Okay, so I've been REALLY bad at following up on threads lately. I'm finally getting around to this one. I did end up buying the S40 on the last day in July and I've been pleased ever since! Just before I drove it off the lot I was all set to buy it from Atlanta, but went head and called my local place one last time and they ended up matching it (spoke directly with the manager). Earlier when they refused to go any lower than $27,4 (before taxes and fees), they were just being arrogant and naive. I ended up getting the car for $27,000...taxes and fees included. It's still expensive as hell, but at the same time a good deal for this car. Not as great as some in California, but it's all good. This particular car even has more features than I originally thought (like alarm system, WOW...what a useless invention (more on this later)). The only problems have been a brake pad and an annoying leather scratch from one of my ******* friends (he's lost riding privileges...for other reasons as well). ============ No problems. That was until last night, September 12. I was discussing this point earlier in the day with a friend who bought a new truck around the same time as my car. I guess I was due for some bad karma. I was out doing errands and couldn't get to the gym until late. So I park in a lot connected to the gym at around 10:30. This lot is right by a little bayou/canal, and I park facing it, where it's dark. No big deal since I'm directly under a street light. Since I was a good distance away I decided to jog to the entrance of the gym...I needed to warmup for the basketball I was going to suck at. As I start running I notice a car kind of parking...it's backing in, but at an odd angle. I turn my head back in front and keep jogging... At 11:50 I return to my car (mind the crappy pics): Everything is intact, minus a window, a laptop case, a textbook, Sony headphones, a computer mouse, and my wallet (sans cash). Overall I didn't lose that much. I had no cash in my wallet and earlier in the day I had all of my identification and cash in the laptop case. Plus I took my laptop out of the case earlier today ("THANK YOU GOD!" -Animal House). The ******* went to Walgreens twice and spent $150, then $71, filled up on gas, and spent $15 at Miami Subs, all according to my now-cancelled credit card. My driver's license was the only other thing of major importance that's gone. It was the second time it happened in the area within just a few hours according to the officer. Now I get to call a detective today and hope he will go out and get the surveillance tapes at Walgreen's and find who it is. Kind of sucks, but could've been A LOT worse (my camera was right by the case; a large refund check was under the case, a video camcorder was in the trunk. I don't even know if I should bother with insurance since this might not meet my deductible. Anybody have similar experiences or tips?
I get the feeling that the best time to break into someone's car is when their parking to go work out or go to the gym because their likely to leave valuable items in their car. This isn't the first time a story has been posted here about this topic. Did your car alarm even go off? You probably wouldn't know if it did if you weren't around. I know my car alarm has a glass breaking feature but most alarms won't even go off on a broken window like that.
Damn that sucks. My uncle's Range Rover has been broken into twice. Once, some guy just broke the window, didn't take anything. It happened at his office and I find it strange that nobody saw anything because he had a reserved spot in plain sight of multiple offices in that building. The 2nd time, he was at a lunch meeting and he came out to find a window smashed and his laptop gone and a couple of really expensive not quite sure how much, but possibly $3000 Montblanc fountain pens. I'm not sure where he was, but I think it was near the Galleria, so it was strange that nobody saw anything or that there wasn't better security there. That's the only way my uncle could get robbed though. One time a guy snatched his laptop from him and he chased the guy down and kicked his ass. Another time, a guy tried to car jack him and my uncle knocked him down by forcibly opening the car door and then drove off.
