As some of you may have read the thread I posted in the NE forum about 2k2 HID's being stolen, well today comes some more bad news. This lady who lives up the block from me had her 2k2 17" rims stolen last night. Yep, the front and rear rims on the drivers side were gone and her car was on bricks! WTF is going on? Is our car really that Hot that people are stealing part off this badly?

GC

 

HIDs being stolen is pretty common, especially among Acuras.... that sucks Keep an eye out on your ride.....

 

GC,

Remember me, I met you at Fizz that one time. I think I live near you, are you closer to L.I side, or Flushing ? Wheels LOCKS fellas .. get em.

RPNY

 

Maximas don't have factory wheels locks??? I had that on all my previous cheaper cars and I assumed that it was common for Max. So I didn't even bother to ask when buying mine.

Now I feel nervous... Thanks for that thread...

 

i don't know if the wheel locks come standard, but I have wheel locks on my 2k2 se

 

That sucks.. That's why I have 2 wheel locks on mines.. Gorilla & Nissan Oem...

 

Representin NY- Yea, I remember U from Fizz. How did u make out with those coilovers? 2 Sets of wheel locks are mandatory. One other thins i should mention is that our factory alarm is a POS. I'm planning on getting a better alarm. Any thoughts?

GC

 

only takes one visit to a service bay that cant find your wheel key : / they will beat on it a while before calling you. So, most wheel keys are in very obvious places.. I know mine is in the tool set. was in the glove box kinda like removable face radios. In theory, it works great.

 

actually you dont need any of those....theres a special socket in the shape of a triangle that just breaks ANY and ALL wheel locks out...just shreds them apart with brute force....its a sad thing

researched all of this crapola before getting my rims

and yes Nissan wheels come with wheel locks...shows you how much good they are huh?

 

My 2K SE w/17" rims did not come with wheel locks, none of the cars on the lot had them. Bottom line is that if they want the rims, they're going to get them.

Be thankful they put the car up on blocks - most thieves just drop it on the rotors.

 

I subscribe to the philosophy of preventing stupid people from stealing my stuff. That is, I take basic, easy to use security precautions such as arming the alarm, using locking nuts, etc.

Most thieves are morons and/or opportunists. Basic precautions prevent those people from stealing. The other thieves who are smarter or are willing to put in more effort to steal my stuff are going to steal it because I'm not willing to take the precautions to prevent them.

It is kind of like the law of diminishing marginal returns - there is always going to be the extra you can do, the only question is it worth doing?

Hell, I could hire an armed group of mercenaries to gaurd my car at all times and I sincerely doubt any thief would be willing to attempt to steal it (not to mention it would prevent door dings) but its clearly not worth doing.

 

I agree. Simple precautions are probably the best. Things that will make the average low-life thief look for another car. If somebody really wants what you have they will get it regardless of what you do. Even to the point of car-jacking you.

Gone in 60 sec.

 

I thought that too. When I was watching the guy rotate my tires I was surprised it took him less than 20 seconds to take off the wheel. The only thing "protecting" the lugs is that plastic wheel nut cover.

 

I took the rims off my 2K2 SE for cleaning and polishing shortly after I purchased it. Mine didn't have anything preventing someone with just a breaker bar taking my rims. Is Nissan supposed to provide wheel locks or do you have to purchase them aftermaket?

Kerr

 

I've been looking for a set of gorillas, where did you get them, how much? The gorilla changes all 5 lugs per wheel, right ?

 

The gorillas cost around $35. They only replace 1 nut per wheel.

GC

 

I completely agree. That is why they call it a theft "deterrent" system...not a theft prevention system. The idea is to get the thief to move on to an easier target.

Most watches are listed as water resistant rather than water proof. No business wants to assume that kind of liability.

As for the reason they are going after the HID's and high-end wheels, there is a large market for expensive used car parts...hot or not. They only steal parts that are easily resold. The biggest buyers are shady body shops. They get the parts cheap and used and pawn them off as new. The Honda Accord has been the number one stolen car for years because the demand for parts is high. In comparison, you could leave your Ferrari idling in the parking lot with the door open and no one is going to touch it! It would just look like a trap and no one with that kind of money is going to buy hot parts.

I have a garage and indoor parking at work with security cameras so my car is reasonably safe 80% of the time.

 

last time I was in American tires.. .they do sell 20 lock from gorillas... it replaces all of the lugs on your wheels... it was like 56 dollars... pretty cheap in my book....

 

just how can someone steal HIDs??? doesn't that require you to pop the hood.... ? I don't know how easy it is to pop the hood.. but seems to me it's pretty hard...

 

It all depends on whether your Nissan dealership uses them. They'll usually put them on at least the 17" wheels, and sometimes even the 16" ones. If you live in a low crime area, they might not even need to use them on the lot.

I bought my car from the Philly area, where the dealership uses them on all of their wheels. While there for an oil change, I usually walk the lot to check out the new models. I found several SE's with missing rims, all 17". Two full sets of four rims were missing from brand new cars they just got the day before. All of the rims were taken from the side facing away from the dealership buildings and street traffic. The thieves must have been watching for the new ones, because the dealership usually preps the cars upon arrival, which includes the installation of wheel locks. They don't come from the factory with them, the dealership has to put em on. You can also buy them from the dealer when you buy the car, or afterwards. They just popped off nearly all of the center caps in the lot, looking for wheels without locks. The new cars weren't even locked before the prepping, so the thieves just opened the doors, alarm wasn't set, popped the trunk, and used the factory jack, leaving it in place. Some of the cars already on the lot (prepped) were locked, with alarm set, but no wheel locks. The crooks simply used plastic egg crates that they must have brought with them. Very shady deal, but tricky.

Protect what ya got, use wheel locks, preferably more than one set or a set of 20 (all lugs), because if they want the rims badly enough, they can just snap of the lug stem with the one wheel lock. It's more difficult if they have to do it with more than one stem, also more time consuming. You can also get an upgraded alarm that has a tilt sensor, which sounds when it detects a tilt in the car (ie. someone jacking it up to steal your rims). Peace.

 

man.. can't believe it is that easy to pop the hood...

 

GIve me the keys and I'll steal it for ya!!.... All I want is your HIDs and tires!...

Oh and your valvebody too!!...

 

 

Last year my neighbour rings my door bell at 5am to let me know that my car was stripped. Couldn't believe it! I parked on a main street under a street lamp and they smashed the driver side window, took my wheels (including the spare), battery, stereo and FSTB. They even had half the bolts off my turbo before they chickened out.

I was using McGuard wheel locks and had my hood pinned with a Viper alarm system. They didn't even Jack the car up, but left it sitting on scrap lumber. I guess these guys can break the lock nuts in seconds and deflate the tires to pop them off once the lumber is jammed under the car How they got by the Viper beats me. Now the Maximas and my bike always spend the nights in the garage even though it's a pain to squeeze everything in (need a four car garage).