hid bolts
4) hood pins? mercury tilt switch?
7) etching, or the "don't steal my hid's" label?

bottom line:
what i've learned about car theft is this: you can't keep people from stealing your stuff if they really want to. what you CAN do, is make your car less appealing than the next one. make it look difficult, deter them, and hopefully they'll move on to an easier victim.

good luck guys. guess i'm glad i can't afford to by the hids for my 2k.

 

I can't beleive it's gotten this bad. You have not even picked up your car and already thinking about your HID's being stolen, wow... Well I hope it won't come to this but here is the scoop on old lights.
To install 01 lights I went to the Nissan dealership where I bought my Max, (Bay Ridge Nissan). The guy had no problem with my request of putting in old lights, seems he's done that a lot. They rewired the car, I am not familiar with the details, and the lights work fine, including highbeams. They still charge a lot for this because it takes a lot labor hours for rewiring.


Good luck

 

its not *that* hard. In fact, with the old lights out and wires already cut I bet I could knock out a 2k1 light install in about 45 mins.

 

Why doesn't nissan release a new headlight assy. with no bulbs... instead of plastic as a back, like a metal one or something? I'm sure it wouldn't be too expensive to buy the assy. with no bulbs since it would be an upgrade for exisiting customers..

*shrug* what's the hold up Nissan? These headlights have only been the current headlights since the production of the 2002 models... *sigh*

 

one option
http://www.streetbeatcustoms.com/gtsgt0240.html

hide them!

 

is this ugly? yeah... would it work? maybe, if there are easier targets available to them.



to most theives that means one of two things, a bluff or you have hidden shotgun shells and razor blades in there and the sticker is for the court case when they try to sue you for loss of a finger.