First off, I apologize if someone has already come up with this.
Second, I sold my ITR not too long ago. This is for the rest of you guys to pick up and run with. Here we go:

As we all know, the single most important reason for ITR theft is the high demand of its hot parts. These parts eventually end up in civics and integras. Simple as that.

My proposal, though kinda silly, is that we should keep our ears and eyes open. The owners of civics and integras equipped with stolen parts are among us. They come to events, street races, shows, meets, etc. They could be your very good friend, or a friend of a friend. As long as you haven't seen valid documentation for the engiene of your buddy's hybrid civic, there is a slight chance that it could be hot. Please, my goal in not to point finger at some very honest owners out there.

So I think we should develop a network of detectives!!!

Step 1. Develop a comprehensive list of VIN#s of all stolen ITRs with the help of their owners. Keep this information easily available on this website, maybe have a link to the owner's email to allow for private communication between the owner and the "detective."

Step 2. Every time you look under the hood of any form of ITR conversion, look for a VIN#. Then go to the list and cross check that # with that of the stolen cars.

Step 3. In the event of a match, you can then contact the owner. The owner can relay the information to the insurance company or the Police.

Step 4. If a single stolen part is recovered this way, just one, it will be worth the effort. It will be a small but firm and effective step to fight ITR theft. ( This would be a celebration step!)

My general feeling is that stolen engienes and transmissions can be easily identified when the VIN# in scratched or removed. To avoid drawing attention to stolen parts, an owner might leave the VIN# intact. Since the body of his/her car is ligit, no one would suspect the stolen engiene. Prospective "detectives" should just be very cool and jot down a few digit of the VIN every time they get a glance under the hood.

Like I mentioned, my intention is not at all to try to point finger and accuse honest owners of ITR converted cars, but this issue is very real and common with such conversions out there.

I would like to hear what you all think about this. If you think it can be effective, a sticky thread may be useful to request all stolen ITR VIN#s.

Go get'em tiger


[Modified by Cyberorth, 6:41 PM 5/28/2002]

 

any hybrid guy i meet from now on will have his engine vin ran and car reamed if its stolen.

 

Hell yeah.. sounds great. Although I dont really go out and "meet" many owners or hybrid owners for that matter, this is a great idea for you track/drag strip guys.. Someone needs to make a list of all the stolen ITR's and their VIN's (isnt there one circulating already?)

for the idea

Alex

 

I was at the street races this past weekend. I spend most of my time racing thugs out there. I KNOW that their **** is hot, but I can't do anything about it. They all lie about what the have and NO ONE opens there hood. I am sure that if a web site like this was up I could track down something when someone occasionally slips up and is showing off something. Last weekend I saw one of them open the hood to my surprise there was a CRV bottom end and ITR head. I can imagine where all of that came from. It was running like ****, so it had to have been thrown together in some shady garage somewhere. I joking mentioned selling my car and they said something about wanting the engine and the insurance company.

There are a lot of these bastards out there, more than you would like to think. None of them have decent jobs, and they all want what you have. It is awful. Before I went out there I had seen ricers but not people like these.


[Modified by 95GS-R, 3:09 AM 5/29/2002]

 

sounds like a great idea. but most people that have hot motors won't give you the time of day.

meaning, they're not gonna let you sit their admire their motors and the stampings.

most guys here in teh ny/nj area with stolen motors never pop their hoods for good reason.

 

Here's how I keep the ITR from being stolen. Park it in the garage, which is right next to a police station. Have an alarm, club, and auto-lock, pull out some fuses before I go inside my house, and have a shot gun ready if the alarm goes off.

 

i agree with the vin matching. However, IF anyone ever goes to spring valley, or and NYC area event. there is no hybrid there with a hood open.

However. for the defense of the good people. honest people.
When my hybrid is done, i prolly wont open my hood as well.
reasons:
1.) Tey wont know what hit em when i whoop their ***
2.) they wont know whats under there for them to steal..

however, we all should keep our eyes peeled.

there is only one problem. once some dood with a hot swap sees this post, its all over...

 

That's a good idea.

 

cough

 

Better yet, there should be a national database of stolen VINs that all dealers and service centers access to verify an engine that has a different VIN than the body.

They could make it part of passing state inspection.

Maybe we could talk to some people in congress.....

 

I like the idea, but there are lots of loopholes and if/ands/or buts around this. First, if there was some kinda national database, or list of hot or stolen motors on this board, it could easily be hacked into, and adjusted or changed or what have you. The chances of that are pretty small, but I have learned to never rule out anything, and expect the unexpected. Second, it would take a lot of time and effort to run such a database, and I dont know if there is any kind of task force out there, or anyone on the board, that would A) be willing to run the database, and keep all of its records up to date, ect. and B) be honest enough NOT to accept things like bribes, blackmail, etc, to cover someones ***, such as a friend, in order to keep something on the list or have something changed thats already on that list. I think its a lot of work just to try to protect one particular car out there that happens to get stolen a lot. I think in the long run, we will all just have to live with the way things are, and do our best to protect our investment, keep all reciepts, and hope the insurance company doesnt screw you over if you happen to become a victim. Of course if this database thing gets started, I would definitely be willing to keep an eye out and maybe video tape or take some pics of some "nice" motors out there and just happen to get a close up of the VIN. maybe this database could expand as well to owners of Civic SI's, and GSR's since those cars are stolen just about as often as the ITR and for the same reasons. just my 2 cents.

