Theft Warning! Please Be Aware!

[PriusOwner]

My husband and I recently left our 2005 Prius in Long Term Parking Lot #3 at LaGuardia Airport in NYC for 2 days. Upon our return, OUR HEADLIGHTS WERE COMPLETELY GONE!!!! The new racket is using crowbars to pry the metal away from the headlights in order to take the "lighter" for the HID headlights. Apparently, they sell them on the black market so that $*#&^ punks can hot-rod their old POS's. (They are also using them as unsuspecting weapons.) It is going to be over a $10,000 repair job, including a new hood, new fenders, new front bumber and an entire system that turns on the headlights. It will probably take more than 2 months to repair, as there are so many parts that must be ordered that the Toyota dealership said they would be coming from all over the world! They even jacked up the windshield wiper fluid bottle.

This is happening to the following cars that I am aware of: Lexus, Prius and Nissan and any other new cars that have the HID headlights.

Oh, and Toyota's anti-theft deterant system does NOT activate because it is not rigged to activate for anything other than glass breakage and cabin entry.

It is a little known scam right now, but police around the country that are aware are trying to crack down on older cars that appear to have the HID's. NYPD's finest at LaGuardia thought the theft had to do with the light bulbs (which are expensive). We plan on contacting them tomorrow to tell them the real deal.

Good luck and let's hope that Toyota can find a remedy for this unfortunate situation.

[42GAMI]

thanks for the info,

i think you meant to say "ballast" as opposed to "lighter". they are indeed a required and expesive part for a HID assembly system to function. used ones on ebay and yahoo auctions japan are still cost several hundreds of dollars.

too bad the airport garage doesnt have better security.

sorry bout your prius.

[MOREPOWER]

that sucks they burn $10,000 to gain $200 human equivalent of murder to get a kidney. yeah wheres Johny homeland security airport security

[lelandstanford]

That's one of the reasons I wondered why most factory alarms do not incorporate hood sensor.

[atebit]

Hmm...anybody have any ideas how to add one to the stock/factory alarm? Would it be "as easy" as adding a hood sesnor & connecting it in parallel across an existing door sensor??

[c5engineer]

I never had an alarm on my 97 Dodge Ram, but with theft up I thought I'd look into it. I remember seeing the Ravelco. It is an immobilizer. I had it put in this morning and I can tell you that it would be hard for any thief to detect. It has an steel shield which goes through the firewall and disappears. I saw him hook it up and unless someone is devoted to about 45 minutes worth of work (minimum) they aren't taking it. Unless of course they tow it, but I know several San Antonio PD officers who say that it isn't unheard of to flatbed vehicles, but if it was happening often you'd hear about it; bottom line is: if they want it their going to get it, but you should go down fighting. Install 325 total.