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stolen headlights - again!!

12K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  DanMan32 
#1 ·
I've had it! For the second time in less than a year, I've had my headlights stolen and car damaged. The first time, it was one headlight, this time it's both. Has anyone else had their's stolen? :( :evil:
 
#4 ·
fridapaz, I know it doesn't help much, but I am so sorry!

On Devil's Night, I had a wooden stake driven clean through my front grill by my extremely large, psychotic neighbor who claimed that my car was "talking to him." This was not an option package I was aware of on my vehicle!

The point is, I know how bad you must feel due to an act of selfishness and stupidity..especially a repeat performance...and on something that is such a large investment. I find that it is a pity that electroshock systems (for when idiots try to mess with any part of your car that is metal) are illegal here in the US.

I wish you all the luck in getting it repaired correctly, and may this NEVER happen to you again!
 
#5 ·
dznyskp said:
fridapaz, I know it doesn't help much, but I am so sorry!

On Devil's Night, I had a wooden stake driven clean through my front grill by my extremely large, psychotic neighbor who claimed that my car was "talking to him." This was not an option package I was aware of on my vehicle!

The point is, I know how bad you must feel due to an act of selfishness and stupidity..especially a repeat performance...and on something that is such a large investment. I find that it is a pity that electroshock systems (for when idiots try to mess with any part of your car that is metal) are illegal here in the US.

I wish you all the luck in getting it repaired correctly, and may this NEVER happen to you again!
HEY Dznyskp! Hows my creme brulee coming along! I will be in Orlando next week to pick it up! :D

Fridapaz: I don't know what to tell you other than putting a "proximity alarm" or a "Protected by Smith & Wesson" sticker on your car. If the vermin wants it bad enough though they will get them off regardless. Phuggin asshats! :evil:

Where did it take place? Home, work etc? I'm assuming it was nighttime?
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the commiseration...it was parked outside my house overnight - an irony as I've always parked in my driveway since this last happened. This is the first time I've parked outside the house since then. I've been online this morning and read horrow stories from others with HID lights (mostly Audi/Maxima owners) who've had this happen three times and then run into problems with insurance companies. Some folks have switched cars as a result. I love my Prius but I am now seriously considering selling it. It seems the headlights can be lifted out easily with a screw driver. Though the hood is damaged it's relatively minimal. I can replace them with regular headlights, but the police say they might still steal them not knowing the difference. :(
 
#8 ·
The headlights look no different with non HID bulbs so that wouldn't necessarily deter thieves. However, I'm going to replace with non-HID because of the high replacement cost and the huge deductible I have to pay again. On the bright side, I just found a place locally that fits an alarm and LED system to the headlights (for quite a sum - but I think it'll be worth it).
 
#9 ·
I actually made some "NON-HID" stickers, even added a Toyota logo for authenticity... then I opened the hood and saw all those yellow cautoin stickers proclaiming HID HEADLIGHTS and I decided it wasn't worth it.

The best suggestion I've heard is to wire the hood into the alarm system somehow, so they get a greeting (noise, not the HV battery line...) before they can do much damage. I don't know the details, though.

Any Prius with foglights has HID, so I don't think the stickers would have convinced anyone anyway.
 
#15 ·
The hood is already alarmed via a 'courtesy' switch. The switch might be incorporated into the latch though. Even so, if you find a better way to sense headlamp tampering, send a ground to that wire, and the alarm will go off. Assuming of course your factory alarm is enabled.
 
#16 ·
stealing headlights

I read an article about this being a problem for 911 porsche owners a few months ago, I do believe they said you could put some sort of crossbar brace on the lights to prevent the theft, but the drawback was that the idiot thief would just try harder to remove the lights and therefore cause more extensive damage to the car.

my suggestion is just file a police report and call the insurance company, if they don't want to cover damage and loss because of theft then you need a new insurance company. And you could always get a car cover, that way they might not see the lights at all.
 
#17 ·
That sucks. Our versions don't have HIDs and we get foglights.

Hmm, is there any way of securing the headlight compound more securely? e.g. add another screw somewhere?

Another is to get a local car audio installer to help you wire the headlights to the alarm system. Or even better, ask them and see what they can do for you.
 
#20 ·
From my research, this issue is way over hyped. Particularly by car alarm installers who take out paid ads in Google and such. I found almost no recent example of HID light theft, and none for Prius, but I did find about 50 web sites of car alarm installers predicting the worst.

I couldn't find any evidence of Prius lights being stolen. Apparently it was a problem specific to Nissan and Porsche, which were very easy to steal. Specifically in the NE states, a couple years ago. Nissan was even taken to court over it, for failing to inform consumers, and it got a fair amount of press. Afterwards they issued a retention harness, and redesigned the new model to put the valuable light elements under the bumper, and make the removal impossible without breaking them.

Since then makers seem to have changed design to counter the problem. It's reasonable to presume the Prius lights are ok imo. Of course certain confirmation would be better, but I'm not sweating it.
 
#21 ·
With all due respect, I have had my headlights stolen twice in one year. Not only have they stolen the lights, they ripped up the hood, damaged the bumper and cut through the harness causing almost $4000 worth of damage this time. I've paid out $1000 in deductibles for the pleasure. This happened right outside my house. I've spoken with numerous people in the insurance industry now about it as well as to Toyota. Ths is the first case they've seen. My appraiser believes it's because Prius is not yet a high visibility car and the word isn't out yet about the HID lights. I for one am having a "cadillac" alarm system fitted to my lights that's integrated into the factory alarm. If anyone tries to prise open the hood, massive fog horns will sound - like a ship pulling ito the harbor. It'll cost me $800 but what cost piece of mind? I've been driving rentals this last week and feel like I've beome a smoker again! Dricing an ecologically unfriendly car tha guzzles gas just doesn't feel like an option to me anymore.
 
#24 ·
THANKS! My car is still in the shop, almost one month since the lights were stolen. The thieves cut through the harness and therefore the entire elecrical system causing over $7,000 worth of damage. Toyota then sent the wrong part for the car and my body shop lost two days, trying to fit the wrong part. They aren't happy, as you can imagine. Now the car has the harness, but because the car had no power over such a long period, it has been towed to a Toyota dealer to power-up and re-set the computer. There are only 2 technicians who know how to do this, and they don't know when they'll have time. My car rental period is about to expire though Toyota customer care assure me they'll pick up the tab (we'll see). The long and short of this is that I've decided to sell my beloved Prius. Yes, it's great when everything works, but a complete nightmare when there's a problem. I've already put a deposit on a Matrix. :cry: :cry: :cry:
 
#26 ·
Toyota tod me that all the computer codes were lost and it needs reprogramming by an expert technician becuase of how the car had been powered down at the bodyshop - that there's some high-tech special way of powering down that hadn't taken place. They can't tell me how long it will take to deal with the problem and Toyota say it's the body shop's responsibility to pay for my extended car rental now and of course the bodyshop disagrees. I think it's down to Toyota for they were advising the body shop about installing the harness. Surely they should've cautioned the bodyshop if this was going to require a rare expert Toyota technician? What would you (or others) do next if you were me?? I am completely at my wits end with this,
 
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