car stolen and recovered

[medusa]

So I had my car stolen on saturday with it being recovered in less than half a day. It was in the beverly hills at the Gate and found in the valencia canyons (BFE).
I am kinda numb by the whole experience when i actually saw the car. The exhaust canisters were the first things i saw that was missing. The intake, hid ballast, stereo/dvd/amps/sub/center consol/ center consol arm rest thingy and one of my wheels had a nice size dent. The weird thing is the did not pop the ignition nor did they have to break a window which makes me believe that they had some sort of means to do such work. I have no enemies, if that is what you are thinking.
I contacted my insurance and they said they are going to estimate the damage, in my mind the damage is priceless, but i know it's going to be around 10k. I just want some advice from others on what i should do. I don't know if my thinking is correct when i say that if they were to replace items such as intake/exhaust with the oem ones, since the cost is so high on oem parts would it be possible to negoiate for aftermarket pieces?
Darkcyd, Vamp, and now myself... I just want others to highten their security measures so that you guys don't have to go through this feeling. The freaking guys had the audacity to steal the 10 pack of oil filters, my mobile syn oil, and the front break pad set i just bought from dali racing. These guys took the time to remove the wiring for the stereo/dvd unit (pioneer 7") and to boot steal the freaking gear shift knob. Ok, now i'm just venting..
If anybody can please advise on what to do, especially with an adjuster, thanks in advance.
Linh

 

[Joel]

[size=+1]WTF?! Now I'm really pissed off! That's THREE NSX owners whose cars have been violated within a period of what, six months? And if I'm not mistaken, all here in Southern CA!

Do you think thieves are lurking in this forum?

I'm really sorry this happened to you Medusa. Nobody deserves this crap. I can only empathize that the feeling of finding your stolen car all mangled like that would be likened to finding out that someone you cared for just got raped.

I hope no one else in here goes through this. DAMN!


[/size]

 

[xxmerlynxx]

yeah, that's some serious bullsh*t! I'm a prospective owner and I just moved to SoCal, so hearing/reading all of this is quite disheartening. If I wasn't so in love w/ the damn car......

My rant aside, Medusa my heart goes out to you.... I hope you can get everything back to the way that it was. Oh, don't forget to tell the ins. co. about the Picasso that you kept in the trunk....hopefully, that'll assist you in your endeavours to return your car to it's previous state. If there's anything, I/we can do to help, just speak up.

Adam

 

[Darkcyd]

Christ... well if this isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is. 3 cars in... 3 months. Mine being the first at the end of March. I think the rest of the Socal crowd needs to definitely be on a heightened watch. Maybe we should set up our own version of the terror meter.

All jokes aside though, I feel for you Linh. My car just finally got the last thing repaired this past week and the insurance case should be closing this week. The only advice I can give to you is to take the time to find a bodyshop that does good work and who is willing to work with you on your case. What that means is, accomodating your needs in repairing the car to your specs, make your car a priority so that it gets done fast, and fluff the damage estimates so that you can get back enough to cover the aftermarket things your insurance company may or may not want to cover. Be sure to go through a thorough inspection of your car as well to look for possible damage. It is possible to file supplementary repair needs during the process, but that just takes more time and hassle.

Wishing you all the best man.

 

[PoohBEAR]

Linh,
you have my sympathy...i hate hearing things like this and it happened to me as well except i cought the punk in action. needless to say his real friends didn't stick around to give him a ride. they took off when they saw me with a 9mm pointed at the dumb ass.

Linh, everything will be fine buddy.

Calvin

 

[4AU4LIFE]

That truly sux !

 

[Joel]

Linh,
you have my sympathy...i hate hearing things like this and it happened to me as well except i cought the punk in action. needless to say his real friends didn't stick around to give him a ride. they took off when they saw me with a 9mm pointed at the dumb ass.

Linh, everything will be fine buddy.

Calvin

Calvin,

What?! When did this happen? Details bro. Details.

 

[5inchfatlip]

sorry to hear the BAD NEWS, but glad you found it fast..do you usually park there, or was it random? Dark Cyd's was a common parking spot that may of caught an eye, just wondering...gimme a ring if you need anything!

