1993 civic dx stolen and recovered...
 

Well I can now join those of you who have had your Civic jacked...

Came out from work and the parking spot where its sat every weekday for 3 years is empty... :confused: after doing a loop around the area, almost sure I'd lost my mind and moved it during the day, I had to admit the ride was gone :eek:

Called the cops, someone spotted it across town in the ghettos a few hours later. Bunch of minor parts missing, damaged steering column, and a massive oil leak.

It still runs fine though! Starts with a screwdriver now!:rolleyes:

The long-running Civic mpg graph has most likely seen its last update... better to step up to a newer ride with better anti-theft...

That sucks! When I worked at Honda, sadly ignition switch replacement was a very common repair. I had one lady who I put 3 of them in for in a '94 Accord. The amount of damage done by these morons is also staggering. Do you know how much it cost to replace a dashboard because some idiot ruined it stealing a $40 radio?

I've seen a BMW roadster with $6500 in damage from a thief who hacked the windshield out with a hatchet to steal the city license decal that cost $15. Of course you had to pay the property tax to get he decal.

They wouldn't steal mine. I would put an ignition and injector kill switch in the car so they had to figure out both of them to get it started.

regards
Mech

True - you shouldn't have to replace the car just to get better theft protection. DIY!

I used to have a Rabbit cabrio that I parked regularly in the city when I was going to school. I left it unlocked (to avoid having someone knife the soft top - I never left anything valuable inside), and I took my coil ignition wire with me when I parked. :)

I got one of these to leave on the driver's seat. It's supposed to be more effective than The Club:
http://www.livetradingnews.com/wp-co...bear-trap1.jpg

Why deter theft only to have the criminal move on to some other victim? I'd rather catch the cretins, so a pager system is on my list one day. The fact is, crime pays. The solution is to have crime hurt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U4ZYOBzEEs

Totally agree with you man. In a strange way I like the car, love the mpg's, its been reliable since the overhaul, its just beat. I could DIY and add some anti-theft to it, kill switch, The Club, etc. And I'd kinda like the challenge of taking on the thiefs. However the car is pretty ratty looking, the rear glass leaks onto rear seats, interior is pretty beat, the wife hates riding in it, and we have a kid on the way... By the time I sink $300 into fixing what they broke/stole, and another couple hundred in anti-theft, I still have a tired rusty beater car. I've liked the early 00's Jetta TDIs for a long time, this might be my opportunity to get a respectable car and still get 40-50 mpg.

Not really sure what I'll do...

You will have to make those repairs regardless of what you decide to do because resale will be hurt without addressing them. Fixing leaky windows should be a DIY task. I'm not saying one way or the other if you should keep it though. That's for you to decide.

All I'm going to say is, you'd have to be stupid to jack this thing. "Oh hi Police? I'd like to report a stolen Ford Probe. Color? Yeah, it's red with obnoxious black and white shapes painted all over it. Oh, you've already found it? Thanks!"

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6105/7...9f30a731a1.jpg

I do want to wire in a kill switch though.

Hidden fuel pump switch.

A long overdue update:

Car hasn't really moved since recovering it, been sitting at my inlaws. Pulled it into garage and yanked the busted column out, havent been able to find a replacement column+keys yet.

The fool who stole it and stripped the parts posted them on craigslist 2 days later. Investigator tracked down cameras where the car was parked, and where he abandoned it, clearly showing this clown walking up, driving away, and then ditching it in the ghetto (couple blocks from his house)hours later and walking away. Retard even posted the c-list ad from his own computer, the IP address and cell number both were in his name.

He accepted a plea deal, will be in the slammer for a couple years (of course, he did this while on probation so theres another felony). At least I get the amusement of knowing this guy was so dumb he'd trade 2 yrs of his life for less than $200 in parts.

I like stories that end with something resembling justice. Thanks for the update.