Cadillac and Thieves

[turnerbend]

Originally Posted by bbshriver

Apparently from what I hear from friends, only gangsters and old people drive Caddys... so just make it look more Gangster than Grandma, and they'll know better!
Since I had my windows tinted (car stock other than that, base 17" wheels even) People tell me they're scared to stand too close, or look at it for too long.

You without a doubt have some much uninformed friends. Have you considered changing friends? Everybody now drives a Cadillac whether they can afford it or not.

[jamesbalzer]

Actually had a Colorado State Patrolman tell me last week (when he stopped me for my speed) that one of things he thought of when considering weather or to stop me that "drug runners like these Cadillacs"

[bierman.d]

I've never had anyone mess with my car, but that's just an advantage of living in a smaller community.

[is not null]

Thanks for all the input! It sounds like most people have been fortunate. That's reassuring and good to hear.

[JackG]

Does having Onstar deter theives?

[snum1fan]

Onstar deters dumb people who would want to steal your car. Anyone with just a little professional knowledge will know where the Onstar module is and cut the wires before long. I even heard all you gotta do is take the antenna off of the roof or unscrew it.

[Lifer]

Most thieves are either stupid or kids. Just for the sake of an additional argument, since the STS and the STS- V, as the XLRs are low-volume cars, as compared the rest of the American and Rice-A-Roonie lines, it does not make sense to steal something that has limited demand or resale opportunity.

Kids joy-ride, but they usually don't have the smarts to get into an STS unless it's a family car and they have the fob. Damage - yes, steal- no.

Here is one more - many years ago Readers Digest put a vinyl American Flag decal in their issue and found that when people placed it in their car's back window, the theft rate when down for those cars. Interesting.

[lreddiablo]

Originally Posted by jamesbalzer

Actually had a Colorado State Patrolman tell me last week (when he stopped me for my speed) that one of things he thought of when considering weather or to stop me that "drug runners like these Cadillacs"

In'07 bought my STS in Chicago and did a whole road trip around the country. My brother warned me that he gets pulled over in Ohio and Colorado on cross country trips cuz they are looking for out of state plates thinking a good chance you are running drugs. After hearing his warnings on the trip got pulled over twice for slight speeding, once in the Ohio turnpike, once in Durango CO. Both times was about 10mph only over the limit and got off with warnings. Think they were hoping I was going to have a few kilos in the trunk!

[z06bigbird]

Young people with Tx tags get stopped in West Memphis, Ar (IH 40) all the time. Cops find a ton of drugs in some of these vehicles.

[z06bigbird]

How bout this one:

Friend of mine (45 yrs old) had his father's Navigator. Vehicle had handicapped tags. He parks near front of Walgreens, and as he gets out of truck, 3 or 4 guys jump him, spray his face with paint and start beating up on him.

He had just finished a dental visit that cost about $2,000 or more. All his new dental work ended up on the ground. His wallet was gone. He still had his Rolex, Navigator, and life.

Stupid 20-year-olds did this in broad daylight, right across the street from a few policemen having lunch. One of the young perps might have some problem pro-creating, if you know what I mean. Police were there in seconds, but guys were already gone. Walgreens has this on video/security tape.

We all need to look around prior to exiting vehicles.

[Regulator]

That seems like alot of effort for a wallet. Why not just threaten him and ask him for it?
Something doesn't add up here.

[STE_6000]

Originally Posted by snum1fan

Onstar deters dumb people who would want to steal your car. Anyone with just a little professional knowledge will know where the Onstar module is and cut the wires before long. I even heard all you gotta do is take the antenna off of the roof or unscrew it.

Most people that steal are idiots. and the ones that are smart go after cars much better then our caddys. our cars are inbetween. to hard for the simple thief to steal but not costly enough for the smart high priced thief to want. very good thieves i think go after Mercedes and between in the import area cause they are worth more to sell.

[carter's_sts]

This only doesn't add up if you assume that the 20 YOs are not POSs and they have something resembling a brain.

If you assume they are POSs without brains, it adds up fine.

I came very close to being car jacked once a long time ago. I was able to speed off. This was a totally different (junk) car many years ago. But I've always tryied to stay aware of everyone around me ever since.

Originally Posted by Regulator

That seems like alot of effort for a wallet. Why not just threaten him and ask him for it?
Something doesn't add up here.

[Superjim]

I have had 2 Cadillacs stolen.

One was a 1980 Sedan de Ville stolen from my driveway in 1982.
It was found a few hours later...the wire wheels and tires were gone.
They broke the steering column to start it.

Next time was from the WalMart parking lot in 1992.
Same car.
I had parked...wasn't gone for more than 5 minutes...came back out...car was gone.
It was found the next day...looked like they used a crowbar to rip the radio out of the dash.
All of the change I had in the ashtray was gone. About 5 bucks worth.
Had about $3,000 of computer hard drives and RAM in the rear floor board...they were not touched.

Texas Jim

[bbshriver]

Jim,
Reminds me of getting my jeep broken into in college. Used a screwdriver to punch the door and unlock. Literally ripped the stereo out, total insurance bill was $1200. All they stole was the stereo headunit, the cheapest Pioneer I could get (about $150 at the time). My $1,000 Garmin GPS was left right where it was mounted, in plain sight.