headlights stolen?
#1
04-12-2004, 03:33 PM
headlights stolen?
Hi,
Sorry for crossposting, but I don't want to miss anyone. 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
Sorry for crossposting, but I don't want to miss anyone. 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
#3
04-12-2004, 03:41 PM
I've tried to reach two sellers on Ebay listing Porsche headlights. So far no response from either of them. But I'll let everyone here know what they say, if they do respond.
Susannah
Susannah
#4
04-12-2004, 09:24 PM
headlights stolen
Just a quick update: Both sellers on Ebay responded to my queries, but declined to be interviewed (for an article in a magazine for Porsche owners) because they said it would only encourage people to steal Porsche headlights. I didn't actually tell them that I was writing about headlight theft, though it's a kind of obvious topic right now. And anyone can google me and Porsche and find I've written about it. Both also said that their Porsches were in the shop awaiting headlight upgrades. One said that he planned to include his own shop invoice to any buyer to reassure him/her that he didn't steal the lights.
Both are in the Palo Alto/ San Jose area, which has recently been hit with a rash of headlight thefts.
I'll let y'all be the judges.
Susannah
Both are in the Palo Alto/ San Jose area, which has recently been hit with a rash of headlight thefts.
I'll let y'all be the judges.
Susannah
#5
04-12-2004, 09:53 PM
susannah,
thanks for the story, a couple years ago, 6 pairs of 993's mirrors were stolen from my office building in the LA area, i think we all need to take extra care when parking our P-Cars, this is truly unfortunate....
thanks for the story, a couple years ago, 6 pairs of 993's mirrors were stolen from my office building in the LA area, i think we all need to take extra care when parking our P-Cars, this is truly unfortunate....
#6
04-12-2004, 10:50 PM
The Miami Herald article is here - http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...7688586.htm?1c
However, just to play devil's advocate, any particular reason a Miami Herald reporter writing an article has to solicit feedback to a yahoo address?
Why not snesmith@herald.com, which is the address given and used on every byline printed with the Herald's online articles?
However, just to play devil's advocate, any particular reason a Miami Herald reporter writing an article has to solicit feedback to a yahoo address?
Why not snesmith@herald.com, which is the address given and used on every byline printed with the Herald's online articles?
#7
04-13-2004, 09:24 AM
headlights stolen
I'm sorry, I know this is kind of confusing. The deal is, I'm working on a freelance story for Excellence magazine, so I'm using my personal address. The Herald doesn't mind if I do freelance work, but they don't want me to use company resources to do it.
Susannah
Susannah
Trending Topics
#9
04-13-2004, 01:58 PM
here's the article
Happy reading. This is now a bit dated because Palo Alto/San Jose area is now also being hit pretty hard, but it's otherwise current. I'd love to hear any reaction from owners here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published: Monday, January 12, 2004
Section: Front
Page: 1A
THIEVES' BRIGHT IDEA: PORSCHE HEADLIGHTS
By SUSANNAH A. NESMITH, snesmith@herald.com
The first thing Scott Rhodenizer does every morning is check to see whether the headlights on his car are still there.
Last Saturday, Rhodenizer woke up to a familiar and frustrating sight - the empty eye sockets of his black 1999 Porsche Carrera. The lights had been swiped for the second time in as many months.
``Now they know where I live,'' he said. ``I'm going to have to turn my [car] lease in. It's no good for me to have that car.''
For Porsche drivers, the story is a familiar one. Criminals, ever on the cutting edge, have started what could be a national epidemic: stealing headlights from Porsches.
Coral Gables police have investigated more than 60 thefts in little more than a year - and some owners have been hit three or four times. Rhodenizer's car was one of eight hit in the first five days of this year.
While regional figures were not available, Countach repair manager Abraham Echeverry said he gets as many as 10 blinded Porsches a week at his Coral Gables shop.
Bob Varela of Wellington, who has been in the Porsche business for more than 30 years, has heard about similar thefts ``all over the country.''
``It is more prevalent in Dade, not as much in Broward and somewhat in Palm Beach, but it is everywhere,'' said Varela, president of the Southeast U.S. chapter of the Porsche Owners Club and owner of Foreign Affairs Motorsports in Deerfield Beach.
The headlights, called high-intensity discharge, or HID, throw a bluish light on the street and are the rage with car enthusiasts who soup up less expensive cars such as Honda Civics and Acura Integras.
The lights cost $1,400 or more when new, but the replacement and repair costs after a thief pries them out with a crowbar can reach $7,000.
``The problem is, eventually, the way the insurance industry is, it turns into all of us paying more,'' Coral Gables police Sgt. Ed Hudak said. He has mounted a special investigation into the thefts, arresting six people so far. Miami police have arrested two others.
The lights themselves don't fit anything but Porsches, but thieves are removing the bulbs and a transformer that makes them so bright and installing them in headlamp casings for other cars. ``When you see a Chevy Impala with these lights, you know they didn't come with it,'' Hudak said.
Porsche's North American headquarters in Atlanta said it only recently began to hear about the problem.
