My car's stolen first time


Recommended Posts

well you buy a car with onstar in it now, you already should be worried about it... the FBI or anyone else could have them enable it in tracking mode and just watch you.... you'd never know... so privacy reason wise, the "threat" is already there if your car has a system installed... when GM sells cars they record the VIN and who owns it, they give this data to OnStar also for service if ever activated... not hard for the FBI to get an order to get them to enable the ability to follow you now days... but then its also not hard for them to magnetically strap on a gps transponder to your cars frame and do the same.....

I wasn't making the case directly myself on if the concerns are warranted, but the difference between a passive system and and active one is important to note. The financial incentive for car insurance companies is also an important point as well. It is a lot easier for the insurance company to offer the product to the consumer and them being able to opt out and incur the higher premiums as well. Mandating it would lead to people seeing the technology as problematic overall.

 

The MBrace system in my MB isn't capable of being deactivated according to the sticker on the side of the car.

 

The newer technology that Congress mandated in cars post 1996 or so has made cars extremely hard to steal. So the thefts have gotten for more brazen and, potentially, violent. As the thief needs the actual key they are more prone to try car jacking and doing things like street side part stripping.

 

Either way I'm not overly concerned. The cost of the theft is borne by insurance so they have a strong incentive to find ways to make MBrace and similar systems cheaper. Especially since they are now installed in almost every car on the road.

  • 2 weeks later...

Wow! I'm glad you're OK as criminals that brazen are very dangerous and unpredictable. The car can be replaced or recovered, but you're life isn't as easy.

 

Were the cops able to arrest these criminals? I hope so.

 

Not sure about the Pathfinder, but I know my Mercedes comes with an OnStar competitor (called MBrace) that offers built in tracking ability that can help the police recover it as they can track it real time. You may not have to purchase anything special for this functionality (I do have to pay annually for the service though).

Now I'll definetely use this option! OnStar or any other, don't really care - they're all pretty same.

Very glad they caught the guy who stole the truck. He was nice enough to do all that when the police caught up with him so he should be spending some quality time in prison.

 

Hopefully insurance got your kid a nice newer truck.

 

I wouldn't be happy if someone stole my car, but I'm also not going to want them dead either. The car is just a car. Insurance will buy me a new one.

Glad for you!

 

My car thieves still riding my car :(

let me get this. they hit you, so you get out the car. they take off ? that is considered assault & car jacking/robbery which are felony's here in california

You got that right! That's how it happened.

If my car gets stolen, generally speaking, I don't want it back; it's much easier to get the insurance company to write it off as a loss and get you into a new car than fighting over the damage of a recovered vehicle. Second, insurance companies won't cover you getting HIV from a needle left by the douche that stole the car. Third, the car will never feel the same...

I didn't say, I want my car back. I'm pretty fastidious person, so I wouldn't use a car after those low downs.

Sux, never been robbed in that sense but got one car stolen before... Acura Integra which was the most stolen car for a few years. When I got it, it wasn't so bad but then it shot up to the top of the list. It was stolen at like 4am and then found 6hrs later on blocks striped of ALL parts!!!

I have a BMW now and while not impossible to take, they are much harder these days. I also have BMW Assist stuff which is like OnStar or Mbrace so I can track and control it from my phone app :). It also has immobilizer for the engine so nobody in their right mind will try to take it. They could always load it up on a flatbed so people don't think too much about the theft but that's the only way they will be moving it otherwise !

Again, sorry to hear and hope they find the bastards!

It's all right now. But probably I'll be nuts about my next car security things!

That's really an unfortunate incident... Feel sorry for your loss. I hope you had things covered with insurance? So which one are you picking out now? Better get some security measures kitted out this time.

Thanks. Of course, insurance covered  some things, but it's like boobe prize, because I loved my car.

Whatever, it's gone, and I'm picking out between GL-450 http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-GL/model-GL450W4 and Sports Wagon http://www.bmwusa.com/bmw/3series/sportswagon

5 post on Neowin, decides to share his car has been broken into.. Sounds like more BS from the guy who makes all the crazy stories up (the friend that got pregnant was one story)

Sorry for confusing you.

But seems it's not such a crazy story for our days...

How did they managed to contact you? Phone, e-mail?

Phone call.

That's why I never bothered to sell my truck and just traded it in, a couple thousand of dollars isn't worth my life or my sanity or the BS of getting mugged and ripped off at same time.

 

I've heard some horror stories from people selling things on Craiglists including cars. 

