I feel so violated

[dice]

So I come out of my house this morning and hit the switch to unlock my doors, only to notice that my driver-side rear door is slightly ajar. And I think to myself, "That's odd of me to leave my door like that. I'm usually more careful." Then I notice, it's not even closed! Instead, the door is resting on the latch, almost like someone slowly closed the door so it would click the locking mechanism. Now I'm starting to get urked. I immediately throw open the door and see that the middle armrest is down, which is something I never do or have done, since I rarely carry people. Also, I can't find my cd case anywhere. I run to the front of the car and see that the same thing has happened to my front driver-side door. I also see that my glove box is dropped down and the contents are on the carpet (thankfully, the only thing in there was my tool for my jack and spare). I open the center console next and find that the little punks have even take my little storage box (I kept a little plactic box with a pocket knife and the remote for my wireless headphones, among other things, in there).

I take a step back and survey the interior and don't notice any damage. I take a sigh of relief and then I remember -- you've got a ton of stereo equipment in the trunk - go check in there idiot! I run to the back of my car and find that everything is safe and sound. The subs and amps are still there, as well as all my work supplies (I wonder if they even made it back there).

So after all was said and done, the bandits made off with about 80 cd's, a worthless remote (unless they have a 4th Gen as well), a pocket knife, a socket wrench, and some kleenex. I started to feel a little pissed, but then I realized that it could've been a lot worse. What they stole is recoverable, but I still can't help but feel very violated. I use to think that our quiet little neighborhood was safe and sound - but I guess it's true that you can't keep any door unlocked in any neighborhood in America anymore.

 

[Briz65]

Dice
I feel for you man. On July the 4th this year. My wife and kids went out to my Bro-in-law's house and had a great time. fireworks and all. When we returned home late that night, we closed the garage door. Well, we thought we closed it. Evidently my van wasnt in far enough to allow the door to close. So all night the door was open. Well, we had some punk kids come into our garage and steal our property. They got my wifes work laptop, her cell phone, charger, and her purse. The reason I know it was PUNK KIDS is the fact they were stupid enough to call their girl friends from my wifes cell phone. Well, being the Telephone man I am. I call a bud at my office and had him lookup the number and gave it to the Police. They have so far been worthless at solving the crime. So far we have recovered the laptop, Broken, the laptop case, trashed, And My wifes purse, minus the cash only, WHEW! I have since ditched the VAN and bought my brand NEW BLACK 2005 SR5 4RUNNER. WOOHOO! It fits in the garage with room to spare. I love this truck! Be dilegent and resourcefull on the security of your property. German Shepards or Smith and Wesson are good places to start.

Briz:bash:

 

[Jeff Kleb]

I was also a victim of vehicular brigands several years ago - long before I ever even dreamed of driving a 4Runner. I had a then-new Mustang GT and noticed that my doors were unlocked when I went out to start it in the morning.

Yep, someone had been inside....although there was no visible damage. They took two or three of my cassettes (remember them?) that were more of the "urban" variety, but left the country and rock & roll stuff alone. Perhaps they did not share my fine taste in music.
:awais:

The thugs made off with a bottle of Aramis cologne, some Old Spice lotion, the contents of my coin box and a whole batch of toll tokens. If I remember correctly, they also stole some chewing gum and perhaps a pair of old gym shorts that I used to clean brake dust off of my wheels. Yuck! They never even popped the hatch, or perhaps they might have stolen something back there - Armor-All, towels, Windex, etc., etc.

All in all, I was just thankful that they did not damage my baby in any way. The could have slashed the seats, broken the windows or torn up stuff if they were really nasty about it. Sometimes bad things can still end up in a postive light.


At least they did not damage your Toyota, right?

 

[MsMarine]

Stolen Purse

Be careful on thinking they only stole the cash. I would still cancel all of the credit cards and check your accounts. Theives are sneaky. They don't have to have the card just the number.

Just a thought.

 

[Briz65]

we had already canceled all the cards and put fraud alerts. no activity so far. My wife is a computer nerd God I love that woman.. She has vays of making a computer talk:

 

[dice]

Thanks for your support

Thanks again guys for your support. I agree that this could have been a lot worse, so I am trying to stay in good spirits. The truck is parked right outside my window tonight and I am pretty much checking on it every 10 minutes.

Question though - does anyone know how to program the truck's door locks to automatically lock when you turn off the engine (since I can't really trust my memory anymore)?

