Hi,
I'm a reporter with the Miami Herald. I'm working on a freelance article for Excellence magazine about a rash of thefts of Porsche headlights. Some of you may have seen the article I wrote for the Herald on this problem in Miami. I understand it's spreading around the country. I'm looking for anyone who has had this problem and particularly Cayenne owners because the dealers tell me Porsche did something to make them harder to pry off, but the body shop guys tell me it's not helping much.

Please contact me at susannahnesmith@yahoo.com

Thanks
Susannah

 

It is unlikely that the Cayenne Xenon headlamps are a target for theft.

There are two groups of people who would be interested in this component. One group are people who paid ~$100K for a Cayenne Turbo, that includes this component as standard equipment. The other group are people who purchased the Cayenne or Cayenne S, for ~$45K and up, that included this optional component.

In order for either group to be interested in this component, theirs would have to be damaged AND they would have to submit to purchasing stolen equipment, or steal it themselves.

There are many things that I would rate as higher probability than either of these occurances.

The non-possibility is a Cayenne or Cayenne S owner who wants to change the standard halogens to Xenon. This won't happen because the vehicle has a different wiring harness and different components, depending upon the headlights.

In fact, the conversion details are still being worked out, but it won't be easy. The current conversion status is defined in this post: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=1189

 

Actually, Cayene's have already been hit in Florida, repeatedly.

The third group of people apparently interested in them are apparently just dismantling them to use inner components in other cars.

Susannah

 

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. ANd the criminas know they're being watched.

I hope that means that people are still getting their information from local newspapers, where I firmly believe most people can get most of the information that's relevant to their lives.

And I hope folks here have found the information equally useful. I hope that Excellence readers do to. (as for the poster who urged people not to help me, I do hope that he one day realizes that honest unbiased information helps us all make better decisions each day)

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