  • Like 1

Memories...I remember when my first car was stolen at from outside where I worked....being a uni student money was tight and 3 weeks beforehand the renewal for fire and theft coverage came through, I laughed at the time thinking who'd waste their time stealing this old bucket and didn't renew it....sure enough found by the cops the next day burnt out as well!

 

Was a shocking 2 months trying to get to work and uni without a car.  Sufficed to say I've had good insurance ever since :p

 

Good to hear you're looking at a new one already OP :) 

  • Like 1

Most car theft these days is done by the thieves breaking into your house and taking the car keys. The security on modern cars makes it almost impossible to steal without having keys.

 

I thought it would be more difficult too... my 2013 Mustang GT was stolen from the parking lot at my apartment a month ago...busted the window out and apparently just pushed it away

I thought it would be more difficult too... my 2013 Mustang GT was stolen from the parking lot at my apartment a month ago...busted the window out and apparently just pushed it away

 

That's shame... I like Mustangs.

 

That's the reason I get apartment with garage in the parking lot.

 

I have a house with garage now.

Sorry to hear that. That's what kind of low life's are all around now a days!

 

Never had my stuff stolen but my kids truck was stolen a few weeks ago. Dude that stole it worked with him. Was already on parole for a bunch of other crap. Wish he would've gotten seriously hurt in the crash he got into when chased by cops!!

 

See a little bit of the chase at the link below.

 

http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/local/lakeshore/2015/04/19/police-chase-montague/26048935/

Oh man I wanted to see that dude go flying through the windshield or out the door, get wrapped around the telephone pole, and crap his pants -- all on TV :D

I thought it would be more difficult too... my 2013 Mustang GT was stolen from the parking lot at my apartment a month ago...busted the window out and apparently just pushed it away

If someone steals your Mustang - its Karma - for owning such a thing. 

Oh man I wanted to see that dude go flying through the windshield or out the door, get wrapped around the telephone pole, and crap his pants -- all on TV :D

If someone steals your Mustang - its Karma - for owning such a thing. 

First, I think you are confused, owning something awesome doesn't equate to bad karma....second... What's funny is I had been battling out a lemon law thing on it for months...so jokes on them :p

First, I think you are confused, owning something awesome doesn't equate to bad karma....second... What's funny is I had been battling out a lemon law thing on it for months...so jokes on them :p

No confusion - congrats on your trailer park Ferrari -  

You think its awesome - I think you have no idea what awesome is.

Those people did you a favor

 

  • Like 1

I thought it would be more difficult too... my 2013 Mustang GT was stolen from the parking lot at my apartment a month ago...busted the window out and apparently just pushed it away

How is this possible? You sure it wasn't lifted or something?

 

The parking pawl should make it extremely difficult to push a car while it is in park... They would have to get it into at least N to release to parking pawl. I always park with my paring brake on and ensure the car is in P. I am sure it wouldn't be easy getting the car into N to roll away easily...

 

But they can steal any car by pulling it onto a flat bed or lifting it with a tow truck.

How is this possible? You sure it wasn't lifted or something?

 

The parking pawl should make it extremely difficult to push a car while it is in park... They would have to get it into at least N to release to parking pawl. I always park with my paring brake on and ensure the car is in P. I am sure it wouldn't be easy getting the car into N to roll away easily...

 

But they can steal any car by pulling it onto a flat bed or lifting it with a tow truck.

 

If his car was lifted, then it might be repo?

 

Unless the tow truck driver is a thief if he pays the payments on time.

 

Maybe thief got the jacks to lift the car up and push away...  

 

Who knows. 

How is this possible? You sure it wasn't lifted or something?

 

The parking pawl should make it extremely difficult to push a car while it is in park... They would have to get it into at least N to release to parking pawl. I always park with my paring brake on and ensure the car is in P. I am sure it wouldn't be easy getting the car into N to roll away easily...

 

But they can steal any car by pulling it onto a flat bed or lifting it with a tow truck.

 

Manual, so just had to release parking brake and pull the stick out of gear. Still surprised neither of those trigger the alarm. If it was lifted, they probably wouldn't have bothered breaking the window. My new car has an internal motion detector which would trigger it in a similar scenario

 

Hoping someday I will hear the specifics of its fate

Manual, so just had to release parking brake and pull the stick out of gear. Still surprised neither of those trigger the alarm. If it was lifted, they probably wouldn't have bothered breaking the window. My new car has an internal motion detector which would trigger it in a similar scenario

 

Hoping someday I will hear the specifics of its fate

 

Get the complete alarm system from provider, say Viper...    not the Ford dealer.

 

If a window breaks, the alarm will go off.

