Austin : stolen car cover

[Inf]

Last Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning someone stole a custom fit beige technalon cover off my 240z from underneath my building near downtown Austin.

The purpose of this thread is 2-fold :

1) If anyone in the Austin area tries to sell you one or something of that nature(I am aware, the chances are extremely remote), please let me know. I have seen several other S30 Z owners around the area, and as much as I hate to think one of them took it, it is definitely not outside the realm of possibility.

However, In all likelihood it was stolen by a homeless person to try to use for warmth, except it was secured with a steel cable and padlock. Whoever took it either made plans to take it and brought appropriate tools, or just used a knife to cut the fabric around a securing point.

The other possibility is that it was stolen by some random idiot who thought he could use it on his car that was not a Z. I'm guessing it likely wont fit anyway because of the shape and small size of the cover compared to modern cars.

2) Anyone have any good ideas for theft deterrent of these covers? My car is under the building in such a way that it really does not get rained on except during heavy winds from the south. The main problem is dust and dirt settling on it.

The cable and padlock were in retrospect something of a joke. It certainly wouldn't stop anyone who wanted to take the cover. I guess I had let myself slip into some naive notion that maybe something like a car cover was safe from the sticky fingers of the local trash.

I filed a police report and all that over the phone, but of course I am not expecting anything at all to come of it and have pretty much written that cover off as gone for good.

I have an old polycotton cover up in Dallas that I may get dry cleaned next time I am visiting up there to at least keep the dust off. I know my insurance would be no good for this problem, since I have a $500 deductible. Being a cash strapped college student, I don't have another $170 to blow on a replacement that would probably get stolen again anyway.

It is a shame. It was a really good cover and I only had it for about a month before someone nicked it.

Feedback welcomed.

[Ed]

Well,,, on a positive note. Atleast your car wasn't stolen.

[AWC]

I'll keep my eyes open for someone selling it.

[Bambikiller240]

I feel your pain. The one I had lasted only a month also, before some lowlife stole it from in front of my house.

At the time I thought that I should have stenciled my License Plate nuumber on the outside of the material. But at best it would just make it easier for me to spot IF I knew where to look for it.

[Inf]

Well,,, on a positive note. Atleast your car wasn't stolen.

Yeah,

I am considering getting an alarm installed. If anyone has any advice on that, I would be glad to hear that as well. It would probably be money better spent than buying a new cover to be stolen yet again.

[zhead240]

i used a wireless doorbell alarm(about $25) to catch a kid getting into my wife's car and stealing money out of the glove box.( he got the spare key that was in the console one night when the wife forgot to lock it) therefore he had access whenever he wanted.i taped the circut breaker(after the 4th breakin) so it set off doorbell when door opened.(parked car close to house so only driver door would open) had it all planned and ready so when the alarm went off ,to run to window and take his picture.worked beautifly. caught him red handed, called cops and nothing was done because a few months latter he was in jail for similar multiple crimes. drawback is you have to be home and breaker circut has to be close(100 yard) to the alarm that plugs into an outlet.

[gmjanssen]

Funny story....when I went off to basic training for the Army someone stole my car. I got home on leave 3 months later and I am sitting at 7-11 in my mom's Chevy when I see my car and three guys across the street. The guys take off and I follow them until they pulled over into a parking lot to smoke dope and drink beers. Long story short, I call the cops from across the street and i get my car back. These guys stole my car, gave it an awesome tune up and installed a $1000 stereo system; which they stole from and auto body shop. The cops let me keep the stereo as insurance had already paid for it!! Moral...you just might see that cover again when you least expect it!!

[Surfsup]

Funny story....when I went off to basic training for the Army someone stole my car. I got home on leave 3 months later and I am sitting at 7-11 in my mom's Chevy when I see my car and three guys across the street. The guys take off and I follow them until they pulled over into a parking lot to smoke dope and drink beers. Long story short, I call the cops from across the street and i get my car back. These guys stole my car, gave it an awesome tune up and installed a $1000 stereo system; which they stole from and auto body shop. The cops let me keep the stereo as insurance had already paid for it!! Moral...you just might see that cover again when you least expect it!!

man.. if I was you, Id be in primal rage and start going crazy.. Then id probably call the police. ..

[sblake01]

Searching through the old threads again, Andy?

[Surfsup]

Searching through the old threads again, Andy?

hahah yeah i happened to pass by this one for some odd reason.