I've been VIOLATED!

I knew about disabling the inside release with this button, but I wasn't aware it also disabled the button on the keycard. However if you have the card, well, simply reach under and ....

i always leave my doors unlocked with nothing of value in the car and thought the removal of the trunk release lever was a good idea until...

as you can see it won't always deter a determined thief. if the trunk release was still there i would have just lost a small amp and subwoofer (nothing crazy expensive, just enough to add some low end to my music on the highway) but instead i had to replace the deck lid and trunk latch as well as losing the stereo equipment.

i now have an alarm and feel a lot better about the missing release cable.

That sucks. Looks like the thief got your finish panel too, those are not cheap, I need a new one myself.

That is assuming that the thief knew to look for a trunk release. He/she/it may have also looked for it and failed to find it. Most trunk releases that I see are not in the center console.

If the people in the area don't do anything about someone taking a crowbar to your trunk lid, they certainly aren't going to worry about an alarm going off. If it wakes you up at home, do you call the police and watch your car get molested as you hope they make it in time or do you plan to confront the person? This is someone with a pry bar in their hands, that qualifies as a deadly weapon, officer. I had no choice but to give him several high-speed lead injections. ;-)

Pat

i was lucky enough to find a BRG finish panel on ebay for $150 and an M edition trunk lid that matches the color close enough as long as it's not in direct sunlight for $150 as well.

they obviously looked for a trunk release because the seats were moved up and the carpet was pulled back behind the seats, the center console and glove box were open and the hood and gas lid had been popped but not completely opened.

it's true that most people ignore car alarms but if it goes off and i turn on my porch light the thief is more than likely going to be on his way down the street before i get the front door open... after all if you're stealing car stereos in the dark at 3am you're probably not the most daring of criminals.

Excellent! I obviously like to see any good reference to Ebay.

Sounds like they looked for it to me too. With that much effort, I wonder if someone heard your car and assumed that you had a really expensive system in there. That is quite a bit of work, you can tell from the pictures that they had to go at it several times.

I agree, though it's not my porch light that they have to worry about, it is the unbelievably bright Sure-Fire flashlight unit that replaces the forend grip on my Benelli M1.

225 lumens lights the yard up light a spotlight. The thief can run, but it is up to me on whether that continues unless he/she/it can reach speeds of well over 1000 feet per second.

Pat

My 2000 UK MX5 has the trunk release disables if you lock the boot with the Key in an anti clockwise direction! Regards Chris

if you're looking for a trim panel try kyoto-exports on ebay. you may need to keep an eye out to find one to match your car.

these are the guys i got mine from. it ships from japan but it arrived here in nashville in 2 days... not bad for a $50 shipping charge.

i'm pretty sure that when they pulled the stereo from the dash and saw the RCA connection for the amp running back to the trunk is when they decided there was anything of value back there. after owning several hondas (thief magnets) i don't really crank the stereo unless i'm on the highway.

Thanks, I will check it out. It shouldn't be too hard to find a match, since mine is RED, my least favorite car color that I can live with, but by far the most common color of the NA miatas.

Pat

I can relate to the tonneau cover break in. They just did that to my car -- everything unlocked, and tried to take the tonneau cover off -- they put a small tear in around the cover itself, but didn't end up getting it off -- nor did they get anything of value. Nothing in the trunk, etc.

But any ideas on how I would repair a tonneau cover? Sew it? with what?

thanks!

jim

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@t46g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Might be worthwhile showing it to a place that does auto upholstry and convertible tops to get their opinion and an estimate.