Breaking into a Prius...

[qbee42]

Our police will come for a lost cat. Different locations, different priorities. Being given a defective equipment warning for a burned out headlamp will get your name in our county newspaper. We live in what you might call a "slow news" area.

Tom

[BIGGDOGG]

Originally Posted by KayakerNC

Is it just me, or does anybody else think this story is a fantasy by somebody living under a bridge?

I was getting that feeling too the whole time reading the messages. I figured the link was going to be to some anti theft device for prius. Who the hell steals a laptop but leaves the Ipod. I now think her friends played a prank on her. lol

[Ichabod]

The rash of trolls recently has people on edge for sure, but there's nothing particularly trollish here. It looks like someone posting about a break-in, not really maligning the model or the brand.

Give people the benefit of doubt, and if they start actually acting like a troll, then go ahead and report them. Otherwise you may be scaring off a new member who really was just worried about their own safety and the security of their expensive property in a dense urban area. That's not really a ridiculous thing to worry about.

[Marlin]

Originally Posted by Huntceet

I'm a mechanic. I have a lockout tool for when people lock their keys in. I'll usually ask them to time me. I almost always have the car open before they comprehend what I ment by "time me".
Don't leave valuables in cars. It's too easy to open them.

Rod

You haven't tried to do that with your Prius, have you?

Here's my experience from 2006 (I was rcroft then):
A Chinese (err Japenese) puzzle box

[Bobwho]

According to a friend in the Chicago Fire Department they are stealing Prius off of the street in Chicago.

Supposedly the thieves rented multiple Prius and copied the keys from them. No word as to which key it was they copied. Only the bad guys know if it was the mechanical key or the fob. How they got the car out of there is simple, a tow truck comes up and takes it! Off to the shop for a reprogramming and change of the vin, then sell it in another state.

So yes the Prius are being stolen and they are being targeted in Chicago as high value merchandise.

I doubt that anyone uses a slim jim to open the door. I have seen the cops try to open a car door and the fire dept try to open the door to get out a trapped dog on a hot day. The damage they did to that car when they pried the door, yes pried the door open, was amazing. That door was wrecked, bent, window cracked. That driver then was given a ticked and arrested for multiple reasons.

[richard schumacher]

Huh? So they stole the cars which they previously rented? That would leave an ID trail to follow. And if they were going to flatbed the cars and reprogram them anyway, why bother to steal the keys? You Chicago friend's story sounds like bulldada. Can he reference any media accounts of the thefts?

Random cops and firemen don't necessarily know squat about finessing a locked car.

[Gilbert]

Originally Posted by nikkisewz

Lots was stolen unfortunately.


Here's what was missing (which is actually sorta funny):


3. my carmex chapstick


Things left in the car:
1. my ipod which was in the center console next to my makeup bag. They DID however play the ipod because it was on a song that I haven't listened to in forever.
2. my sunglasses, which used to be in the little glasses case in the cieling were now on the driver's seat along with their case which used to be in the VERY back of the car in the laptop case)

LMAO AHAHAHA Sorry for your loss, but this is just too funy.... they stole your chapstick!? ahahaha omg whats the world coming to...

for the ipod i guess the thief was like.. wtf is this music ew! *trows the ipod away*

the sunglasses? thief: *looks at himself on the mirror* lookin good, baby!

im sure he forgot about the sunglasses, he must be like "doh!" so becareful and make sure u dont leave anything of value in your car.

Also you can consider window tints so no one can see whats inside, depending on your state laws.

[hobbit]

Slim jims are passe', they only really work well on older car
doors. The big thing nowadays is the air wedge that simply bends
the window frame away from the weatherstripping enough to allow
a long tool to be slid in to probe around various interior parts
like lock buttons, handles, etc. It's quick and non-damaging
in most cases.
.
You can see just how flexible the doors are, even with frames
around where the windows go, by grabbing the top corner and the
body of the door and simply pushing/pulling. Or try leaving
your fingers in between the top of the frame and the roof and
!gently! pushing the door toward closed -- you might even be
able to get it to the first latch click without pain, and see
how large a gap a gentle bend can leave.
.
No car is immune to the tow truck method, either.
.
_H*

[nikkisewz]

Originally Posted by David Beale

Why would you expect the police to come? What would you expect them to do? Fingerprint the car? For what, $2000 max of stolen property? There are probably hundreds of cars broken into in NYC every night. There are also a few murders. They are concentrating on the murders.
Here you can't even get the police to come to a car accident, unless somebody is seriously hurt. You have to both go to their local office to fill out the paperwork.

yes, yes. I know. I just wanted to start a report so that I can file it on my insurance for a new laptop. to put things in perspective, while I was sitting there someone was stabbed to death 3 blocks away.

I actually called the precinct directly and said that I would be happy to drive there and fill out the paper work. I was instructed to stay put and wait for an officer.

And I know about the valuables in the car... so dumb of me, I know. Since I hid it, I thought that it wouldn't be advertised and wouldn't inspire someone to break in the car. It really seemed like someone broke in there for fun and then took the computer after they rummaged around my stuff.

[Marlin]

Originally Posted by hobbit

Slim jims are passe', they only really work well on older car
doors. The big thing nowadays is the air wedge that simply bends
the window frame away from the weatherstripping enough to allow
a long tool to be slid in to probe around various interior parts
like lock buttons, handles, etc. It's quick and non-damaging
in most cases.

That didn't work in my case. You can probe all around in the car and it just laughs at you.

See my experience in the following:
A Chinese (err Japenese) puzzle box