dropped off car at body shop today for 2nd time in 2 years for a break-in while parked at the gym at night. guy at body shop says all nissans and infinitis are an easy target since if you destroy the lock with a screwdriver or drill the alarm won't go off, and all the windows may roll down.

luckily nothing stolen from car other than sunglasses, i learned my lesson last time not to keep anything of value in the car. but it's still $500 out of pocket for deductible and possible premium increase.

going forward i'll be careful about where i park, and make sure the driver's door is facing car and pedestrian traffic. i'm also hiding all personal info like registration and insurance in the trunk near the spare tire -- if your address is easily available a home break-in (or identify theft) could be next.

i also had a prior break-in which was probably a result of a key scanner. if you use your remote to lock your car, a thief with a key scanner can pick up the signal from hundreds of feet away (much stronger than the key). so if parking somewhere sketchy lock the car manually, don't use the key fob.

 

All good tips for anyone driving a newer car.

The biggest rule is don't leave valuables in a car, the only thing separating them from a thief is the 1/4 second it takes to pop a window and run off with your stuff.

I like to keep all my junk in the trunk, at least it's out of sight.

 

Especially if you live in a major city .... crackheads won't hesitate to smash your window for a couple of coins in your cupholder.

Never leave anything of value visible in plain sight.

Another thing to think of is .... tint your windows.

Out of sight out of mind.

 

Well that will make for an entertaining traffic stop!

Sorry that happened to you.

 

Check on both of these.... only thing visible was an RCA to 3.5mm cable (maybe that was enough to trigger them?) and windows already tinted.

I think my next car purchase will be a beater. Then after that something really nice to keep in the garage most of the time.

 

Whoever broke into your car like that actually did it the hard way. An automatic center punch on the window wouldve been a lot easier.

 

Our door handles are weaksauce. Flimsy, plastic and cheap. Terrible design flaw . Easy targets.

 

Do you mean breaking the window? Or jamming something in the key slot and turning to the right to lower the windows?

 

Also, my next car will likely be more of a non-premium boring daily driver, I just take short trips around town and infrequent road trips and don't need a $40K+ car.

Something like Accord, Optima/K5, Subaru, etc. Are any other mainstream car brands significantly better/worse than Nissan about break-ins? Or are thieves always one step ahead?

 

Yeah I'm really surprised they bothered with the door like that, a $5 spring loaded center punch is tiny and will wreck any tempered glass.

 

Yeah, its much easier to just break the window.

 

Holy moly I didn't know they were getting in this way. smh.