Knowing from personal experience that ITR owners deal with a ton of theft issues, I thought I'd pose this question here first. My girl and I are looking pretty seriously into moving to CA, most likely to Panorama City near LA (this, after considering like 10 other completely different places ). I know there are theft issues in some areas of Cali, and I'd assume LA would be a bigtime hotspot for that, but I just thought I'd ask from the people who deal with it directly. I'd love to have my track car out there, but I'm not gonna risk it if theft is ridiculously out of control.

 

Theft is everywhere in CA. They dont discriminate by neighborhood or city. The thieves all know eachother and when they see your car they will let each other know about it. If you garage it you should be OK, but I wouldnt get too complacent about locking it up. And I'd stay away frlom the usual spots (malls, movie theater) and I would avoid leaving the car out of your sight for any substantial amount of time. That and make sure you aren't followed home. Good luck

 

Theft of ITR's is ridiculously out of control in the metropolitan areas of California. San Diego, LA, San Francisco in particular.

 

*Sigh* Great. Guess I'll be looking into an alternative, temporary track car then.

 

Alright, second question then, and I almost feel stupid for even asking this: I'll be living there for ~2 years, possibly longer. From some quick Mapquest searching, I'd be about an hour from Buttonwillow, Willow Springs, and California Speedway, and about 5-6 hours from Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, and Infineon. Who thinks it'd be worth it to buy a track car for that stint of time?

 

I daily drove my ITR for 2 years until I got a beater but I was never that worried about theft even though my pos eg was stolen when I was 18. As long as you have a garage I wouldn't worry about your track car being stolen. Even if you park it outside your house under a car cover you should be fine unless you are driving it around on the street because they usually follow you home or get your car at the mall or movie theater.

 

Cali is rediculous....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Doostur &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cali is rediculous....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Couldnt agree more. Lock it up. Park it in the garage if you have one. Make sure to get full coverage with the insurance. Oh, and in addition to all that make sure to have fun with it and enjoy it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stinkycheezmonky &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Alright, second question then, and I almost feel stupid for even asking this: I'll be living there for ~2 years, possibly longer. From some quick Mapquest searching, I'd be about an hour from Buttonwillow, Willow Springs, and California Speedway, and about 5-6 hours from Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, and Infineon. Who thinks it'd be worth it to buy a track car for that stint of time?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If your seriously going to the tracks monthly, then yeah it's worth it.

If it's TRACK ONLY car, then you'll need to tow the car to the tracks.

That's means you'll need to buy a truck to tow it and a flat bed.

Cause So. Cal. cops will pull you over for anything.

Where are you moving from ?


Modified by jmk2888 at 9:29 PM 11/27/2006

 

1. Will you have a garage?

2. Can you afford to have a track car along with a Daily driver?

3. Are you you going to be hitting the track pretty regularly?

If you have a lot of disposable income and spare time I don't see the problem keeping the R while your out there. Just keep it out of sight, and in your garage.

 

I agree with the garage bit. As long as its not on some public street for an extended period of time (especially at night) the chances of theft should be reduced. Also, avoid parking in areas known to have a significant presence of rice.

Aside from theft, you also have to worry about the haters. Just last week, my car was keyed for no apparent reason. In the past, I've also had my emblems stolen and fenders dented.

In the end, theft can happen anywhere you go, so don't let that stop you from moving here. CA is a great place to live.

 

Couple of things to clear up here. Just FYI, my track car now is not an R, it's a '92 Civic. My R was stolen ~2 years ago, and I won't touch another one because of the theft issues, no matter how much fun they are to pedal around.

I'm not sure yet if I'll have a garage, though I'd really like one. I'm sort of looking into renting space from a shop if I don't get one.

My Civic has been seeing regular track duty for the past two years, and is already set up the way I want it (rollbar, seats, harnesses, etc.), and given that I've already spent the money on THAT, I'd really like to be able to just use it. I'm also used to the car's behavior. If a racey Honda is going to attract too much attention though, I'll leave it here in MD and pick up something real cheap. With tracks that close, I plan to get as much time as I can, tri-, bi-, or monthly, whatever will work. Affording the car won't be a problem, as even if I get another one, I'm gonna get something stupidly cheap and not fast.

I plan on keeping the Civic registered in MD, will that help avoid complications with CA cops? And is a trailer really necessary? I've driven my car up to Mid-Ohio from here (~10 hours) without any abnormal police interaction, is it different there? If I need a tow vehicle, the whole thing is out for sure. I'm not going to have that kind of money or storage space.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stinkycheezmonky &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Couple of things to clear up here. Just FYI, my track car now is not an R, it's a '92 Civic. My R was stolen ~2 years ago, and I won't touch another one because of the theft issues, no matter how much fun they are to pedal around.

I'm not sure yet if I'll have a garage, though I'd really like one. I'm sort of looking into renting space from a shop if I don't get one.

