Theft...

fastx19

fastx19

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So, on Saturday I got up and was ready to go on a hike. Walked out to the car to find this:

Fiat1.jpg

fiat2.jpg


Some of you may have noticed I am missing something.... In addition, others may have noticed the front tires look odd. This is because the morons who did this took out the lug bolts and the car fell on the rims basically locking them in place.

After a brief walk, I found my missing two rims in an empty lot not to far from the house. In addition, after a bit more time I was able to locate most of the lug bots as well. All in all, I ended up spending around $30 for four security lug bolts to deter this from happening again.

All in all, I was pretty lucky as nothing was damaged or lost except for one center cap.

So, just a heads up there are a number of different options out there for anti theft lug bolts, and even though you would think someone would not want to steal fiat rims, apparently this is not the case.

Have a wonderful day.
 
aarpcard said:
So they took your rims and then just left them in an empty lot? What?!
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Eric got lucky(?) I suppose we should look at it that way anyway. At least they didn't toss the wheels off a bridge.

Well, they only got two, so maybe they tossed the rears since they didn't get the whole set. Probably had the first two in the "getaway vehicle" when the fronts got locked up on the car, then decided to leave the scene ASAP.
 
Maybe they (the morons) mistakenly believed they would fit something else and abandoned them upon learning that they were in fact knowledge-less morons. Or you were the recipient of a highly illogical and random joke, where in even in my year-round aprils fools obsessed youth, I would never think of one so odd.
 
Bloody hell. That must have felt horrible. Thank goodness you were level headed enough to go on a search - not sure I would have remianed composed enough to think that clearly after being 'violated' like that.
 
That really sucks - sorry to see it happened, even if you did recover them. It's like an attempted rape; even if the act wasn't completed you still feel violated.
One morning I came out to find a side window had been smashed, the glovebox door left open, and a few things scattered. But nothing missing, custom stereo not touched, etc. I assume something scared them off before they got any further. Maybe a similar thing happened in your case; something frightened them midway through so they ditched the remaining evidence. Really no way to second guess the actions of complete idiots though.
 
I think you were the victim of a prank, makes no sense that the perps would toss the rear wheels a bit down the road. They would have no clue about the 98 issue. All I can tell you about the wheel locks is you better not lose the key as I did for my GTI. My solution was to remove the locking wheel bolts and throw them away after having the dealer remove my locking bolts with their "universal" dealer key. Get a second key and store it in the house.
 
If they had gotten all four they would have been gone. They would have discovered later the limited application and you would have been able to get the police on them when you found the Craigslist ad.

Bummer, hope they aren’t too scratched up.
 
Maybe one of them carried them over to the lot to swap on the car they intended to rewheel, realized they didn't fit and
told the other guy to forget about taking off the front wheels and they took off?
 
fastx19 said:
Thankfully with the exception of a lost center cap, everything is good. Got lucky this time.
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Definitely so. It could have easily caused scratching of the body or wheel finish, or damage the lug bolts/mounting holes, or damage to the undercarriage from jacking, or to the rotors on the bricks.
 
WTF! Gladly you were able to recover your wheels. Wheel locks can be a little annoying but they are a decent deterrent for this type of thing.
 
X1/9Cruiser said:
Maybe one of them carried them over to the lot to swap on the car they intended to rewheel, realized they didn't fit and
told the other guy to forget about taking off the front wheels and they took off?
Click to expand...
This one gets my vote.
 
One thing to note about locking wheel nuts/bolts: the typically suppliers only have about 8 different key patterns. The good thieves typically have all keys handy before they go on their raids.

Also if you can try to find the Thatcham approved wheel nuts/bolts. These have a rotating sleeve that prevent the use of vice grips or hammering a dummy socket on and away they go.
 
Ugh, sorry to see this... Wheel locks only prevent dumb crooks... In DC the crooks use liquid nitrogen to freeze the lock then bash it with a hammer so it comes right off...

At one point in my tech career I wanted to come up with a RFID tag that was part of the TPMS system.. As police drove around an alarm would go off if they drove by a rim that was reported stolen... I had planned to do the same for car stereos and bicycles... Every time I see something like this, I want to do that project again..
 
I suppose any/all anti-theft devices are only "deterrents", and even then only for the laziest of thieves. But I think anything within reason to help in that regard is worth the effort. I use wheel locks. Nothing special, just the semi normal looking lug with an odd shaped end that matches the "key" socket. I realize they are easy to overcome but I do not know of a significantly better option. To be honest I've never tried the type Andrew referenced and don't know anything about them. I Googled "Thatcham approved wheel nuts" but came up with a bunch of regular looking lug "locks". Is there a specific name or brand that is proven to be better security?
 
The simple deterrent devices wheel locks, car alarms, motion spot lights, should be enough to protect our FIATs. Given enough time and opportunity, professionals can defeat anything. Fortunately I don't think Fiats are on their radar. This was not the work of professionals. This is why you invest in the simple stuff, to discourage the amateurs, for the professionals you have your insurance.
 
Sorry for my limited vocabulary on the subject but I will do my best. I worked on this for my second rotation outside of college.

In the UK, insurance rates are dictated by the thatcham rating. To improve thatcham ratings, we had to use the approved lug nuts, make it take more than 5 minutes to access the BCM (body control module) without the use of a brick to the window, add the vehicle tilt sensor, and the proximity sensor that prevents arms from reaching through window openings when locked. I think crash rating is also in that as well.
 
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