Hi,

I'm a reporter in Miami. I wrote the story that I believe some of you read in the Miami Herald about HID lights being stolen down here. I'm doing another story for Excellence magazine about the same problem and I'd like to talk to people who have been hit in other parts of the country. I understand it's become quite a problem in California and I'd love to talk to anyone out there. Are other regions seeing this too? And has anyone retrofit their Porsches with older lights to try to avoid the problem? Anyone out there who has stopped driving to public malls or leaving their cars parked on the street because of this?

Please contact me at susannahnesmith@yahoo.com

Thanks
Susannah Nesmith

 

I believe Orli930 had one of his headlights stolen... In a valet parking lot.

 

I think you would perform a great service for future Porsche owners if you make the point that these headlights are stolen for the MAIN reason that the expensive ballast is built into the headlight units . Yes, they easy to " pop out " , but if Porsche were to install the ballasts at a remote spot inside the car , the thefts would stop. The ballasts are recycled on cheaper cars w/o HID from factory to provide the necessary voltage to start up the aftermarket obtained HID bulbs used in conversions from standard halogen bulbs .
Hopefully Posche engineers have enough time to do this before the newly updated 911 and Boxster models come in the next 1-2 model years.

 

Hi Susannah,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. For more info from the west coast, you may want to contact Brian Haske (service consultant) or Rich Pasqauli (gm) at Carlsen Porsche in Palo Alto. They've seen at least 10 cases in the last month. They can be reached at (650) 710-9200.

Roger

 

I recently went to a street racing scene, where there were mostly ricers - and I saw a Honda Civic who had Porsche 996 xenon lights installed. I also saw a Subaru WRX with BMW "Angel Eyes" parking lights. Gee I wonder how they obtained them.

 

I WAS going to say, shouldn't a Miami Herald reporter have an email address at the paper? BUT, then I re-read your post...

"I'm a reporter in Miami. I wrote the story that I believe some of you read in the Miami Herald"


so never mind, carry on, do the Porsche owners proud with your article!!!

 

I'm sorry. I guess that is a bit confusing. I do have an address at the Herald (where I work full-time) but since this is a freelance article for Excellence, I'm using my personal address. But if anyone has concerns, I can email you the article I wrote. Or google me. I'm all for transparency in the media.

Susannah

 

Haven't heard of this happening much in the midwest, or am I just optimistic. I must say, there are few things that would drive me to violence, but this would be one of them.

 

I dont know if it will help, but we just had a thread about this topic...

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...?threadid=8644

 

Here's the guy...

 

I will be in Miami tomorrow thru Friday. If you want, we can discuss the traumatic ordeal of seeing a civic with 996 xenons over dinner.

 

Shank, please do your obligatory service and take Susannah to lunch.

Lou

 

I live in Miami and have stopped taking my car to most shopping malls and restaurants. I have seen 996's without their headlights, not a pretty site! Orli930 had his taken at the valet parking at Ruth Chris in Coral Gables!

 

Gosh, you always think your car is safe with the valet than on the street. Your CD? Now that's a different matter.

as for the proposed dinner date, I'm actually pretty busy this week trying to juggle my Herald duties and get this article done. But thanks for the invitation.

susannah

 

I think you'll find criminals are more likely to get their information from each other than from reading the newspaper or a magazine for Porsche owners. I have, however, talked to more than a few Porsche owners who began being much more careful about where they parked after reading my story.

Ignorance is also a dangerous thing.