My Civic has been seeing regular track duty for the past two years, and is already set up the way I want it (rollbar, seats, harnesses, etc.), and given that I've already spent the money on THAT, I'd really like to be able to just use it. I'm also used to the car's behavior. If a racey Honda is going to attract too much attention though, I'll leave it here in MD and pick up something real cheap. With tracks that close, I plan to get as much time as I can, tri-, bi-, or monthly, whatever will work. Affording the car won't be a problem, as even if I get another one, I'm gonna get something stupidly cheap and not fast.

I plan on keeping the Civic registered in MD, will that help avoid complications with CA cops? And is a trailer really necessary? I've driven my car up to Mid-Ohio from here (~10 hours) without any abnormal police interaction, is it different there? If I need a tow vehicle, the whole thing is out for sure. I'm not going to have that kind of money or storage space.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you keep your car register in MD, it should be fine. Just tell the cops that you're out here visiting.

 

I lived in Panorama City with my parents years ago before I was married.
My 1993 Civic Coupe was stolen from the driveway in 2001. It was found stripped after 3 days. Panorama City was an ok area but not anymore.

Why would you narrow down to Panorama City? Have you ever been there?

 

i haven't had a problem with anything where i'm at all the theifs are to busy getting bmws up here. registering in md only last so long though i moved out to cali a while ago from denver and i was getting harassed by the cops everyday because of my registeration

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stinkycheezmonky &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Knowing from personal experience that ITR owners deal with a ton of theft issues, I thought I'd pose this question here first. My girl and I are looking pretty seriously into moving to CA, most likely to Panorama City near LA (this, after considering like 10 other completely different places ). I know there are theft issues in some areas of Cali, and I'd assume LA would be a bigtime hotspot for that, but I just thought I'd ask from the people who deal with it directly. I'd love to have my track car out there, but I'm not gonna risk it if theft is ridiculously out of control.</TD></TR></TABLE>

if you want to sleep at night, don't do it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vivid 02 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I lived in Panorama City with my parents years ago before I was married.
My 1993 Civic Coupe was stolen from the driveway in 2001. It was found stripped after 3 days. Panorama City was an ok area but not anymore.

Why would you narrow down to Panorama City? Have you ever been there?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That is not encouraging to hear. Panorama City was chosen because we have a friend who has a spare house there that we could rent cheap. We're planning on coming out late Dec. to check out the area, as well as farther up North by San Jose.

Are the cops seriously this screwed up? I've heard some stories, and I know some of the differences in laws between the states, but that just sounds like outright illegal harassment. If I'm visiting, wtf do they care what's been done to my car?

 

yea Doostur i lived in cali all my life man theft is bad out there i just moved to sc how is it out here? do you know of any honda shops in sc or nc?

 

my friend has ben telling me there has been a lot of honda thefts around his area. he live about 5 minutes from paramount.

 

a garage is your answer

 

damn, i wish we'd all have an underground cave/garage/workshop like batman. In reality, garage+dogs+12g= best bet

 

heres a little breakdown. im not really from so cal but im a nor cal guy if peopel can add to this by all means do.

Nor Cal:
Sacromento - high theft, they will pull a gun on you. Surrounding areas also very high and threat rate. Modesto, stockton, lodi, tracy, pretty much from nor sac to mid merced is nations highest theft towns and rates.

Bay Area - San Fran. alot of theft but mainly expensive cars. oakland depending on parts have low and high theft rates. san jose is import city so if it ride clean and sounds nice put it in a safe.

So Cal:
The only real high import places i know thats in la and surrounding so cal counties are. Westminster, pomona(nopi and hdra import class drags there)san diego, and burbank.

but i would say this if you like big city living so cal is for you fast pace life. nor cal valley is more farmers land still has the big cities in some places but a little more slower day to day living pace. nor cal by area very expensive living and very fast pace.

A little infom i forgot what issue they released it it was import tuner or some other it was 2005 though the top 10 nations hot theft cities well where i live locally 8 area near me in modesto whihc is #1 other 2 were in other states.

i have to say i love cali its great but you still have to have a eye or two behind you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b19coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Theft of ITR's is ridiculously out of control in the metropolitan areas of California. San Diego, LA, San Francisco in particular.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What he said.

Do you own a wheel boot? If you move out here, you better consider it.

 

I wouldn't do it without a garage. And renting shop space sounds like just about the worst idea I have ever heard of. That might be OK everywhere else but here.

Think about it. Plenty of people will see your car at the shop, sooner or later someone that know someone will see it. They tell all their friends what they saw and where. Next thing you know you are begging the shop owner to claim it under his insurance.

That is if the shop owner himself doesnt tell his car thief buddies to steal it and pay him a "finders fee" so he can claim it under his insurance and make money off of it.

Simply put, if you have had one stolen before, then you should know the risk without a garage. Really its not worth the hassle and time of finding one, buying one, fixing it up, then to get it all stolen before you can enjoy it. Just enjoy your civic and be happy if that doesnt get stolen here.

 

Christ. Alright, I'm just gonna forget about it then, this sounds like way more of a pain in the *** than I feel like dealing with. Anyone want to recommend a NOT frequently stolen track car? Cheap POSes are more than welcome.