Does your car make you a mark?

[TamThompson]

In my younger and stupider days (when I was earning lots of money in engineering), I bought a brand-new Lincoln Navigator right when they first came out.

I did not enjoy the experience of owning a luxury car. I found out right away why the nice factory had provided "scratch-resistant paint"--I NEEDED it! That SUV was probably keyed about six different times during the 8 months I owned it.

And once, it was hit on the rear bumper in a parking lot hard enough to leave paint from the other car on the bumper, yet no one left a note. They probably thought I could easily afford to fix it.

To add to the problems of being keyed constantly and negligently collided into, I was *always* worried about being carjacked, and my husband worried about me.

After I tired of paying too much money for too much car, I sold it and bought a Ranger truck. No one ever tried to steal it.

Current vehicles:
Me: 2001 black Explorer, same as millions of other people. I blend in.
Husband: 2003 Mazda 6 sportscar. Zoom, zoom, zoom.

I seem to recall hearing that the most commonly carjacked/stolen vehicles in Texas are trucks, SUV's and luxury cars.

 

[sm]

A mark - No.

At one time the tailgate on my truck was a "possible" mark...but hey the truck is 11 yrs old now. Nope I look like a late forties fella, going to school that must have gone down a dirt road recently...and the rain after the snow didn't clean it all up.

I have one sticker from a former college that I sometimes frequent, handy for parking over there. Current college uses a hang tag...

I'm low profile, I look boring, poor and just going about my business. I must have "appeared" as if I was going to attend a T ball game the other day...Wilson "T ball bat bag" as I headed to the truck...no bats, shotgun and carbine tho'.

$8.99 for a bag that works,has pockets and attracts no attention...works for me. Stole that idea from a 6 y/o niece. Added the Nemo and some other cartoon sticker [ dunno what /whom it is] so I look like "uncle" taking stuff to a kid.

 

[clubsoda22]

I drive a white crown vic that used to be a new castle county k9 unit with a dashlight for my volunteer EMS work....For some reason i think carjackers would be running from it, not towards it. Downside is people like to key it . Either way, i can't wait 'till i have enough money for a Lincoln Mark8 or mercury marauder.

 

[Gus Dddysgrl]

foghornl-where's the Mrs.? Or is she driving and we can't see you?

Skunky-nice ride.

Me I drive a beat up 86' Dodge SE 600. It's got a turbo!!!!!! Woohoo. Not really all that great since it's a piece of junk and half the stuff was removed by one of the previous owners. The lighter is now a fan that cools off the engine(good thing I don't smoke.) and the radio was a nice upgrade to a nice CD player. I don't have heat and everything else is just falling apart. Soon time for a new one.

I don't think I'll get mine stolen, and think any nice car is a good target to be messed with.

 

[foghornl]

You really have to look close, Mrs. Foggy kind of scrunched down in passenger seat

 

[Doug444]

Hemicuda, I'd really love to see a pic of your namesake! My "target" car is the '74 Challenger I hope to have on the road in a few months. My daily is a Hemi, though....'04 Ram 2500 4x4 Quad Cab. Not many folks here in the west are willing to disrespect somebody's truck with a key, but then again, it's a TRUCK, so who's gonna know which scratches came from what, eh?

 

[MAURICE]

97 Plymouth Breeze with several dents and dings, plus clear coat is coming off rear bumper.
Looking to buy an older Mustang or Camaro to work on in the next 4-6 months. The breeze is actually great for long road trips because of gas efficiency, but I want something that moves.

 

[Autolite]

Hey Hemicuda ...

What, no Power Wagon? Nothin' says "LEAVE ME ALONE" like a 1949 Dodge Power Wagon ...

 

[Brian Dale]

Another Dodge here ...

1998 RED Dodge Neon (nobody bothers to key Neons). Vol. firefighter license plate with my name on it (yeah, a vanity plate: 20 extra bucks to feel cool, instead of thousands on a newer car ). A few FF stickers. Crooks know we're friends with all of the police, Sheriff's Officers and State Troopers around. Maybe it's the (red) light on my dash that keeps 'em off, but I think it's that carjackers “just don't come 'round heah†too much. Easier ways to commit suicide than trying to jack a car in rural North Carolina ...

