The club is bullsh!t... thieves can easily hacksaw your steering wheel, take it off, and replace your steering wheel later.

about the location, of where my dad's SL500 was stolen... that was gregory way and la cienega (Los Angeles, CA) you can check it out on mapquest.

The guy had a really huge gun, fired one shot at a passer-by, and made off with the SL. of course, he left fingerprints all over the car and is serving 20 years.

 

S.O.L. = Sh!t Out of Luck

 

How about a sticky with some general tips for security?

things like

various types of car alarms (their respective pros and cons)
other security measures member have used that they found helpful

 

the bottom line is that any one above the regular joyrider can get your car if they want it. Alarms, the club, etc may deter the kiddie joyrider, only because there may be something else nearby that's easier to get into and roll out with. I've been through all of this, had a mustang 5.0 stolen and stripped (thanks insurance) and had my max broken into twice in the last month and a half.

 

The Auto Lock is not like the club, and you can't cut it. Locks the strongest part of the car, the brake pedal.

 

to tell you the truth i dont know how they got it off. the lock was untouch and the steering wheel was not cut..maybe i didnt put it on tight enough or something..

 

Got some good news and some bad news:

Good news- They recovered my car. Its at this towing place.

Bad news- The car, itself. It's stripped almost to the bone. I haven't had the chance to see the car yet because the tow place was closed for today.

I got the police release from the stolen vehicle unit.

Here's a rundown of what's missing:
rims
leather seats
stereo, dash is stripped
speakers
battery
headlights
jack
spare
I presume the airbags too.

Is my car totaled or do you think they'll give me money to fix it? Thanks

 

Tuff to say if it's totaled or not. I would say it's close either way, if you have high miles they might just total it. I have seen cars at www.astramotorcars.com {or something like that? } with simalar amounts of damage and they are totaled.

 

The airbags will be the greatest cost... around $2500 or more each. You really do want them to total it... bring up absolutely everything you notice. If it's not totaled you'll have a hell of a time selling it and you won't get nearly as much money. I know people get attached to cars, but you'll lose a lot of money if you keep the car.

 

For real? $2500 each? I thought they were like $800 a peice?

 

You're probably right on that one, they were that expensive when a friend totaled his BMW. Not sure what they run for a Maxima.

 

that is bad news..sorry about that. the same thing happened to my buddy. he had a 93 infinity J30 w/ some chrome dipped wheels that got stolen. when it was found, the wheels, CDs (like 70), stereo were gone, as well as steering wheel and other damage. they put little doughnut tires on the car! needless to say he did not keep the car--i believe his was totalled. now he has a 2001 acura cl type s.

 

If they listed everything that was missing, it might not be too bad, as long as they did not beat on the car on a joy ride. Better take a look first before deciding.

A co-worker's friend had his Max stolen in Brooklyn, several days later the cops pulled over some dude driving the car, without all the leather seats, no dash, 4 donut tires, a steering wheel and the dude was sitting on a 5 gal plastic bucket upside down.... DUH !

 

Busted!

 

All the items which you listed here (other than AIRBAGS) can easily be replaced at relatively minimal cost (actually, your insurance will be cutting you a check for the loss so it's no biggie). IMO- I don't think this will be considered 'totaled' simply because frame, body, and mechanics were untouched. Secondly, I doubt your insurance will increase much, if any (since you're not at fault).

Good luck.
AnGe

 

I went to the towing place yesterday. The car was in worse condition than the police release report indicated. There were some more things missing.
They were:
passenger side rear door
all the door panels (probably to take out the speakers and tweeters)
all the door windows
hood
spoiler
glove compartment
steering wheel and air bags
the back panel where the speakers are located
They took my cds, they took one of my favorite cds! Utada Hikaru's "First Love", it is a classic.
They even took my favorite bottle of cologne.
They took my dad's fishing equipment and my little nephew's stroller, probably other things too.
They did leave me the armrest(although taken out of original place), shifter, and my VQ.
Those bastards were pros. They stripped it pretty clean.

I think I can say the car is totaled unless the insurance company says otherwise. I just hope they give me a good amount of money. But I can't get a car yet. My mom says that I shouldn't get a car yet. She says I should wait till we move out of my neighborhood first. I don't know when that will be but I think it won't be till a few years. Oh well, good things come to those who wait, I hope.

 

Man I realy feel for you. This realy bites. Once you figure out what to do or what to replace it with, maybe the forum can help you out. I'm in. I'm know how I would feel!

 

Definately a total man. My Integra had less damage

http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~cheston/autotheft.html

That's over on MaximaDriver. I wrote it a while back, and you can see how my insurance company treated me. Perhaps you want to print this and let your agent read it before they cut you a check.

Really sad to hear it, have you thought about a replacement yet?

 

Now there is a hot commodity !

 

Doors go for $500/per from Junk yards (or over $700/per from Dealer) and windows come separately, Steering wheel/airbag cost around $550 from Dealer.
I'm going through 6-7K of repairs on my Max so I've inquired similar parts from junk yards. If you need a hood, I have a spare, email me. I'm by Rutgers, New Brunswick.