Porsche spokesman Bob Carlson said removing the lights would require breaking into the car and popping open the trunk, which is in the front. But Hudak said local thieves have found a way around that.
``I don't want to kill Porsche sales, but the reality is all you need is a flathead screwdriver,'' Hudak said.
OTHER COMMUNITIES
Miami, Key Biscayne and Pinecrest police have seen the same trend in recent months.
Hudak suspects that instead of one large, organized ring of thieves, he is chasing several small groups.
The HID lights are also standard features in other luxury cars, but repair-shop owners say the Porsche is the car of choice for Coral Gables thieves.
``They're going after the Porsche because they're easy to take out,'' said Oscar Sicle, owner of the European Connection. ``Mercedes has [the lights], but you can die of old age trying to take them out.''
The Nissan Maxima has also been a popular target for a few years. Hudak's team is investigating 33 thefts from Maximas and other high-end cars. Nissan officials said that when they heard about the problem with Maximas, they set up a program to help police catch the criminals and help owners discourage them. The company also changed the design on the 2004 models to make it harder to pry the lights out.
A caller to Nissan's customer service is told to press 1 on the phone dial if headlights were stolen.
Kenneth Gorin, co-owner and president of The Collection luxury-car dealership, said Porsche's new SUV, the Cayenne, has bolts holding the lights in tightly.
``I don't think really Porsche is at fault in their design,'' Gorin said. ``Anytime you need to replace something and the repair shop says, `Oh, it's going to take four hours to replace this,' you'd say what kind of ridiculous design is this?''
Unfortunately for the new Cayenne buyers, Countach's Echeverry said he has already seen several of the new SUVs robbed of their headlights.
``We've had six or eight of them already,'' he said. ``Those are bolted on.''
EXPERIENCE COUNTS
Echeverry said the thieves seem to be getting more adept. ``The first cars, they would demolish the fender. Now they seem to know how to pop them out without doing too much damage.''
Detective Chris Rios, a Miami police officer and owner of a Porsche 911, decided not to wait for a design change.
``I took out the $4,000 headlights on my car and put in [older] headlights,'' he explained. ``I kind of downgraded the headlights on my car to avoid the theft and damage.''
Hudak said he knows one Key Biscayne Porsche owner who did that and even put a sticker on the lenses announcing that the lights were not high intensity. Thieves pried them off, anyway, then dumped them.
``These guys can't read,'' Hudak said.
Herald staff writer Hannah Sampson contributed to this report.
Illustration: color photo: repair shop employee works on Porsche (a)
Keywords:
© 2004 The Miami Herald. The information you receive on-line from
The Miami Herald is protected by the copyright laws of the United States.
The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting,
or repurposing of any copyright-protected material.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Miami Herald archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight-Ridder Inc. company.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published: Monday, January 12, 2004
Section: Front
Page: 1A
THIEVES' BRIGHT IDEA: PORSCHE HEADLIGHTS
By SUSANNAH A. NESMITH, snesmith@herald.com
The first thing Scott Rhodenizer does every morning is check to see whether the headlights on his car are still there.
Last Saturday, Rhodenizer woke up to a familiar and frustrating sight - the empty eye sockets of his black 1999 Porsche Carrera. The lights had been swiped for the second time in as many months.
``Now they know where I live,'' he said. ``I'm going to have to turn my [car] lease in. It's no good for me to have that car.''
For Porsche drivers, the story is a familiar one. Criminals, ever on the cutting edge, have started what could be a national epidemic: stealing headlights from Porsches.
Coral Gables police have investigated more than 60 thefts in little more than a year - and some owners have been hit three or four times. Rhodenizer's car was one of eight hit in the first five days of this year.
While regional figures were not available, Countach repair manager Abraham Echeverry said he gets as many as 10 blinded Porsches a week at his Coral Gables shop.
Bob Varela of Wellington, who has been in the Porsche business for more than 30 years, has heard about similar thefts ``all over the country.''
``It is more prevalent in Dade, not as much in Broward and somewhat in Palm Beach, but it is everywhere,'' said Varela, president of the Southeast U.S. chapter of the Porsche Owners Club and owner of Foreign Affairs Motorsports in Deerfield Beach.
The headlights, called high-intensity discharge, or HID, throw a bluish light on the street and are the rage with car enthusiasts who soup up less expensive cars such as Honda Civics and Acura Integras.
The lights cost $1,400 or more when new, but the replacement and repair costs after a thief pries them out with a crowbar can reach $7,000.
``The problem is, eventually, the way the insurance industry is, it turns into all of us paying more,'' Coral Gables police Sgt. Ed Hudak said. He has mounted a special investigation into the thefts, arresting six people so far. Miami police have arrested two others.
The lights themselves don't fit anything but Porsches, but thieves are removing the bulbs and a transformer that makes them so bright and installing them in headlamp casings for other cars. ``When you see a Chevy Impala with these lights, you know they didn't come with it,'' Hudak said.
Porsche's North American headquarters in Atlanta said it only recently began to hear about the problem.
