DEFYANT
Lives Elsewhere
Hello all.
I am sure many of you have noticed the difficulty in locating replacement parts for our cars. And the premium price things like bumpers and various other one off MM parts are commanding. These cars are fading from places like eBay and will soon be gone for the most part.
Sure having a rare car is nice. We all love the uniqueness of our modern classics at the car shows and thumbs up while cruising. The dark side to this is, I predict the car-jacking / thefts of these car will rise. As the market for parts dries up, the black market will pay the thieves to source parts. This site and others like it will be looked at by thieves interested in stealing our cars to part out.
What to do? If selling, be alert. If you get the slightest hint of deception call off the sale or consider meeting a buyer in a public place. Bringing a stranger to your home where you park the car, could be an inadvertant invitation to come back later and drag the car away.
Mark your cars parts. Years ago, owners would have the VIN etched into the glass. This is a great deterent. Also, get into the hidden areas like behind the bumper covers, dash, seats, etc.... anywhere you can access and "leave your mark" so if / when parts show up on line, YOU or this community, just might find it.
At the meets, we all hang out, talk to each other, look at the cars and bench race for hours. We effectively lose site of our surroundings. Start looking beyond the friendly faces in front of you and see who might be lurking from afar, outside our circle.
Digital photos with geo-tagging, boy this is a scary one. Burglars and kidnappers have been know to use this overlooked loophole to peak into our lives. So can the car thief. It is time to be more careful in the photos we take and locations we use.
It is not difficult, just imagine yourself as the thief and do what it would take to stop "you" from stealing the car.
I am sure many of you have noticed the difficulty in locating replacement parts for our cars. And the premium price things like bumpers and various other one off MM parts are commanding. These cars are fading from places like eBay and will soon be gone for the most part.
Sure having a rare car is nice. We all love the uniqueness of our modern classics at the car shows and thumbs up while cruising. The dark side to this is, I predict the car-jacking / thefts of these car will rise. As the market for parts dries up, the black market will pay the thieves to source parts. This site and others like it will be looked at by thieves interested in stealing our cars to part out.
What to do? If selling, be alert. If you get the slightest hint of deception call off the sale or consider meeting a buyer in a public place. Bringing a stranger to your home where you park the car, could be an inadvertant invitation to come back later and drag the car away.
Mark your cars parts. Years ago, owners would have the VIN etched into the glass. This is a great deterent. Also, get into the hidden areas like behind the bumper covers, dash, seats, etc.... anywhere you can access and "leave your mark" so if / when parts show up on line, YOU or this community, just might find it.
At the meets, we all hang out, talk to each other, look at the cars and bench race for hours. We effectively lose site of our surroundings. Start looking beyond the friendly faces in front of you and see who might be lurking from afar, outside our circle.
Digital photos with geo-tagging, boy this is a scary one. Burglars and kidnappers have been know to use this overlooked loophole to peak into our lives. So can the car thief. It is time to be more careful in the photos we take and locations we use.
It is not difficult, just imagine yourself as the thief and do what it would take to stop "you" from stealing the car.