My 2015 Civic was broken into. I feel like crap.

[ibex333]

So just gotta vent...

On Friday, I found my brand new beautiful Civic broken into. The thief must have been pretty good because clearly the alarm never went off.

My driver side door lock is simply.. gone. They used something to remove the plastic cap, and completely ripped out the lock cylinder. Only the round metal piece that spins behind the cylinder remains. Interestingly enough, the door still "locks" when using my key remote.

The bastards ripped out the passanger side airbag, and there's a horrible gaping hole where it once was. Ripped out my glove compartment. Didn't just open it. Ripped it out!

Stole my $150 dashcam that was stashed inside, and a bunch of parking meter quarters that were inside. Threw all the other stuff that was in the car all over. Left the car just like that with the trunk and the passenger side door open.


I have to admit, Honda has lost all my trust in an instant. If it's so easy and painless to break into a car, why bother with an alarm at all? It doesn't look like any sophisticated equipment was used to break inside.

I feel... "violated". I can never be relaxed or worry free about owning a car ever again. Who's to say that as soon as it's fixed, this isn't going to happen the next day all over again? I constantly need to check and double check everything now, even though I was already extra careful. I can never store anything inside my car ever again.

The cops who came, told me I have to observe the basic rules, which is to not park in places where there is not a lot of people, etc, etc.

This is nonesense advice. I live in New York City, where one is thankful to get any spot at all, not to mention a good spot. There's people just about everywhere at all times. This is not a desolate, remote area. It's a VERY busy area. Probably not at night though, but people gotta sleep! My only option is to parallel park on the streets. I am not rich enough to have my own private spot.


You would think that since I have insurance it's no big deal. Wrong! Both the police precinct and my insurance company are giving me a hard time. I have to jump through a hundred hoops and pay quite a bit of money here and there just to get everything in order to get my car repaired and insurance paid out.

The fact that I am constantly at work or in school doesn't help.

I am starting to think it was a big mistake to get a descent car in a dump that New York is. Maybe I should have just gotten a trash junker that no one would even bother looking at. That would be perfect for this city.

I heard this shit happens in other US states too, but that doesn't make me feel any better. My friend in Florida is dirt poor, but he always has a spot to park his car next to his window. Never a problem. He has a right to own a gun too, so he can shoot the bastard trying to mess with his car if he sees it happening. Not the case in NY!

How do people just.. move on after stuff like this? How do they keep a positive attitude? I feel absolutely horrible. I'm not even sure I want to own another car after this one.

 

[NutBucket]

FYI, any car can be broken into fairly easily. Sucks that it happened but best to just move on. It would anger me too but what use is it?

 

[Crono]

That sucks.

This used to be a much more common occurrence in the city, though. Back in the early 90s and earlier it was rare to find someone who didn't have their car broken into at least once and their radio or stuff stolen.

 

[Kaido]

Dang man, that stinks. Sorry to hear your insurance is giving you trouble, that's just adding salt to the wound! There are crappy people in the world. I got rear-ended on the highway a number of years ago & the dude simply drove off after hitting me. I flinched every time someone would come up behind me fast on the road for months after that because the last thing I saw before getting hit was a fast-moving pair of headlights. All it takes is one low-life to ruin that feeling that you have that most people are good & decent human beings. It takes awhile to get over the cynicism & disgust you feel about how poorly people can behave, but eventually it does wear off...we just tend to have a heavy-handed emotional reaction as a backlash to getting our personal space violated.

Best I can say is that you'll get over it eventually. And it's not like you did anything wrong...everybody parks in the streets in NY. You had a new car, an alarm, a dashcam, everything you could have done to protect your ride, but thieves can get pretty creative. It sounds like you got hit by professionals if they ripped out the lock cylinder & you didn't even hear the alarm, plus the Civic is one of the most stolen & broken-into cars in America. One thing you might want to consider is upgrading to a 2-way alarm with some extra features, like this Viper unit:

https://www.viper.com/car/security/product/3305v/viper-lcd-2-way-security-system

It has an LCD keyfob to show you the security status, plus a shock sensor, siren, and starter kill. If you want to get extra-paranoid about it, you could have another dashcam system installed with an interior-facing camera & have them hide the recording box somewhere in the car that isn't easily accessible so you could at least get some mugshots of any future thieves (assuming they're not wearing balaclavas or something). On the plus side, at least you still have your car & it didn't get stolen! Overall though, bummer of a situation man

 

[Ns1]

I have to admit, Honda has lost all my trust in an instant. If it's so easy and painless to break into a car, why bother with an alarm at all? It doesn't look like any sophisticated equipment was used to break inside.