Once last summer, as I took a short cut through a fairly disreputable neighborhood in the nearest city, I heard a fella say to his buds, “thassa Cop, right there.†He probably saw the dash light. Sure: my FD's name is on the front plate. I thought, “Yeah, thassa Drunk, right there.â€

 

[TechBrute]

I have a different take on the whole carjacking thing. I drive a Dodge pickup, of which there are like 38 bazillion of them in Texas (give or take a gajillion.) If someone wants to carjack me, knock yourself out. It's insured.

The problem came when my wife had a kid. Carjackers won't give you time to get your kid out of the back seat. They're strapped in and take forever to get out of their seats.

That's when we decided to go bulletproof. If someone decides they want our Suburban, it ain't happening. It carries precious cargo. We have a second kid on the way now, and I feel even better about our decision. We actually decided to upgrade to a new model of Suburban, too.

 

[cdislicker]

Hell yes, I'm a target!

1999 Integra GS-R, dark green. Almost everyone with a tricked out Honda Civic wants the motor out of *my* car. At least I can screech away.

A few years back (Dec, 2000, IIRC) some "interesting character" attempted to carjack me while I was driving a Chevy Metro. They flashed "shiny metal" while reaching for the door. I ducked and floored it ... no CCW here in PRMo.

Never again will I drive a penalty box.

Edit: Last summer, I found out the hard way how much it cost to fix a dent in an Acura. $7,000 "door ding" :banghead: Some SOB in a parking lot hit me in *just the right spot* to do frame damage with a fist sized dent. No note, no nothing.

 

[cratz2]

A '70 Hemi-Cuda convertible, purple & white...uote]

You own a Hemi Cuda and you call 'Plum Crazy', 'purple'?

 

[cratz2]

This is absolutely not true and I take it as a personal insult. I request that you retract this statement unless you can prove it.

Prove what? That Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon have a Prius?

There's an article in Motor Trend or Car and Driver talking about the new Prius... in the article it mentioned that several Hollywood-types flocked to the Prius as the current 'it' car environmental types. Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon were mentioned by name as were several others.

I didn't mean to offend you... I actually went and looked at one of the new cars. Larger and considerably more powerful feeling than the original. Don't know if I could drop twenty two large on one over a Camry but... I didn't mean it as an offense. Just an observation.

 

[Hazwaste]

Ryder, nice Valk! Mine isn't quite as nice. Oh yeah, but I do store a GUN under the seat when I ride (wink wink Mr. Moderator).

 

[goon]

'89 Jeep Commanche. Covered with salt and dirt. Rust beginning to reappear through the Rustoleum paint job that I applied three years ago. Passenger mirror broken because of rough handling in the cold. Windshield washer, horn, parking lights and back-up lights are all on separate switches. It feels like I am powering up a Huey when I get in that thing and start flipping switches on. Add in the dozen empty oil bottles in the bed and it doesn't take a genius to see that I am not worth the effort of robbing.

Now if you wanna talk making an impression...
The ex-Army field jacket with the Big Red One on my left arm, the JM Browning baseball cap, the handful of empty 12 gauge shells in the bed next to the oil bottles, and the readjusting of my SIG when I step out of my truck...
That might send a message.

 

[Carlos]

You ARE the man, Goon.

 

[Ryder]

Well thanks guys. The bike does draw a bit too much attention at times. I travel far and often find myself in undesirable environments. Don't know I'm in them until I'm reakky in them. Haven't had anyone mess with it yet. Many suspect it is beyond their ability to control safely. Several bike riding friends of mine don't care to give it a try.

I remember this guy hanging his head out the window of his pimpmobile on this big city throughway once yelling at me "how much dat dere bike cost?" Hahha, probably not as much as the bling-bling hanging around his neck but I just flashed him some fingers and a smile then made him disappear in my mirrors. Hope he didn't think those were gang signs or something? I'm not yelling anything at 80mph.

That was actually an old picture. I've added a few enhancements since then. Here's the business side with some of the new addons.

 

[artherd]

$8.99 for a bag that works,has pockets and attracts no attention...works for me. Stole that idea from a 6 y/o niece. Added the Nemo and some other cartoon sticker [ dunno what /whom it is] so I look like "uncle" taking stuff to a kid.

Uh, your kid walks to their car strapped with a carbine?



HemiCuda- AWESOME! You must post pics!

cratz2- you may want to take a look at my previous post, GRIN!



TechBrute- Very nice, those are the ultimate, what threat level did you go with?

