I went to see a double feature (Wanted and Hulk) and parked it about 20 feet from the cinema around 8:00 pm. When I came out around 12:15 it was gone. There was another vehicle where I parked the car and there was no evidence of it being broken into (broken glass etc.). The funny thing is the cinema is in a downtown area and the street where I parked it was well lit and fairly busy. It's an old vehicle ('84 Nissan B11 Sunny) but it was very convenient since I'm a student and the university I attend is pretty far from where I live. On top of that, the transportation system in my country sucks. So now I have no wheels and can't even go out at night anymore without depending on someone for a ride.
Judging by your moniker, do you live South of the border? Sorry bout your loss. Does the insurance over there cover that sort of things?
Actually I live in Trinidad in the Caribbean. And yes insurance does cover theft. But I'll wait to see if the police uncover anything.
Even though there are mainly newer model cars, this particular model is very reliable so its very popular. Unfortunately, parts are now hard to come by so they are stolen and scrapped for parts. I doubt it got towed since it was so late at night. And I wasn't parked in front of someone's driveway or anything. The officer who I reported to said he would still check to see if it was towed though.
Well, you should inform the insurance agency. They'll wonder why you waited so long otherwise. And, if it wasn't towed, you won't be getting the car back. You're not holding out hope are you?
Shot in the dark: Do you know a guy named Michael Nyarko? He's probably a swim coach somewhere in Trinidad.
don't knock the sunny. 80's sunnys are very good cars (so i've read). they weren't sold in the us, but they're the rice rocket's of western europe and asia. they're reliable and they get tricked out just like honda civics over here.
Seeing as I'm in the same boat as the OP, I've been wanting to ask someone: is it still possible to hotwire a car when the ignition switch is set to LOCK? Answers would be greatly appreciated.
That is why you got jacked. Old cars are the easiest to steal. You may think nobody would steal it because its older than Dikembe, but people will steal anything these days! The easier, the better for them.
yes. it depends on the car. i learned this from back in my more "reckless" days. for 90's honda's, the simple trick is to tear out the key housing which goes directly over a rotating switch. you can do this by inserting a dent puller's screw head into the key hole and just pull out the housing. if you do it right, it should take about 5 seconds. disclaimer: of course this is illegal, and you shouldn't do it.
Most cars are stolen for transportation/fun -- not for resale. At least in North American cities. That's what the police told me when my car was taken from in front of my house. (that's a puzzling moment -- looking at the empty space where your car was...wondering if you left it somewhere, when you drove it last, etc). In my situation they said they recovered about 80-85% of the cars. Mine was found a few days later about a mile from my house. A little worse for wear -- and I somehow gained a remote for a fancy entertainment system (so I'm guessing the car was used for a b&e) -- but overall in good shape. I'm still driving that car. The ignition switch was broken off -- so I guess whether it was in the 'locked' position wouldn't much matter.
