STOLEN 08 element

[jessiemelrose]

I'm new to the site, and I had a kiwi metallic '08 element. I live in a good neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, and on Monday morning I woke up to my car being gone from in front of my house.

They didn't even have to break a window to get in. No alarms went off, and my dogs didn't even bark at them.

After talking to the dealers around town, I found out that the elements don't come with alarms!

Be careful! Get gap insurance, and if you have a garage, keep your car in it!

[mkh]

Okay, no broken glass, no noise (no valet key in the glove box???) .... pro's.

Hondas come with a security feature - the engine will not start without the individual code signal from YOUR key(s) being in the ignition. Can't be hot-wired, can't use a knock-off cut key. Has to have the individually programmed chip in the key coded for just THAT vehicle sending the ok signal.

So it was either towed/pushed away, or someone at your Dealership is involved -'cause they had a key.

Had this happening in El Paso a few years ago. Someone would buy a new vehicle, and a few days/weeks later it would vanish. Cops found out a prep mechanic at the Dealership was taking down the purchaser address info, ordering a duplicate-pre-coded key from the factory for those cars (which only Dealerships can do), and selling the keys and info to a ring of car thieves. In fact for a while, the thieves were placing "orders" for what they wanted to steal with the guy. :mad:

Cops got wise after noticing a LOT of new cars coming from one Dealership were being reported stolen, started investigatiing at the Dealership, found all the "lost key" orders, and tracked them to this one mechanic.

[tangerine07lx]

did you just buy your E? if so i would go after the dealership.ive heard some shady storys about chapman honda, so if you bought your E there my suspicion would lie with them. like others have said, it was either a inside job or you got nabbed by pros with a tow truck.

[GaryS]

Did you miss a payment? It sounds like a repo job to me.

Hondas come with a security feature - the engine will not start without the individual code signal from YOUR key(s) being in the ignition. Can't be hot-wired, can't use a knock-off cut key. Has to have the individually programmed chip in the key coded for just THAT vehicle sending the ok signal.

So it was either towed/pushed away, or someone at your Dealership is involved -'cause they had a key.

[Jojo]

Originally Posted by GaryS

Did you miss a payment? It sounds like a repo job to me.

Interesting....
When my son kiddo went to buy his E, I went with him to co-sign.
We filled out paperwork there to get the payment deducted from his bank account automatically.
1 month later I got a call from the finance company saying payment wasn't made. I called him and he called the bank, dealership and finance company. everyone placed the blame on everyone else.
We got it settled real quick.

[Twilightzero]

That sux but I agree something smells funny here. Keep us posted, I have nothing else to add to what's above :D

[jdiane]

did your dealer TELL you your e came with a OEM alarm?
This is prob only the 4-5 time I've heard of a stolen e...

[Twilightzero]

Originally Posted by jdiane

did your dealer TELL you your e came with a OEM alarm?
This is prob only the 4-5 time I've heard of a stolen e...

The engine & drivetrain can sell for a pretty penny, that's probably mostly what they want. Though they do make rather conspicuous getaways...:rolleyes:

[abulevan]

yep. elements r very easy to steal. just look at the door lock. it is pretty easy to steal some panels off elements too. knowing how the element is built just allows u to see how easily people can take parts if not all away from u.

[jdiane]

but how many people WANT an e? Honda only sells maybe 2k of them a month, not like the hundreds of thousands of civics and accords. It's not like you can pop the panels and put them on a cr-v. Thieves want my 91 accord more than my e--hotwiring is easier than towing.