2K3Max

I honestly cannot believe this ish. My brand new 2k3 GLE was parked right in the driveway, and in the morning all I see are to gaping holes in the fender where the headlights once were. Ridiculous. I realize Maxima's are especially easy to rip off, but there must be some kind of security system I can install to supplement what I must say is a fairly lame factory one. Help me out people

NT2SHBBY

join the club homie...I take it you're from NY/NJ

MaXBoost03_SE

Sorry about the lights bud.

The only security that would possibly work is to put the 2k/2k1 headlights on your car. (that would really suck). Keep your eyes on ebay, you might see the lights being sold pretty soon.

jjs

Excuse me....I think not.

BiggD23

Damn, that sucks. Aside from putting in a good alarm or 2k/2k1 lights in like MaXBoost03_SE said, I think we only have a couple options...

1) Talk to TimW and see if he has any more theft-deterrent bolt sets left. I bought a set from him last month. They are basically bolts where the head is a star design with a post in the middle, meaning you need the special key (which TimW provides) to loosen or tighten them. The heads are also rounded and cannot be gripped with vice grips. This is by no means an end-all solution, it's only meant to slow thieves down enough that hopefully they decide it's not worth the risk and move on to the next Maxima. If they decide to just break the tabs and/or housing you're screwed and these bolts did you no good. But for $10 shipped I thought it was worth it.

2) Purchase the theft-deterrant kit from Nissan for $60. There has been much debate here about whether this kit actually helps or hurts. It will slow thieves down for sure, but may also lead them to do more damage to your hood and/or bumper in the process with a crow bar. This kit is for sale here:

http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...de=A33KT-HDLCK

Good luck.

MaXBoost03_SE

lol, sorry man no offense (i previously had a 00 gxe, so I have no probs with the non hid maxes, But it would suck to go from HID's to non hid's.. HID's is one of the reasons why i got my 03 besides the 3.5 engine..

vito1281

Problem is that there's really no deterrent out there, in the true sense of the word. TimW's bolts and the anti-theft kit simply make it harder for the thief to take the lights out. This often times leads to thieves using more force to pry the lights out, going to the extreme of using crowbars.

As a result, you may still end up w/stolen lights, but you'll also get more collateral damage from the extra force required to pry the HIDs out.

My advice would be to install shock and prox sensors on the car, along with a good 2 way alarm w/a pager. In addition to that, try to park "defensively"--park as close as possible with the front of the car facing a wall or door, choose your parking spots carefully, and if possible, garage the car as much as possible.

Putting in 00-01 lights IS an alternative, but I find the HIDs are a big part of the 02-03 car, and played a role in my decision to buy the Max.

Good luck

releasedtruth

I bought the HIDs, then sold em. Headlights are of very limited value to a car in my opinion. If you don't want em yoinked, but in some nice AE 01s or something, you won't have as great a headlight, but BFD says I. Not that it's that important

2K3Max

Replacing the HID's with some downmarket lights is definitely not an option, once you get used to them it's impossible to downgrade. The thing that upsets me is the fact that it happened right in my driveway! I've been contemplating getting a pager, but it seems kind of excessive, as well as cumbersome to carry around. Luckily these guys did a relatively clean job, no damage was done to any of the panels, nothing was shmashed or broken, but this is a monumental pain in the ***. The Nissan dealers charge about 5 grand for factory replacements, and they keep the car there for up to 5 days. Thanks for the comments guys

MaXBoost03_SE

Have you guys ever thought about buying an outdoor surveilance camera? I have one pointing straight at my car. Cost me $150 at brandsmart usa. Its small and has audio too. I leave it recording all night when im sleeping. It has awesome quality. And I leave the tv on all night watching my baby. Just have your shotgun by the door in case you see something.

vito1281

I wouldn't call it excessive considering you've been hit already. Also, keep in mind that these punk a$$es will most likely come back again in a few weeks, looking to rip your replacements out as well. So you better make yourself prepared for this, and arm the car to the teeth.

The pager isn't cumbersome at all. I don't have one on my car, but I've seen it and held it in my hand. If you live in a hotspot, then I'd definitely consider getting it.

MaXBoost03_SE

Get them here for $1,318.00

click here

vito1281

Or contact Dave Burnette(DAVEB on the board) for a most-likely lower price.

jjs

MaXBoost03_SE

You can actually get the lights cheaper here on ebay..

