josephla

Miami is insane friend of mine lives in a premium s. beach condo brand new cls 55 amg with 030 package all four wheels stolen right off of the car. Found his new 100k car dropped on the rotors. He thought for 100k mb threw in wheel locks. Lets just say four rotors and 4 amg wheels and tires could buy a very nice track toy. I bought him wheel locks as a gag gift...he did not see the humor

newport996

Thats like saying Honda is resposible for making Accords easy to steal....They are STILL the number one stolen car in the country....No one is telling Honda to make their cars harder to steal. It would be pretty simple...microchipped keys, immobilizers, lots of things....but they do nothing....

CarreraS06

Thanks for all your responses. Im going to try to answer all your questions. We do have cameras in our building but they are so cheap that when we saw the video you see the guy stealing but it is imposible to identify him. We also have two security guards on the parking lot and a conscierge inside checking the monitors, that nigth the conscierge called in sick, so one of the guards sat inside and the other one was probably sleeping in the club house's couch. I also installed the headligths alarm after the fist time they were stolen but obviously didn't help. My frustration with Porsche is that this have been going on for years, even before the 997 was designed, and insted of coming with a solution they are the ones making the most money with the issue. Thanks again !!!!

MyEmily

How easy is it to pop off the headlight?

TAch Miami

It takes less than 30 seconds to pry out the assembly and incur a 3 to 4 thousand repair bill for the lamps, bodywork, and paintwork.

I had my xenons attached to the alarm system with blinking red LEDs. If you want the guy who did mine, let me know.

Izzy

This may or may not help you. Around here if you leave a 997 out at night chances are the headlights will be gone. Theres quite a few 'chopped' ricers as I call them that I've noticed with 997 heads hideously installed with some painted bondo around.

CarreraS06

Do you have any pics of that ??? thanks!

Izzy

You'll cringe, but I'll find you something.

CarreraS06

Great thanks.

Edgy01

I think we should spend a little time having them marked (inside) in such a way that they can be identified as stolen property down the road, too. Maybe the VIN numbers...isnt that what most insurance companies give you some deduction if your VIN is on each piece of glass as well? Perhaps they will do the same when this other high dollar piece is IDed.

2ndof2

Sorry to read that your lights were stolen. That totally blows. I live in a place with a similar situation and my car although covered up and protected on 3 sides by the building's carport, is an easy target if someone wanted my zenons or whatever they are called. I think having a cover helps, and in my case the car is not easily seen. There is always someone around in an office area right nearby that is somewhat of a deterrant. I hardly drive the thing and without somebody nearby pretty much all of the time I don't think I'd be comfortable leaving the car unattended. If yours isn't a daily driver maybe it would be worth it to pay the extra cash for a garage some place? I'm actually considering leaving mine in a friend's garage since mine usually only gets weekend use.

Likemystoppie?

They can tell they're Xenon's with the washer caps....normal halogens don't have them. So that option is out. And by the time they've pulled them off, injury and insult have already happened.

XENONS my friend, not ZEON LOL

...xenon's....
....xenon's....

RonCT

I think some of you guys are missing the point. They aren't re-using the assemblies. They are yanking the assemblies, taking the bulbs and ballast, and tossing everything else. The bulbs and ballasts really aren't something you can etch and identify as stolen.

As for car companies "doing something about the problem" - I'm not sure that's realistic. Let's say they make it harder to steal, and then in stealing them you get thousands more in damage done to the car. If a thief wants something, I think the thief is going to get it.

I don't remember any of these problems when halogen bulbs were the rage. $36 for a set for my previous car...

Izzy

Best I can do, same kind of car. One I saw was these headlights (996?) in a Mitsubishi, the other was a round set (the 997 headlights?) in an older Honda sedan.

I've seen the headlights on ebay every now and then, you could check every few days to see if you can find a set. Typically the seller is new or has past feedback from buying cheaper car parts.

I did read on another site where an owner wired his headlights to sensors hooked into his alarm system. It seems like people are doing this all over because of the value of the headlights. You'd think there would be a VIN on it but it seems like even the high-end car manufacturers stick to tagging engine and larger, more expensive parts.

Sorry if I'm not of much help, just thought I'd give you an idea of where they went since I've seen the kind of scum that steal and use these lights. Hopefully insurance takes care of everything for you!

wbellinz

I heard the value in the HID is not for resale, but they are used to grow plants (i.e. drugs). Since they don't get hot like hallogens they are percieved as safer to use indoors. Anyone else heard this?