They could have at least stolen the *whole* car. · 4:09pm Jun 19th, 2018
I'm not quite sure what to think about this one.
I went to the supermarket. I got out of a mostly-intact vehicle. I returned to one which had been turned into an involuntary organ donor.
Now: this isn't a full-scale disaster. My car was not completely stripped down in the middle of the parking lot. It's still running: it just can't be driven.
The thieves, working in full daylight and what might have been public view -- stole my passenger side front turn signal housing.
Yanked it right out of the car. There's a loose connector plug hanging out of the gap.
And when you think about it, that's really... specific.
If I had to guess... someone who is or knows a Previa owner whose signal isn't working? And rather than pay to replace it, they stole mine? Take exactly what they need, then hand me the bill and vanish into the void until they need to steal something else?
*sigh*
So I'm going to spend the next week on foot. My car works, but a vehicle with a visibly-missing turn signal is a ticket magnet. Going anywhere could cost me triple digits, and 'Someone else just ticketed me ten minutes ago' is not a defense against the second fine. But in this case, it should only be about a week. It's not like the last time, when I was basically scrounging for a replacement engine. This is just a turn signal unit, and one search was enough to make it pop up on eBay. $37.65, spent, and now I have to wait for shipping. It's money I didn't want to spend and losing vehicle access again is a problem, plus I now have to worry about this happening again -- but as problems go, at least the 'I no longer have a turn signal' aspect can be fixed.
(Insurance? No, because I'm in a Your Fault state. When the part stolen is less than the deductible, all I can do with a phone call is drive my rates up for the agency-specific crime of Reporting An Incident.)
...this is going to be a really bad summer, isn't it?
Spring's certainly going out with a bang...
Trying to get myself back into the writing space. I hope that's even possible.
OUCH.
Ye gods. I really must make sure you never cross paths with my mate, since putting the two of you in the same space would probabluy cause the universe to spontaneously explode just to spite you.
Who takes just that?
Why?
Just, why?
This sounds like someone trying to make a quick buck. I just wish the universe would stop doing his to you.
Do you live in the Bermuda Triangle of the US?
I don't think I've ever met, or even heard of, anyone with the kind of persistent low-grade bad luck you've got.
At least it's a fairly quick fix. Still, this just feels petty on the part of the universe.
I would almost rather come out to my car and see it up on blocks with the wheels gone. One turn signal assembly is just insulting. It's like they're saying "This is the only part on your car we felt was worth anything."
4885549
Part of what I was feeling, yes. But it's also a potentially quick theft: as you may have direct experience with, those light housings are very modular. Put it this way: I can probably install the replacement. Get things lined up correctly and it'll snap right in. Or, as the thief just proved, out.
4885548
*sigh* I got 2500 words done on the new Rarity story today, and now I'm just -- frozen. {Sokka}Thank you, The Universe!{/Sokka}
At least be thankful they didn't do like thieves tend to do with radios and cut the connectors rather than disconnecting it
As long as I'm posting: Coke Reward Alert. If you have a Coke account (or can make one in a hurry -- U.S. residents only), go to this page and scroll down until you see the "Enjoy A Coke And Unlock A Mystery Perk" window. Put one code from any Coke product in on the entry line.
If 50,000 people do this -- and that usually happens within a day or two -- everyone within that number will receive $2 on Amazon.
And if you need a cap code, just ask me.
You have bizarre amounts of antiluck :(
Also As Long As I'm Posting: a small excerpt from the upcoming story:
What was the date of the posting of that part you found in wondering? Also, in state for delivery?
4885587
Date of posting...? Looks like it's a continually-available part: I'm getting it from a dedicated shop as a new piece. (They claim to have sold over two hundred of them.) And no: it's out of state. I went with the least expensive listing, which also had free shipping for the standard rate. There might have been geographically closer available -- but some of the other offers were nearly eighty dollars. I'll take the arrival delay over paying that much extra plus a shipping cost. It's supposedly going out today anyway.
Interestingly, the same shop listed the part on Amazon -- for just a little bit more. (Still free shipping.)
At keast it didnt turn up on Ebay 10 minutes later for only $20, buyer collects, from a place round the corner.
Yup, seen that a few times, at least once its got on the news as the guy whose part it was not only marked it but photographed it before hand. But you cant do that with a car unless you want to spend a fortune on custom mechanics gear and a week in the shop, and eveen then, thats your warrently gone.
In the drivers manual, why cant they just give a page with the QR code of all the laser engraved ID codes on all the parts making up the car, the garages could find parts a lot mroe easily?
4885561
Hey can I take you up on that offer of a free cap code? I... unfortunately don't drink Coke.