....that's how it is with all cars.

I feel... "violated". I can never be relaxed or worry free about owning a car ever again. Who's to say that as soon as it's fixed, this isn't going to happen the next day all over again? I constantly need to check and double check everything now, even though I was already extra careful. I can never store anything inside my car ever again.

this is 100% true. After I got jacked, I started putting everything of mine in a messenger bag and taking the messenger bag with me every night. The feeling will pass after a few years.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Aww sorry man. That completely sucks!!!!!!

 

[tcG]

Just be glad that your car isn't out of production with parts no longer available.

 

[Midwayman]

Yah it sucks, but you gotta remember that locks are only a deterrent for the honest. No car, or home for that matter, is secure to a determined professional. Had it not been the lock, it would have just been a smashed window. All you can really do it make it harder than the next guy and not store anything worth stealing in the car. You use a suction cup mount for the dashcam? Suction cup markers are often a big "steal me" sign.

 

[tortillasoup]

Yeah I've noticed a lot of smash and grabs are about breaking into the glove box in order to access stuff like that. Me and my neighbor both had our vehicles side windows broken simultaneously and they opened up the glove box (weren't locked) to look for valuables. I keep nothing valuable in the glove box and neither did my neighbor so the biggest cost to both of us was cleaning up the glass and replacement of the windows. I replaced my window myself while he hired a company to do it. In my case, I was able to upgrade the side window to a laminated type which is less susceptible to break-ins and I also lowered my insurance deductible to $0 so that the insurance would pay for the replacement laminated window.

 

[Jumpem]

Perhaps move out of the city?

 

[piasabird]

I remember my Grandma had a CB stolen once so they put razor blades on the back of the next CB and sure enough there was a trail of blood. They use to do things like steal your battery, wait till you replace it and then steal the new one.

 

[nOOky]

If you think it will happen again you can always install an aftermarket alarm. You can choose not to install the siren, but have the key fob alert you when the car is being broken into instead. Some thief's may stay around longer if they don't think they tripped an alarm, giving you time to notify the authorities or take aim out your window (just kidding)

Sorry about your car. My car was broken into on 9/11/2001. They ripped the dash apart taking my head unit, stole all the stereo equipment, and left the trunk and doors open and walked away. It feels very personal.

 

[thomsbrain]

Your stock keyfob is not an "alarm" in the same way that a custom alarm works. Basically no protection.

Definitely sucks, but it would have happened in any car, and NYC is the kind of place where you just have to roll the dice if you want to park on the street. It's a violation, but one that was likely the result of chance rather than personal. Hopefully you have comprehensive insurance on the car.

 

[Ns1]

I had a 1k alarm installed in my car - multiple sirens, CPU hidden, self powered siren, etc.

Did nothing, they still jacked all my shit and cut my battery cable to boot. I lost all my audio equipment, and my $180 battery...but the $1k alarm was still there!

 

[Subyman]

You'll get over it. Now you understand reality. Before you've been living in a world where you thought it couldn't happen to you. Luckily, I experienced getting "jacked' when I was 15 years old when some punks stole my ATV I worked all summer to get, so I understood from a young age that there is absolutely nothing stopping someone from taking your stuff other than mutual societal respect or fear of being caught.

Don't be scared about it, just prepare for it. Have decent insurance. Don't leave valuables in the car. Park in a well lit area. Know that it could still happen and have a plan.

Welcome to the real world.

 

[core2slow]

I thought everyone get it by now that you dont drive a nice car while living in a dump? All it does is garner unwanted attention. If i were a thief and i see a nice car, my head is thinking "gee, what other nice stuff is in there?"

Sad that it had to happen to you, OP. Oh well, i've had my car broken into twice so I know the feeling.

 

[richardycc]

air bags are hot with the national outage until this summer due to the takata recalls.