 

A friend of mine has alarm in his truck and his topper.  The sensors are placed every where wherever the window gets broken, alarm goes off.

Let all the air out of your tires each time you park the car.

Another option, is to go to a good bodyshop, and get a pin welded in the well area next to the shifter (unless it's a column shifter, then it gets trickier)

then simply select reverse, or park, and lock the pin into place,

Something like this was featured on top gear, I think

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

sorry to hear about that. have you report this? Hope it also has insurance. first thing is to ring the insurance company. Btw. what kind of car is it

It's been a lot of posts above. People share their experience on this topic.

Who do you address your question?

If it's about me, thanks!

Insurance covered some part of my loss!

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Dude, im talking about simply disable it from settings app. Because of the eu regulation, you could disable it here for years.
    • One big question about Mars was answered thanks to Einstein's 100 year old theory by Sayan Sen Image via DepositPhotos Scientists at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have calculated how time passes on Mars compared with Earth, adding detail to how timekeeping would need to work beyond Earth’s orbit. The study, published in The Astronomical Journal, found that clocks on Mars run an average of 477 microseconds, or millionths of a second, faster per day than clocks on Earth. A microsecond is one millionth of a second, a very small unit used in precise scientific timing systems such as atomic clocks, which measure time using consistent atomic behavior. This difference is not constant. Because Mars moves around the Sun in a non-circular path (an eccentric orbit, meaning its distance from the Sun changes over time instead of staying fixed) and is affected by gravity from other bodies, the daily difference can vary by as much as 226 microseconds over a Martian year. The study also identifies smaller repeating changes of about 40 microseconds per day linked to synodic cycles (repeating periods that describe how planets line up with each other as they orbit the Sun from different positions). These longer patterns affect how time differences slowly rise and fall. To make these estimates, researchers compared Mars with Earth and the Moon. The work looks at relativistic proper time (the time actually measured by a clock depending on its speed and the strength of gravity where it is located, as described in Einstein’s relativity). This shows that each world has its own slightly different “rate” of time. This becomes more important as space missions expand into cislunar space (the region between Earth and the Moon) and toward Mars. On Earth, time systems rely on atomic clocks and satellites, which stay closely synchronized for navigation and communication. The study is based on Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, which shows that time is affected by gravity and motion. Stronger gravity makes clocks run slower, while weaker gravity makes them run faster. “The time is just right for the Moon and Mars,” said NIST physicist Bijunath Patla. “This is the closest we have been to realizing the science fiction vision of expanding across the solar system.” A day on Mars is about 40 minutes longer than on Earth, and a Martian year lasts 687 Earth days. But the main question is not just about days and years, but how fast time itself passes. An atomic clock placed on Mars would function normally, but compared with one on Earth, the two would slowly drift apart due to differences in gravity and motion. This requires careful calculation of what is similar to a time-zone difference across planets. Researchers modeled Mars using a reference surface and included gravitational effects from the Sun, Earth, the Moon, and other planets. This includes a multi-body gravitational system (often described as a three-body or four-body problem, where predicting motion becomes difficult because multiple large objects all pull on each other at the same time through gravity). Mars also follows a Keplerian orbit (an idealized elliptical orbit based on simple gravitational laws that assume smooth motion, before adding real-world disturbances from other bodies). In addition, the researchers accounted for solar tides (small changes in gravitational force caused by the Sun that slightly distort planetary motion and timing, especially in systems involving Earth and the Moon). These combined effects are described as relativistic proper-time offsets (small but measurable differences in elapsed time between locations caused by gravity and motion), which must be included when comparing clocks across planets. “But for Mars, that’s not the case. Its distance from the Sun and its eccentric orbit make the variations in time larger. A three-body problem is extremely complicated. Now we’re dealing with four: the Sun, Earth, the Moon and Mars,” Patla explained. “The heavy lifting was more challenging than I initially thought.” Although the differences are extremely small, they matter for navigation and communication systems that depend on precise timing. Even modern networks on Earth, such as mobile systems, rely on timing accuracy at very small fractions of a second. Communication between Earth and Mars currently takes about four to 24 minutes or more depending on planetary positions, meaning signals are not real-time. A shared and accurate time system could help future missions reduce confusion in navigation and data exchange. “If you get synchronization, it will be almost like real-time communication without any loss of information. You don’t have to wait to see what happens,” Patla said. Researchers note that fully developed interplanetary communication networks are still far in the future. However, understanding how time behaves across planets helps prepare for those systems. “It may be decades before the surface of Mars is covered by the tracks of wandering rovers, but it is useful now to study the issues involved in establishing navigation systems on other planets and moons,” said Neil Ashby. “Like current global navigation systems like GPS, these systems will depend on accurate clocks, and the effects on clock rates can be analyzed with the help of Einstein’s general theory of relativity.” Patla added that the results also help improve understanding of time itself under relativity. “It's good to know for the first time what is happening on Mars timewise. Nobody knew that before. It improves our knowledge of the theory itself, the theory of how clocks tick and relativity,” he said. Source: NIST, IOPscience This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