 

[Tantheman]

Local News program states that there is a car theif ring in the Valley that is currently on a mission to steal as many cars as possible. Channel 4 Investigative reports, Paul Moyer was annoucing it.

Tan

 

[akira3d]

No f**king way!

I'm so sorry to hear about this, Linh.

Man is this freaking me out. It's not like I'm already paranoid about parking my NSX around town, but to have three NSXs get violated within such a short span is just unreal. It's like we've suddenly become a hot target of some serious criminal activity.

I'm going to have to seriously justify every drive I make in the NSX, or, at the very least, make sure I have secured parking at both ends of my drives.

Vince, we missed you at the Prime Canyon Drive...too bad your NSX wasn't ready in time.

 

[nsx_parts]

My heart goes out to you. You should be able to tell the shop that is installing your parts that you want the money to buy your own. If anything else you can get the parts from Nelio and save some of the money for other repairs.

How did they start the car / break the steering lock?

Best of luck on your recovery. Check Ebay often for your parts.

 

[Darkcyd]

Re: No f**king way!

Vince, we missed you at the Prime Canyon Drive...too bad your NSX wasn't ready in time.

Eric, actually, it was ready. It's been driveable for several weeks now. Unfortunately, it just so happened that the Prime Canyon Drive was the same day as my 9 month anniversary with my gf. Not that 9 months is really an important mark, but it is the last one we have together before she leaves to go home to Japan and then off to France for a year. So... duty called and I spent time with her. Better luck attending next year I guess. I'll try to enjoy the drive vicariously through the pics and videos you guys post.

 

[NsXTaCY168]

Word of advice :

Sorry to hear about the theft of your NSX.

Be careful who you leave your keys with; only takes a few minutes to duplicate a key. I never use valet parking, prefer to park in a suitable spot myself. If you are going to install an aftermarket alarm, watch the technicians.......make sure they don't program your code into their personal remotes. With your car registration, your alarm code and key, they will own your car easily.

Car thieves that I've arrested have told me their strategies and methods. Kinda ironic huh? Telling a cop and basically admitting guilt. I guess they just want to show off.

***Note***

In California, you do not need to have the registration inside the car, leave it in your wallet with your DL/insurance paper and make additional copies for authorized drivers. Cars have been stolen from people's driveways.........Be careful.

Lojack does work, trust me on this one.....

Kevin

 

[MvM]

Hi Medusa,

I am very sorry to hear about the theft of your car. Am just glad for you it was found back. It seems the people who did this where clearly out for NSX-parts. I would look around in the papers and eBay for offers. Did you have a car alarm in your car ??
Where I live my insurance company had me install a good car-alarm. I choose a Clifford alarm (www.clifford.com) and have been very happy with it.

 

[Veleno]

Sorry to hear about your situation, but I'm glad it wasn't any worse(not that this isn't bad).

From my experience with insurance companies, they usually pay for the OEM part. The checks are usually written out to me, and so it's up to me whether I want to purchase OEM or aftermarket. It might be different where you're at so just make sure to ask.

Hope things work out for you and the car

 

[medusa]

Update: still waiting on the insurance company to send out an adjuster, should be today or tomorrow. Thanks for the "online" support. Once the car gets to the body shop I'll take some of pictures.
Do you guys think I should change out the locks/ignition due to the fact that it did not seem like the punched the locks? I have the keys still but I am wondering if there is such a thing as a master key? Lojack or something comparable will definately be added with a slew of preventive measures.
I just want to warn all of the southern cal nsx'ers, as well as the rest, to just watch your baby. I can't tell you how fast everything happened, yet it felt like time stood still. Trying to keep an upbeat demeanor yet I know if i found the guys who did this I wouldn't hesistate to "release the gimp".
I must admit that there is something so special about this car...and now that I'm stuck driving my navigator (not like it's not a nice ride) but it I have to admit it is not the same. I have to laugh sometimes as I step back and evaluate the situation at hand. I'm safe, it's only a car, that's why I have insurance, "that's what i get for having such a nice car"...
It's amazing when my constituents try to tell me that's what I get for having a nsx and that I should buy a saturn/low key car.
GRRRR....
You guys are probably the only people that understand what the nsx conveys.

Linh

 

[VampNSXX]

Hi


Linh I talk to you yesterday and I know exactly what you feel.

