[just lou]

I just got into my CTs, and noticed the glove compartment open and my stuff on the floor. Not really thinking, I thought it just opened by itself and the stuff fell out. :bigroll: Anyway, when I got out, I noticed my door lock had been damaged, and there is some minor damage to the door. I'm going to go to the dealer and have them check it out, and get an estimate on the damage. My biggest worry is them painting the door since I have "White Diamond". The paint damage is about the size of a penny, under the lock. Do you think they can repair this without painting the entire door?

 

[FSU_Noles]

My biggest concern would not be the car. My biggest concern would be whether or not I had any personal information (SSN, Checking Account #, etc) in the glove box.

Identity theft is big business and cars take much less time to repair then credit.

 

[Mark VerMurlen]

You should probably also file a police report and talk to your insurance agent.

- Mark

 

[malcolm]

I think you are in for a repaint of the door. White diamond is difficult to touch up. I touched up the front bumper of my old 02 SLS and it was just ok, didn't cause me too much concern, it was a lease. If I owned it I probably would have had it painted. That same car was hit pretty good in the rear quarter right before I had to turn it in and the body shop matched it perfectly and at the time it was close to 3 years old. A good painter should be able to make it right.

 

[just lou]

Nothing was missing from my car, and there was no damage to the ignition. I think whomever did it may have been scared off before they got anything. My Registration and Insurance Card were still in the car, and if they had checked the trunk, my laptop computer was in there. I consider myself very lucky despite what happened. I talked to my insurance company, and they told me to take it where I want and get an estimate. My deductable is $200, so I can probably get that absorbed and get if fixed for nothing. ...I'm trying to look at the positives right now.

 

[TitanVA]

Most likely the door will have to be repainted. I worked at a dealership a few years ago and there was a company that came around every week and painted scatches and chips on the trade ins so they looked good to sell. They did great work, but if I remember correctly they had to paint the whole area. something to do with trying to blend that type of paint is tuff to do. It would probably cost more to get someone to try and touch up that little spot than having the door repainted and it will look better if they just repaint it. I know they would do a whole bumper or 1/4panel for like 75-100 bucks and you could never tell it was painted. They were able to match faded paint and everything. Call the dealer, if they don't have their own paint and body shop they probably have a guy like this they can hook you up with.

 

[NIK]

The same thing happened to my '05 CTS-V back in June - on a beautiful sunny day right in front of my office at 11 AM! We caught it on surveillance tape but never caught the perpetrators. The whole deal took all of two minutes. I posted this after it happened, warning that by punching the door lock in (must have had some sort of tool), it by-passes the alarm! The tool pushed the door lock into the door, they reached in the hole left behind, and unlocked the freakin' door, with no alarm sounding!

Like you, they took nothing but my owner's manual and, being that I have full comprehensive insurance coverage, it cost me nothing to repair .... the insurance company even paid for a new manual. The repair is flawless, can't even tell it was ever done.

 

[just lou]

Thanks for the answers. I'm about to leave for vacation, so hopefully I will forget about it until I get back. Here is a picture of the damage.

 

[Mark VerMurlen]

Looks like they used a crow bar to get in. I'm surprised they didn't pop the door handle completely off the car. Is there damage to the door handle mechanism?

I had a friend that had his car broken into. He didn't have anything valuable in the car and it was an old car so he just left the doors unlocked. The thief never check the doors, he just smashed the window first.

- Mark

 

[IHIeiniken]

noo. its not a crow bar, they used a screw driver to pop out the handle then a pick tool to pull the latch that releases the door. no alarm??

good luck with the paint though.

 

[70eldo]

You posting the methods that by-passes the alarm scares me man!

In my case they just broke the passenger side window and grabbed my suitcase that I left on the seat (stupid, stupid, stupid!). There was nothing really valuable in the suitcase, but it still sucked that I had to have the window fixed. Of course the window had to be ordered and I had to rent a car for 2 days.
Another luck is that they did not grab the other bag that was also in the front of the car. Now in that bag was my passport, documents from work, and even the spare key to the car!!! (I just had the car since a week and I happened to have left the spare key in that bag).
That's a real punishment for being so naive, thinking parking the car in a well lid area would prevent it from being broken in to. I never leave any values in the car anymore!

 

[just lou]

Looks like they used a crow bar to get in. I'm surprised they didn't pop the door handle completely off the car. Is there damage to the door handle mechanism?

I had a friend that had his car broken into. He didn't have anything valuable in the car and it was an old car so he just left the doors unlocked. The thief never check the doors, he just smashed the window first.

- Mark

There's no damage to the door mechanism. I'm just glad they didn't take the car, or look in the trunk. I just have to worry about the paint when I get it fixed.

 

[RobertCTS]

Hmmm..several cars broken into and no valuables taken. Like said earlier, I would worry more about identity theft. Keep an eye on all of your accounts.

 

[NIK]

Hmmm..several cars broken into and no valuables taken. Like said earlier, I would worry more about identity theft. Keep an eye on all of your accounts.

I keep no valuables in my cars, not even the registration/insurance cards (they stay in my wallet.) The warning I am trying to give all of you is how relatively easy it is to pop the door lock, reach into the hole left behind, and unlock the door - disabling the alarm! Myalarm is fully functional and did not sound while they rifled through my car. I do have pictures, but I don't know how to post them. If anyone can help and wants to see them let me know.

 

[just lou]

Hmmm..several cars broken into and no valuables taken. Like said earlier, I would worry more about identity theft. Keep an eye on all of your accounts.

I didn't have many personal documents in the car. My reg and insurance crad where there, and they didn't take them. No other info on them except my name and address. I did have a gas receipt in the cup holder, but they didn't take that either. It only has the last four numbers of my Discover card.

 

[RobertCTS]

Can they retrieve any personal information from your VIN number?

 

[FSU_Noles]

Can they retrieve any personal information from your VIN number?

There was recently a Urban Legend about how people could come up to your car, copy your VIN, then get your personal information from the DMV or similar. I don't see the DMV associating any of your personal info that wouldn't be attainable from a piece of mail on your account. If a person did have the kind of inside access to the DMV to retrieve any valuable personal info then they wouldn't have to get your VIN, they could simply sort through the registration database.

 

[just lou]

I went to my dealer today, and then went to the Body Shop they recommended. Damage was estimated at around $1,200, and should take a week to repair. I asked about matching the "White Diamond", and the owner admitted it was tough, but said he does it all the time for Brogan Cadillac. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[TripleOught]

...he does it all the time for Brogan Cadillac.

makes you wonder why Brogan Cadillac needs so much body work done...

i've heard stories from a bump shop guy about people buying new cars and finding out the paint on a certain part was mismatched. apparently, in transition sometimes the dealer f's the parts and needs to get them painted. whenever you buy a new car make SURE and check all the panels for an identical match. i know when we go buy a new car it's not really what we think about, so we might overlook that...

 

[just lou]

Good advice, but I'm not really worried about Brogan. They're one of the oldest and trusted Cadi dealers here in NJ. Whenever I've had a problem with any of my cars I bought from them, they always did what they had to do to make me happy.