    • TeraCopy 4.0 Build 26 by Razvan Serea TeraCopy is a compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed, also providing you with a lot of features. Copy files faster. TeraCopy uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times. Asynchronous copy speeds up file transfer between two physical hard drives. Pause and resume transfers. Pause copy process at any time to free up system resources and continue with a single click. Error recovery. In case of copy error, TeraCopy will try several times and in the worse case just skips the file, not terminating the entire transfer. Interactive file list. TeraCopy shows failed file transfers and lets you fix the problem and recopy only problem files. Shell integration. TeraCopy can completely replace Explorer copy and move functions, allowing you work with files as usual. TeraCopy is free for non-commercial use only. For commercial use you need to buy a license. The paid version of the program includes the following features: Copy/move to your favorite folders. Save reports as HTML and CSV files. Select files with the same extension/folder. Remove the selected files from the copy queue. TeraCopy 4.0 Build 26 changelog: Added support for receiving files via the LocalSend protocol. Improved exception handling and automated bug report upload. Fixed several minor bugs and small memory leaks. Build 26 (June 24) Fixed a rare exception when a transfer completed. Features added since version 3.17: Enhanced speed graph. New multi-threaded copy engine. Support for copying to multiple targets. Queue system for managing multiple copy operations. Support for receiving files via the LocalSend protocol. TeraCopy entry in the modern Windows Explorer context menu. Integrated toolbar in the title bar. Why receive LocalSend transfers with TeraCopy? Handle file conflicts: Skip, overwrite, or rename files when a file with the same name already exists. LocalSend always creates another copy, which can waste time and disk space, especially when resuming an interrupted transfer. Filter unwanted files: Apply ignore lists or remove files manually before accepting a transfer, so unnecessary files are not downloaded. Better performance on fast networks: In tests over a 10 Gbps connection, TeraCopy received files several times faster than the standard LocalSend app on Windows. Download: TeraCopy 4.0 Build 26 | 14.5 MB (Freeware, paid upgrade available) View: TeraCopy Website | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Briefly used Turbo Pascal (and Turbo C++) in 97 and soon after that I bought PC magazine that included a full version of Delphi 2. I still use Delphi today, some 29 years later.
    • Age of Empires Mobile comes to PC, here's how to carry over progress from your phone by Ivan Jenic Image: YouTube/Microsoft Microsoft just released Age of Empires Mobile for PC. The game, officially called Age of Empires Mobile: PC Edition, is available for free on Steam and Microsoft Store, almost two years after its initial release for handheld devices. Age of Empires is one of those franchises that entire generations grew up with. The original came out in 1997, and immediately got people hooked to building civilizations and crushing their enemies on the battlefield. However, the franchise today is a far cry from its roots, as Age of Empires Mobile is, well, a game optimized for handheld devices, and not a classic RTS title we’ve all loved for years. And, of course, it includes in-game purchases. The PC version is still a mobile game at its core, but it’s been optimized for desktop play. There’s mouse control, full keyboard compatibility, and a refined UI. Microsoft also refreshed the visuals with some 4k textures, so the game should look better on larger screens. The game supports Crossplay, so you can switch between your phone, tablet, and PC without losing anything. But linked progress doesn’t come out of the box, as you have to enable it first. Here’s how to link your progress: On your mobile device, open Age of Empires Mobile. Go to Settings (Gear icon) > Account. Select Bind Account and choose a sign-in option. Once you enable account binding, sign in on PC using the same method, and your progress will be accessible across all your devices. Xbox Game Pass subscribers also get a bonus reward pack on PC, which includes: 1 Monthly Pass Token 1 Custom Resource Chest 10 Universal 60-Minute Speed-Ups 1,000 Empire Coins Exclusive Player Portrait Frame You can find more info about Age of Empires Mobile: PC Edition, as well as download links, on the Age of Empires official website.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      Philsl earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Dedicated
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • First Post
      Tom Schmidt earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Month Later
      D0nn13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Rookie
      +ChiefOfNeo went up a rank
      Rookie
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      460
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      177
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      124
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      79
    5. 5
      Xenon
      76
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!