Almost had my GN stolen

[Kaz]

Had someone try to steal my car today at the mall. It's an upscale mall with tons of traffic and roaming security so I didn't think I was taking much of a risk parking there.

Came back to the car and both the driver and passenger side locks had been pried out of the door but both doors were still locked.



Not sure why they would try to get in like this versus using a slim-jim. The fact that they did the same thing on both sides makes me thing they weren't the most accomplished thieves in the world. Hey, it didn't work on this side.. lets try the same thing on the other side.

So, for you guys that are familiar with body work... am I going to need to re-skin the doors to fix this damage or is it possible to knock out the damage and do a little welding/body filler/painting?

Thanks for any recommendations,

- Mike

 

[EVIL]

That sucks. You just can’t take your eye off of these cars.

With the right body guy the door could be salvaged.

If you don’t know of one ask friends for a reputable guy and see what he says.

D

 

[Kaz]

That sucks. You just can’t take your eye off of these cars.

With the right body guy the door could be salvaged.

If you don’t know of one ask friends for a reputable guy and see what he says.

D

Hehe, yeah. I'm starting to think the police should be using these as bait cars.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll start sniffing around my town (San Antonio, TX) for some good body shops.

- Mike

 

[Gothmog]

Amateurs.....the guy who did that to my car made a much smaller hole to get past the lock. Luckily I had a cut-off switch so I still have the car.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

That should be an easy fix for a good body guy, there is also a tool that reshapes where the lock sits.

 

[TurboWh1]

Thats never good, but at least they didn’t get your car!! Someone probably scared them off. Not that I’m a thief or anything but all they needed to do is twist the lock cylinder in the correct direction and the door would have unlocked. Do some searching on a patch panel.... I believe they make one. Maybe Goodmark???? You definitely don’t need a skin. Might even be able to repair what is there. I had to do the same repair on an 89 s-10 I had back in the day. Was able to repair and spot in the paint on a Saturday afternoon.

 

[sparky0798]

Glad you still have it. I wonder what I would've done if I caught them in the act. Definitely wouldn't be good

 

[TJsBeer]

Crazy.
That sucks Kaz.
At least they didn't get it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[GNBRETT]

real Pro's obviously smh....... in my wildest dreams I cud only hope that I wud walk out of the mall and see some shit head trying to break into my car. that wud be a great day for me and a really bad day for him.

if u don't by now I hope u have a kill switch installed...... not many ppl get a second chance at that!

 

[John Larkin]

Unbelievable.

 

[Kaz]

Thats never good, but at least they didn’t get your car!! Someone probably scared them off. Not that I’m a thief or anything but all they needed to do is twist the lock cylinder in the correct direction and the door would have unlocked. Do some searching on a patch panel.... I believe they make one. Maybe Goodmark???? You definitely don’t need a skin. Might even be able to repair what is there. I had to do the same repair on an 89 s-10 I had back in the day. Was able to repair and spot in the paint on a Saturday afternoon.

Yeah, I actually had to twist the cylinder to unlock the car myself since my key was obviously no good. Took me about 10 seconds to get the lock open... which is why I think they were pathetic thieves. I have an alarm on the car as well as a kill switch, so they would have had a hard time stealing it even if they did get in. I almost wish they had been better at it and only messed up one of my doors before they realized they weren't going to be able to start the car.

Not sure if I'm going to try to fix it myself yet or just let a shop do it. Unfortunately, with how my luck tends to work out I can never find a shop that doesn't suck. Its getting really hard to spend good money these days and be guaranteed good work. Always feels like I'm rolling the dice.

Thanks for the info,

- Mike

 

[Kaz]

real Pro's obviously smh....... in my wildest dreams I cud only hope that I wud walk out of the mall and see some shit head trying to break into my car. that wud be a great day for me and a really bad day for him.

if u don't by now I hope u have a kill switch installed...... not many ppl get a second chance at that!

Yep, got a kill switch and a old GM Mr Goodwrench security system that is probably so old that a competent thief wouldn't know what he's looking at. If I ever park my car somewhere unattended again (not likely) I think I'll leave some signs that tell would-be thieves that even if they get in the car they aren't going to be able to start it. Maybe that would save me the damage to the body.

I think I'll go ahead and get a low-jack type of system as well. I'm also considering improving the kill switch system to Mad Max: Fury Road levels.... but ultimately I probably just won't park the car out of my sight ever again.

- Mike

 

[Kaz]

That should be an easy fix for a good body guy, there is also a tool that reshapes where the lock sits.

Thanks for the info on the reshaping tool. I did some searching and I'm thinking that this might be what you are referring tool (or similar from various manufacturers): Sealey VS800

 

[achalmersman]

Man that sucks. Sometimes I wonder if we're better off leaving our doors unlocked if the cars are equiped with ign cutoffs.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

[TurboBuRick]

Why anyone would pop the locks on a car you can slim jim with a paper towel role is beyond me. Then they couldn't unlock it once the cylinders were out? SMH

 

[gsgnnut]

Sucks but at least you still got your ride. I would never leave mine at a mall-Thats prohibited in my insurance policy! Seriously when I do leave it out of my sight I have the column lock on , kill switch engaged, and security system set to wake the dead if some dip wad touches it.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Man that sucks. Sometimes I wonder if we're better off leaving our doors unlocked if the cars are equiped with ign cutoffs.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

They may not notice the "modelling clay" under the seat.. The weird little lump w/ wires sticking out of it!!
Some time back, there was a discussion on adding a metal deflector over the latch, inside the door, that makes using a slimjim pretty much worthless.
NE1 try the tennis ball trik to open the door?

 

[EVIL]

Man that sucks. Sometimes I wonder if we're better off leaving our doors unlocked if the cars are equiped with ign cutoffs.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

I used to do that with an 87 gt since i had alarm and kill switch.

The retards still wrecked the door.

Too stupid to check the door and too stupid to steel it.

On a TR the factory alarm, if equipped with one, is activated by locking the door with the drivers power door lock.

So if you leave doors unlocked the alarm s not activated.

To test if you have one leave window down, open door, press power lock, shut door, reach in thru window, pull lock up, open door, alarm should sound. That’s how i made mine work.

D

 

[achalmersman]

Yea, mine has one. I didnt evdn think about that. Although I could arm the alarm, unlock the door manually, close the door, and if the thief opened the door it would sound

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

[stack1]

I always put the column lock on my car. Nothing says "don't bother" more than a big red piece of metal wrapped around the column. I'm trying to get them to keep moving and look for another target. Kill switches are nice, but the thief is still going to do a lot of damage before they realize it's not going anywhere.