4885604
7tmhbjk44nmhn5
4885606
Appreciate it mate.
Jesus Christ dude. You don't deserve this bullshit. Whoever's manning that Karma Laser needs to get their eyes checked.
What an arsehole move.
You know what makes it creepier ?
Tonight my sister was walked to her car by a security officer hired by the local supermarket.
Why the security guards ?
Because yesterday, in broad daylight, a group of young males jacked up a car onto bricks and stole all four wheels.
In broad daylight. Inside the shopping centre carpark.
....is there some global organisation that we are not aware of ??
I'm sorry to hear this.
At least this makes some kind of sense - spare part or simple vandalism - I used to park my car in the local car park (no space in the flats where I lived). The only occasion the car was actually broken into was the time they stole ... the 2 gallon bottle of water I kept in case the radiator needed refilling.
I live in Kentucky, where cars don't technically need headlights to drive. Heck, I ran a stop sign once and hit a truck and didn't get a ticket.
To be fair, I totaled my car and I'm not sure if the truck had anything more than cosmetic damage, but still...
Anyways, sorry for your loss.
The new revolution in car theft: steal one piece at a time and stay under the reporting radar?
Fully expecting the shop to have exactly your old turn signal in stock. And by chance that's the one they install.
4885620
How? You hit a truck. 😂 Send some of that luck Estee's way.
Your anecdote about headlights reminds me of how for years in my state, trucks were technically classed as farm vehicles so legally the driver didn't have to wear a seatbelt. My mom still complains about not having a truck to take advantage of that anymore.
Or you could totally use hand signals which are still completely legal.
Also, check pick a part and then look online for specs to put it in yourself. I believe that ones just a couple bolts and a clip to install.
A similar thing happened to my 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan, only difference is that they stole the drivers side mirror, just the mirror, not the housing, wires all neatly disconnected.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=one+piece+at+a+time+lyrics+johnny+cash&&view=detail&mid=876A90B167FB166FFF77876A90B167FB166FFF77&&FORM=VRDGAR
4885597
Implementation costs are probably greater than any profit they could receive and no-one's really demanding them so they can't take advantage of that to make it profitable, so things stay the same for now.
4885698
... Have you made any mortal enemies with a particularly petty streak lately? I cannot think of another reason that someone would do this... unless they were simultaneously too cheap to buy a new one but too polite to just pull it off.
Although, thinking about it now, it seems like the best way to go about stealing it; someone tearing the wing mirror of is obviously a criminal, someone carefully removing the mirror from the housing might be replacing it. And once anyone notices they're not coming back it's too late.
After careful consideration, I've come to the only logical conclusion:
This vehicle is cursed.
Get rid of it or call in an old priest and a young priest to exorcise it.
4885751
The Dues Brothers?
4885555
Sure, it's reasonably quick, but if you want quick, why not take the windshield wiper blades?
Any chance the store has cameras? You're still out $40 but if it's a store chain you might have a shot.
The only time I’ve ever had a car broken in to, it was done by the most stupid thieves alive. It was a Subaru, so they first tried to lever the frameless windows. All they managed was to tear up the seal and scratch up the window tint. Of course they had to attempt this on all four doors.. They then moved on to the back window. They used a crowbar to rip it out. Dent and scratches in the roof, smashed rear window, and scratched up paint on the boot lid and rear quarters. For the more than $1,500 damage they’d done they took...
...the change sitting in the center console. Less than $3.00. Stupid and incompetent bastards.
"So what's the problem you wanted me to look at, Rarity?" Twilight Sparkle took a long look at the dress sitting on the ponyquin, then at the frazzled fashion diva, but did not see anything out of the ordinary except for Rarity's befuddled expression.
"Here, Twilight." Rarity moved a bit of lace to one side and pointed. "One of the shoulder pads is missing. No, one of the shoulder pads has been stolen!"
"Stolen? In Ponyville? Most ponies here don't even have locks for their doors." Twilight peered closer at the dress, taking in the snipped threads and the slight gap where a slim piece of foam obviously had once rested, then she looked back at Rarity with what she was thinking was a fair match for the same befuddled expression. "It looks like the shoulder pad is missing. And from the broken threads, it was carefully cut out. Any idea why?"
"That's what I hoped you could help me with, Twilight. You see, the town had a large number of tourists this morning from the train tour, and I was helping out at the castle, showing ponies around at the time of the crime. Maybe one of them stole it for some extra spending money."
Twilight looked down at the workbench where a hooffull of diamonds and sapphires were in the process of being sewn into another outfit, then back up at the dress that was missing a two-bit piece of foam. "I... don't think that's the reason. Maybe Estee is writing another story."