Left headlamp

Right Headlamp

2K3Max

150 dollars, thats it? If thats the case I would do it in a second, I just assumed it would end up costing thousands of dollars. I'll at least get some kind of pager device for it.

vito1281

That's essentially buying your own lights back!

99% of the HIDs on EBay (OEM HIDs that is) are the stolen ones we're complaining about. So if you don't want to support these punks, don't buy them off of EBay.

NT2SHBBY

also dude, another idea for you to consider, if you know anything about IP addressing, and have a DSL connection at home, you can buy a Webcam, assign it a dedicated IP address and you can watch the camera from ANY computer ANYWHERE in the world real time...just there is no real recording...

MaXBoost03_SE

Thats a good point. But these lights are in pefect condition, Don't they break something when they yank the headlights out?

vito1281

Well, the pics that guy is showing are just generic pics he can get from somewhere on the net. As a matter of fact, the one he has with the light on some car I think I've seen before here on the .org.

He says they're in "great condition", but that's a subjective description. What he considers "great" may not be really great, if you know what I mean.

Basically, from people's experience here, the lights on EBay tend to be OVERWHELMINGLY stolen. When emailed, these *******es say they got the lights off a car on the salvage yard, or some other BS.

My advice would be to stay away from buying those lights if you don't want to receive stolen property. If you don't care, then be my guest--they're definitely pretty cheap there.

Disclaimer: when I say "you", I mean you in general, not MaxBoost. Just wanted to make that clear!

BiggD23

Not if they do it right. About 30 seconds and the right sized rachet is all you need to get both HIDs out undamaged and be gone.

MaXBoost03_SE

And this is without opening the hood?

vito1281

No, you're right. They'd need to open the hood to make it THAT clean. Usually they just rip them out "gently" (sounds contradictory, but it's the truth...), and break the stock plastic tabs in the process. I think you can buy replacement tabs, and make them look like new again, and mount them on another car.

MaXBoost03_SE

What would be sweet, is to have like a lojack device installed inside of the HID Housing. So we can track those bastards.

guapsnaman

Will etching the vin number helo prevent stolen lights being sond again? Oh and do the headlights come etched with the car's vin when you first but them?

MaXBoost03_SE

It might prevent them from being sold with the housing. But These bastards will probably sell the lights themselves. And no, they dont come etched from factory.

boatonsea

One week ago, those punks got my lights while my car was parked in a gated garage at a NJ train station.
1. "Maxima Headlight Theft-deterent Kit" is USELESS ! I had it installed by Nissan dealer (Samsone Rt1 automall in NJ) for $250. It was simply bypassed. don't ever waste your money. I will talk to Nissan dealership for refund.
2. Defensive Parking didn't help. My car was parked so that the front of car was only once inch away from the wall. They still got my lights. It was a clean job. Little damage on other parts of the car.

Shall we be organized and start to email those people selling stolen HID on ebay ? I don't see that many on ebay now. Did you use the wrong words while searching them ?

vito1281

What do you mean I used the wrong words while searching for them? There seems to be less of them at the moment. Not sure if NJ/NY is cracking down on it, but we'll see what happens.

I'm surprised they were able to get your lights 1 in away from a wall AND do it cleanly. This was definitely not their first time doing this.

I remember someone posted a story not too long ago about two dudes that got caught in Brooklyn stealing HIDs. They were accused of stealing over 70 pairs! Imagine that: 70 pairs, at least $500 bucks a pair on the street, so you're looking at at least $35K profit!

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Hmmmmn...I wonder if that's possible.

The NEW lojack is supposedly VERY accurate down to 10's of feet vs. the original which was like a 3-block radius.

Too bad there isn't a GPS receiver that can transmit its coordinates.

boatonsea

One week ago, those punks got my lights while my car was parked in a gated garage at a NJ train station.
1. "Maxima Headlight Theft-deterent Kit" is USELESS ! I had it installed by Nissan dealer (Samsone Rt1 automall in NJ) for $250. It was simply bypassed. don't ever waste your money. I will talk to Nissan dealership for refund.
2. Defensive Parking didn't help. My car was parked so that the front of car was only once inch away from the wall. They still got my lights. It was a clean job. Little damage on other parts of the car.

Shall we be organized and start to email those people selling stolen HID on ebay ? I don't see that many on ebay now. Did you use the wrong words while searching them ?

boatonsea

Shall Maxima owners organize themselve by questioning those punks selling stolen HID on ebay ? They may get intimitated after receiving 50 emails about his auction... just my thoughts