 

gewd plan......

 

sounds good! i'll give up my vin# and hopefully my baby turns up!

 

Its sad to say but I avoid most hatchcraps and speed shops like their the plague. I just have this inherent distrust in them.

I say we just execute all thiefs at a public place so all who have been stolen from or vandalized can rejoice in these evil bastards trip to hell.

 

you get gayer and gayer each day.

 

im with NWP on this one...
how is this any way gone fight ITR theft?
The fact is..if people want it that bad..theyll take it.

I dont know alot of people that would open up the hoods of their cars to show someone they hardly know their motor. Maybe where you come from ..but from experience i know in so cal they dont..and so cal..i bet 1/4 or the R's in so cal have been vandalized or stolen.

Its not toooo hard to make a stolen motor look "legit" ....someone can just Sand down the C5 part...on B18C5 and claim its a "jdm" motor...its not hard to make the vin stapmed number on the block look diffrent...such as a 1 into a 7 , a 5 into an 8 , 0 into an 8 , etc..theres sooooo many ways around it...and im pretty sure most people with stolen motors..thought about it alredy...and i bet 1/4 of the hybrids rolling around dont even KNOW they have a stolen motor.

just my opinion....

 

Actually, I would think this database already exists. Police do run license plate numbers when they pull cars to check if its stolen. Also, carfax can tell you if a VIN is stolen, insurance companies probably have the info too.

The data is already out there, and being maintained. We just need legislation to make this part of state inspection.





[Modified by jond, 8:30 AM 5/29/2002]

 

The thing is, if they can't use it, they wont want it.

Everyone has to get state inspection. Even hybrid owners... They take it to get it inspected, the inspector has a check box to whether or not the Motor VIN matches the cars VIN. If not, he runs a required check(calls 800 number). If its stolen, he calls police for grand theft auto.

In one year, all hybrids with stolen engines would become worthless.

 

There arestates where they don't do inspection (Yet) Like GA. What do you do then. I know my motor is as legit as the Japanese importer I bought it from.

 

the fact of the matter is after your itr is gone, it's gone. my friend's was stolen 2-3 months after he bought his 97 model back in the day. my friend currently drives a 2001 and he's nervous as hell.

these people will flatbed the car within 2-3 minutes and your pride and joy is gone.

the vin matching is a good idea, but what happens once you find one that is stolen. you can't just goto the police and report them. the police can't just go to homes and start opening hoods without warrants.

after your itr is gone, it's gone. you've collected insurance, you've lost, but things are done with.

though it sucks, it's just the price to pay for a car that everyone wants but can't afford.

 

Actually they can. People think they have more rights than they do. All a cop has to do is pull the suspect over for one of hundreds of thousands of things, and say "pop the hood".




[Modified by jond, 9:19 AM 5/29/2002]

 

How many states don't have any state inspection? I know NJ has only one when you sell the car. Va has them yearly.

 

Here is the other thing. Don't think that the cops don't know what is going on here. Every news report that comes out on Street Racing says insurance fraud and theft are a way of life for these racers. The cops simply do not have the resources to break up these kind of car theft rings. They are under payed, under-staffed, and frankly I don't know if they would even care to investigate the few cars that were reported. If the cops operated on a more Gestapo like level and blocked in all of the street racers at the local meets with road blocks, went through and ran EVERYONES info, and shot the thieves in the kneecaps we would see a swift end to this problem. But it will never happen. So unfortunately I think we are all going to have to buy Nissans.

 

i know that there are inspection stations...and when you get your car smoged..they take down the vin...but come on.. dont you think it would be the same as getting a smog...?

Flash an extra $50 and get your car passes...even if its a gross polluter! I know it *might catch some people...but man...it doesnt take that long to swap a motor...if i had a stolen motor..and i had to smog or go get it inspected...i would just swap out my stolen motor...put in my stock....get the inspeciton...and swap the motor back.

And if i was REALLY scared about being cought with a stolen motor...id just buy a legit bare block and tranny and just swap everything over...its not that HARD just take some time.....but hey...thats just my opinion.....

 

Oh my God I cannot believe some of the bleeding-**** bitches on this MB.

ITRs get stolen every day.

Hatchbacks get stolen every day.

So what is the bigger deal? The ITR means a lot more, right? Why? It's all the same. These cars are being stolen for many different reasons, but as we all know reason #1 would be for parts.

DEAL WITH IT.

I have a B18C5 swap in my hatch and I have the title to the ITR because I bought the whole car from the original owner after a truck rear-ended him and he bought the car back from his insurance company.

For you bastards who like to generalize and lump all hybrid hatch owners into one thieving group:



Do I need to tell you what the S,T,F, and U mean you little *****?


[Modified by B18C5-EH2, 1:32 AM 5/30/2002]