Porsche spokesman Bob Carlson said removing the lights would require breaking into the car and popping open the trunk, which is in the front. But Hudak said local thieves have found a way around that.
``I don't want to kill Porsche sales, but the reality is all you need is a flathead screwdriver,'' Hudak said.
OTHER COMMUNITIES
Miami, Key Biscayne and Pinecrest police have seen the same trend in recent months.
Hudak suspects that instead of one large, organized ring of thieves, he is chasing several small groups.
The HID lights are also standard features in other luxury cars, but repair-shop owners say the Porsche is the car of choice for Coral Gables thieves.
``They're going after the Porsche because they're easy to take out,'' said Oscar Sicle, owner of the European Connection. ``Mercedes has [the lights], but you can die of old age trying to take them out.''
The Nissan Maxima has also been a popular target for a few years. Hudak's team is investigating 33 thefts from Maximas and other high-end cars. Nissan officials said that when they heard about the problem with Maximas, they set up a program to help police catch the criminals and help owners discourage them. The company also changed the design on the 2004 models to make it harder to pry the lights out.
A caller to Nissan's customer service is told to press 1 on the phone dial if headlights were stolen.
Kenneth Gorin, co-owner and president of The Collection luxury-car dealership, said Porsche's new SUV, the Cayenne, has bolts holding the lights in tightly.
``I don't think really Porsche is at fault in their design,'' Gorin said. ``Anytime you need to replace something and the repair shop says, `Oh, it's going to take four hours to replace this,' you'd say what kind of ridiculous design is this?''
Unfortunately for the new Cayenne buyers, Countach's Echeverry said he has already seen several of the new SUVs robbed of their headlights.
``We've had six or eight of them already,'' he said. ``Those are bolted on.''
EXPERIENCE COUNTS
Echeverry said the thieves seem to be getting more adept. ``The first cars, they would demolish the fender. Now they seem to know how to pop them out without doing too much damage.''
Detective Chris Rios, a Miami police officer and owner of a Porsche 911, decided not to wait for a design change.
``I took out the $4,000 headlights on my car and put in [older] headlights,'' he explained. ``I kind of downgraded the headlights on my car to avoid the theft and damage.''
Hudak said he knows one Key Biscayne Porsche owner who did that and even put a sticker on the lenses announcing that the lights were not high intensity. Thieves pried them off, anyway, then dumped them.
``These guys can't read,'' Hudak said.
Herald staff writer Hannah Sampson contributed to this report.
Illustration: color photo: repair shop employee works on Porsche (a)
Keywords:
© 2004 The Miami Herald. The information you receive on-line from
The Miami Herald is protected by the copyright laws of the United States.
The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting,
or repurposing of any copyright-protected material.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Miami Herald archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight-Ridder Inc. company.
#10
04-13-2004, 04:28 PM
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...473007651&rd=1
Here is a link to a guy selling Litronics on ebay. It's funny because he also sold 2 pairs of Maxima's HID lights. They must be easy to steal too. This guy is located in San Francisco. Someone should pay him a visit... If you know what I mean.
Here is a link to a guy selling Litronics on ebay. It's funny because he also sold 2 pairs of Maxima's HID lights. They must be easy to steal too. This guy is located in San Francisco. Someone should pay him a visit... If you know what I mean.
#12
04-15-2004, 10:38 PM
log out
I just wanted to let everyone here know that I'll be logging out of the forum. I've finished the article _ with special thanks to several people here who have posted information and messaaged me privately. Coral Gables, FL, police say their Porsche headlight theft reports have dropped dramatically since I wrote the first article for The Miami Herald, which was followed on several network television shows and in USA Today, I'm told. The local police attribute the drop to owner awareness _ people are being more careful to park in well-lit lots, etc. In some small way, I hope that means that people are still getting their information from local newspapers.
And I hope folks here have found the information equally useful. I hope that Excellence readers do to.
Since I won't be checking the forum after this, anyone who wants to get in touch, please email me at susannahnesmith@yahoo.com or at my Herald address, snesmith@herald.com.
My next article is going to be about stolen stuff being sold on eBay and other online auctions. Got my first tip here. And I'd love to hear from anyone with stories.
Of course, anyone who sees the article in Excellence and has any comments _good or bad_ please email me.
Thanks for your help.
Susannah
And I hope folks here have found the information equally useful. I hope that Excellence readers do to.
Since I won't be checking the forum after this, anyone who wants to get in touch, please email me at susannahnesmith@yahoo.com or at my Herald address, snesmith@herald.com.
My next article is going to be about stolen stuff being sold on eBay and other online auctions. Got my first tip here. And I'd love to hear from anyone with stories.
Of course, anyone who sees the article in Excellence and has any comments _good or bad_ please email me.
Thanks for your help.
Susannah
#13
04-16-2004, 11:17 PM
The seller from San Jose refused to meet me even if I won his auction. Law enforcement should do something about this B.S. before I catch someone trying to steal mine and do something I shouldn't have too