 

[Fro-Runner]

Re: Thanks for your support

Thanks again guys for your support. I agree that this could have been a lot worse, so I am trying to stay in good spirits. The truck is parked right outside my window tonight and I am pretty much checking on it every 10 minutes.

Question though - does anyone know how to program the truck's door locks to automatically lock when you turn off the engine (since I can't really trust my memory anymore)?

Dice,
How did they get into your 4Runner? Did you leave the door unlocked? Did they pry their way into the doors? Do you have the factory alarm system on your 4 Runner? You didn't clarify any of the above questions in your original statement.

 

[RunnerUp]

i had my runner broken into about 2 years ago, some punk kids smashed my rear driver window out and that of course set off my alarm, but by the time i ran outside with my trusty browning they were already in the getaway car and the ran. i ran around to jump in my truck to chase them, but when i made it to the driver side, i just saw my window laying on the ground and my heart dropped, so i open my door to see the damage, and my dash was ripped off and the brain to my tv was sitting on the seat, thankfully i had installed my tv with bolts and seems that those were not in the thiefs tool case, they didnt touch my subs or amps in the back, but i did get the flashlight, and the screwdriver, so i geuss i scared 'em. it really sucked though, i still have glass in the back of my truck from that, $^@!$ kids....

 

[dice]

They didn't pry their way in and I didn't see any slim jim marks, so I am assuming that I probably forgot to lock my doors when I came home the other night -- I know, I'm such a bone head. I also have the stock immobilizer (not sure if that's the same as an alarm).

 

[UoD]

Doesn't the stock system automatically lock itself (the system without the alarm...) ?

My 2005 SE automatically locks after 30 seconds or something ....

 

[SevenJ]

My apartment complex got hit a few years ago the same week I had a new hu installed in my honda accord. They busted out a rear window and then popped the trunk, stealing CD's, a maglight, and 2 sets of golf clubs. In taking out the hu, they ripped the dash apart and left screw driver marks on the parts of the dash they didn't break. They left my loose change and ray-bans, guess they didn't know a good pair of sunglasses. A number of cars got hit that night, and another night a few months later (not me again, put the factory stereo back in). Anyway, I don't think the cops ever did anything other than file the initial paperwork, I guess it is too expensive to try and track down stereo thieves.

 

[nated05]

Doesn't the stock system automatically lock itself (the system without the alarm...) ?

My 2005 SE automatically locks after 30 seconds or something ....

I have noticed that if I hit the unlock and dont open the doors or anything within about 20-30 seconds the doors automatically lock again. Im not sure if i like this feature or not, I guess it is handy if you bump the unlock on the remote and dont realize it. Also all of the doors lock everytime you roll down the back window (with remote or key). Maybe someone can explain to me what the point in that is.

 

[dice]

Yeah, I was reading the manual to see if the doors were supposed to lock automatically or if it was something I could program. Apparently, the only time the doors lock themselves is if you hit the unlock button and then don't open a door. But if you get out your car and don't hit the lock button, there is nothing that triggers the car to lock it down. I might try and stop by the dealer later this week to see if it is something they can program into the truck's stock system.

 

[seancgn68]

There is nothing in the world that pisses me off more than crap like this. Such a sad, sad thing that we need to worry this stuff. I have only ever been robbed/vanadlized once (knock on wood), years ago. I left my radar detector in view as I ran into the store for 10 minutes, and by the time I cam back, the passenger side window was smashed and it was gone. It is such a helpless feeling of rage! Not a damn thing you can do but stew about it.

 

[boston_kevin]

Yeah, I was reading the manual to see if the doors were supposed to lock automatically or if it was something I could program. Apparently, the only time the doors lock themselves is if you hit the unlock button and then don't open a door. But if you get out your car and don't hit the lock button, there is nothing that triggers the car to lock it down. I might try and stop by the dealer later this week to see if it is something they can program into the truck's stock system.

This may also be a mechanism to keep you from locking your keys in the car... Let us know if they can reprogram this, it would be a nice feature to have.

 

[wesgo]

That Sucks,

I used to feel the same way and never lock the cars in the drive way, till our neighborhood got hit, they got most of the cars on my street. we lost some cds and some lose change, but what got me P/Oed was they took the ashtray that the change was in. What are they going to do with that? I'm sure its in the nearby woods somewhere. Seems like it alway happens in the summer when people have their home ACs running any you cant really hear anything outside.

Bill

 

[toys4life]

Here's what I have to protects my Toys!!
http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/4wmv.htm