Well let me tell you guys what happen yesterday. They call me on Friday from my insurance that they wanted to make a investigation on the my car. and yesterday being Tuesday the Investigator came to my work to ask me questions. He told me that they were suspicious of what I clamed to have in the car (Nitrous). they say that there are no holes inside the trunk indicating that I had it. So I told the why would there be holes inside the trunk and he told me to hold it down cause that the way it looks in the picture I have with the nitrous. The thing that really bother me was that the insurance did not cover the nitrous set up I have so why are they bothering to do this. Well the investigator then told me that this might just be nothing at all but they have to make sure. Then he came over to my cubicle and saw that I has 4 RC NSX and he then told me that they are doing this to make sure nothing funny is going on. I just think that it sucks that they jack my car and they try to act like I am claming to have more in the car than I did even if they are not covering what they say I clam to have and not.
So then I remember that my car was in a Japan Magazine called L.A. AUTOMOTIVE MAGAZINE so I need to get that mag just to make them feel dumb and maybe get a apology from them .


If any one has that mag please tell me cause I could not get it.

it should be the MARCH APRIL MAY or June issue

 

[Darkcyd]

Vamp,

This might rub some people the wrong way, but IMO, don't take shit from anybody in this process. I pay good money, and a lot of it, for my insurance coverage. I'll be damned if my insurance company doesn't come through for me when it's supposed to. I'm sure you feel the same way. For me, I called my adjuster multitudes of times, called the bodyshop whenever an issue came up, and called my agent to get on both the adjuster and the bodyshop when they were taking too long. This is not to say you should harass them, but just make sure that they know you are concerned and you are very interested in seeing them hold up their end of the bargain. I ended up getting a very favorable settlement.

 

[Meeyatch1]

...The freaking guys had the audacity to steal the 10 pack of oil filters, my mobile syn oil, and the front break pad set i just bought from dali racing. These guys took the time to remove the wiring for the stereo/dvd unit (pioneer 7") and to boot steal the freaking gear shift knob. Ok, now i'm just venting..
If anybody can please advise on what to do, especially with an adjuster, thanks in advance.
Linh

Look on the bright side, it sounds like the guys were careful You could have had thousands of dollars and severeal weeks more of work ahead of you if they had just hacked your stereo wires, and busted up your ignition.

 

[j14nsx]

It takes seconds to break into a NSX without damaging anything. The door locks were made before the current levels of car crime and so aren't secure.

But the steering wheel lock needs to be broken to drive the car, unless thay had keys.

Over here it's been shown how easy it is to walk into a dealer, give a VIN number and get spare keys cut. Is the VIN visible on a registration sticker or something? Cars with visible VINs (not NSXs) are now leaving themselves open for theft!

 

[kgb_agent]

Over here it's been shown how easy it is to walk into a dealer, give a VIN number and get spare keys cut. Is the VIN visible on a registration sticker or something? Cars with visible VINs (not NSXs) are now leaving themselves open for theft!

Wow, that is scary. Over here in northeast USA (Pennsyltucky ) they won't even inspect your car without registration and proof of current insurance. What kind of outfit would cut a key without evidence of ownership?

 

[jlindy]

Christ... well if this isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is. 3 cars in... 3 months. Mine being the first at the end of March. I think the rest of the Socal crowd needs to definitely be on a heightened watch. Maybe we should set up our own version of the terror meter.

Terrible to hear, but what does Christ have to do with it.

 

[Darkcyd]

Terrible to hear, but what does Christ have to do with it.

His NSX was in the shop, so he thought he'd borrow one for a day.

 

[medusa]

So my car is in the shop right now and I am having new locks / ignition put on the car. It's amazing how fast everything added up. The adjust had to come out several times to do the inspection and we haven't been able to fire up the car yet. I hope the dumb mofo didn't put anything into the gas tank or even worst (if they drove the car) money shifted.
No matter how much i look on the bright side, things will never be the same. I am wondering what are all the physical preventive measure are for the X. It's been hell driving my navi, especially when i see another nsx on the road. Makes me realize how freaking beautiful the car is.
Try to get pictures later

 

[nsxtasy]

Is the VIN visible on a registration sticker or something?

By law, in the United States, the VIN on all cars must be visible at the front of the dashboard, through the botton of the windshield.