4885815
Too meta.
Thankfully, we haven't had a part stolen before, or even more thankfully, a whole vehicle, but we have had a license plate stolen. Rather than deal with it that day (we had been at the store, so we had items to get into a freezer ASAP), we went home, and went into town the next day to deal with it at the courthouse.
The courthouse is a nice-looking building at the head of our Downtown's Main Street. Once a year, Downtown Main Street is closed off to traffic to celebrate a local festival.
Which was going on when we returned to town to go to the courthouse.
We ended up needing to park a couple of blocks away just to have a place.
Afterward, we went to an auto shop near the city limit to get some good screws for it. Then we went home.
We didn't get a ticket, but it was a trip we shouldn't have had to make.
Not really near as bad as what's happened to you, though. Man.
4885589
Just a strange thought that they might have taken the part, thrown it online for sale, and made you pay for what they took as a means of money making.
This doesn't help you, but this has happened to me twice. On the same 15 year old Civic. Just outside my apartment.
First time, they broke into my locked car without breaking the windows - very thoughtful of them! - and stole the probably $30 worth of car stereo. And they stole my loose change, which really infuriated me for some reason. But in the process of this, they destroyed the A/C panel around the radio, which I ended up buying on eBay and replacing, myself (insurance paid out more than that).
Second time, same car, they broke in (car locked, no widows broken) and stole the entire plastic center console. With 15 years of wear and tear and elbow-resting grime. Why? I don't know! But they also stole my brand new wiper blades from the trunk, which really irked me. And maybe they left my Life Hammer alone in the glove box as an act of karmic prevention, but they still suck.
Anyway I'm sorry: I really understand that you so didn't need that to happen on top of everything else.
Is this the part, by any chance? Or is it a different year? I am not asking just out of curiosity.
4885885 I've got one of those Civic's from that era. Stealing the stereo is stupid, because it takes a super-secret code from the glove compartment and the VIN to get it to work again. (been there, done that) Got mine from an auction after it had a fairly dramatic deer/vehicle encounter. Ordered about two hundred dollars worth of parts from Auto Parts Warehouse (home of fine knock-off Chinese replacement widgets) and spent a few hours with a hammer and a screwdriver, but it drives peachy keep and I've never regretted getting it.
4885917 You're absolutely right about the original. It was an amazingly short-sighted Honda design ('98) where they used the basic AM/FM OEM radio as the receiver for the door remotes. But I'd taken that radio out and replaced it with an after-market CD player that read MP3s. I never did splice a Y-connector for the OEM radio back in and hide it behind the dash. So they only stole a 5 year old CD player and caused about $600+ damage to the dash doing it (I did not spend $600+ fixing it myself). I never replaced the center console, though I did try searching online and Pick-a-Part, etc. Just wasn't important enough. The only things that the car really needed fixing in 18 years was replacement of the exhaust manifold (a known Civic issue, which my brother helped with) and the rotted exhaust pipes (I lived in KC for the first few years, otherwise here in the Bay Area). And I drove that thing hard.
...Did you at some point upset someone wearing stereotypically Romani style clothing who spoke with a heavy accent? Or an old bearded fellow with a pointy hat wearing a bathrobe and an oversized walking stick? Or a lady with green skin and a pronounced nose?
Maybe you ought to check to see if your apartment building was built over an old burial ground or see if there's a mummy stashed in the basement.
It is my understanding that you might be buying a used car
https://www3.forbes.com/business/11-best-bargains-in-three-year-old-used-cars/?utm_campaign=11-Best-Bargains-Cars&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=msn-defaulthomepage&utm_term=11+3-Year-Old+Cars+Experts+Agree+Are+a+Steal%21
This might be out of your range, so
https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/the-10-most-dependable-cars-coming-off-lease-now
The article is 2+ years old, so the cars would be cheaper now
4885547
In 40+ years of living on my own I've met ONE person with Estee's luck.
For instance, the 4 of us (early 20s) lived downstairs from an (IMO alcoholic) couple in their 60s. One day the man of the house (a former pro wrestler) decided that we were ALL having sex with his wife & he was going to put a stop to it Right Now. Guess which one of us answered the door.
Another example. We had a friend who was an amateur mycologist (mushroom expert). Destroying Angel mushroom is deadly poison. They look very similar to several excellent mushrooms that you aren't supposed to eat because of the possibility for confusion. He used them anyway because he could tell the difference. In all the years that we knew him, he only ever made 1 mistake. He traded us a big pot of spaghetti w mushroom sauce for a 6 pack of beer. Guess which one of us ate some of the spaghetti & spent overnight in the hospital.
I could go on, but you get the point.