 

[duckfoot]

Used (read: beat to he!!) North Carolina D.O.T Chevy 3500 crew cab long bed, D.O.T yellow and hazard light on top. Looks like crap, but legal, and runs like a top, after some TLC and $500.

Teeth, (my dog, named him after my first imperssion "that dog is all teeth") is usually in the back to dissuade snoops from snooping.

 

[LiquidTension]

My car is very common ('99 Civic), but it's so messy that it probably ups my chances of someone stealing it just because they think, "Hey, with all that stuff in there, there's got to be SOMETHING worth stealing." It's very easy for a car to get messy in a hurry when you do lots of work out of it. Once it's cleaned up it'll be spotless inside, nothing interesting for anyone to take. I don't have any stickers or identifying marks on it anywhere. The car has never been keyed, but it does seem to be a magnet for other people "brushing" up against it in parking lots. Just got a new dent the other day

 

[cdislicker]

LiquidTension,

I feel your pain about the dent (see above).

On another note, what can be done to camouflage and otherwise 'marked' vehicle?

 

[Moparmike]

Does my car make me a mark?

I dunno, you tell me. Its going in for a tint job in the near future.

Not mine, but looks exactly like that, same color and all. 1983 Mercedes-Benz 380 SEL. I can haul a$$ and look good doing it . For 155 neutered HP in the US model, that little V8 can scoot. Toasted a couple stock ricers that thought their stickers made them fast ......not bad for a 3900lb car.

 

[EricO]

Current vehicle - sedate Japanese 4dr, 4cy 150hp sedan (needed for the backseat - babyseat).

Two prior vehicles - Limited Edition GMC Syclone AWD, intercooled, turbo-charged 4.3L V6 truck. 285hp, 365lbs torque. Gosh, I miss that truck. Owned it 5 years. Bought it in '92 (a 91 model that hadn't left the lot) for way under invoice $19,995 and 5 years/low 45,000 miles later sold it for $15,000 to some young out of high school guy from Los Angeles, CA. I hope he's treating her nice!

'88 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 5spd sedan (CHP style) with many mods completed by my brother in law. Did an easy 14.02 on my 3rd pass at Fremont, CA's old dragstrip on stock street tires, with a rookie (me) piloting. Capable of mid 13's on same tires. No internal engine work, just chip, exhaust, underdrive pulleys, great handling street suspension (Koni's, strut tower brace, frame connectors, upgraded bushings, etc) lower gears.

Most jacked/stolen cars are models that have many on the road, i.e., Accords, Camrys, etc. They're parted out easily and don't attract attention. My Syclone would've been a terrible car to steal, there's less than approx. 4500 of them on the roads from 2 years production.

EricO
"About ready for a early mid-life crisis."

 

[Zach S]

Although I have a few thousand dollars invested in my Fairmont, it looks worse than a lot of the $300 disposable cars I've owned in the past. I guess most ppl assume its just a beat-up factory V8 Fairmont with loud pipes. It wont look so bad soon though, I'm getting a parts car with a great body next weekend.

Then there's my 94 Caprice. Crappy blue paint job, pealing clearcoat on the front bumper, cracked rear bumper, no hubcaps (only came with three, so I took them off), with a few rust spots on the hood along with some hail damage on the hood, roof, and trunk. Its what a used car salesperson would call a 50 footer.

If I could ever get it put together, I have a 76 ford truck that is pretty much beat to hell. Based on its looks, setting it on fire and rolling it down a hill might make the value come up a little.

Mom drives a 90 Mazda 626(?) which is stock as a rock with almost 240k on it.

I dont hink I'm a target regarless of what I drive.

 

[TechBrute]

TechBrute- Very nice, those are the ultimate, what threat level did you go with?

Rifle resistant. The next level up is armor piercing resistant, but the type of armor they use makes you lose a lot of the daily comfort and usefulness of the vehicle, and I don't see that as a big carjacking threat. Maybe if we lived in the big overseas sandbox, but in Dallas, I just worry about the banger with his 9, possibly some cheapo SKS or something, but I've never heard of anyone holding up a car with a rifle. Really the only reason that we got this was to get the kiddo away from a carjacking.

Around here, a Suburban doesn't stand out at all. When sitting next to another Suburban, you'd notice that there's something different about mine, but not in traffic. The 3/4 ton 4x4 suspension makes it sit a little different than most on the road, and the maker has a proprietary push bar on the front that is fairly effective in protecting the cooling system if you have to give someone a shove.