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Sedans Nissan Maxima Nissan Maxima: Stolen Headlights!!
227 messages, Last post on Jun 12, 2009 at 10:00 PM
You are in the Nissan Maxima Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
 I recently purchased a 2002 Infiniti I35, I had my car less than a month when my headlights, were stolen. I made the grave mistake of parking my car on the condo complex parking site. At 7am on 7/29/05, when I was on my way to work, I noticed my windows down, and my CD's scattered about on the passenger seat. Whatever they did to get my headlights caused my windows to roll down once the car was turned off. The damage alone for the replacements was more than $6000.00. After reading all of the stories posted. I'm thinking of trading my car in for something else, that would draw less attention to my car. Please advise if BMW or Mercedes is also having the same problem? After speaking with my insurance company I was informed that this epidemic is also occuring with the Maxima's, Acura TL's, Infiniti's and Lexus. I called Infiniti, and of course they are aware of the problem, but honestly are not doing anything about it. If anyone knows of any class action suit in New York City, against Nissan or Infiniti, I would gladly like to know or if there is anything I could do to protect my car from being violated again, please advise. |
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I had my brand new '05 Escalade for a month until it got stolen out of my driveway. A week later, they recovered it three states away, but otherwise in pretty decent shape. They think it was used as a mule vehicle to transport drugs. A few things suck about this--1) it's my wife and kids vehicle-- we don't want it back now. and 2) With all those miles that were put on it, GMAC is now trying to tell us that it is our responsiblity. (I only get 12K a year, over 2K were put on the vehicle). Am I just out of luck, stuck now with 3 long years on a leased, stolen, smelly, car that I never got to enjoy brand new? On top of that, they stole it out of my driveway, no broken glass, no alarm, the dogs didn't even bark. What's to say they can't just do it again, even with the locks changed? Is there anyway to have the insurance company consider it totalled? Probably a pretty naive thought. What about selling it privately, does the Carfax records on it say it was a stolen/ recovered vehicle and thus make it even harder to get rid of? Thanks
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| So they tell me I'm getting my '05 Escalade back, without the VIN numbers. (except for the secret one they can't remove off the bottom). The cops told me that my dealer would just put a temp vin tag back on the front, but this would forever be a car that has lost 25% of its value due to be stolen/ recovered. Good luck selling it, ever, was their quote. So why doesn't insurance companies consider this 25% loss and cover me for it? Instead, I get a 60 grand car back that's only worth 45 or 40 with not much help of anyone purchasing it. What next? | |
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Replying to: monkeyshift (Aug 27, 2005 12:57 pm) You may be able to find some help in Lease Questions - Ask Here and Questions About Auto Insurance & Accidents. Best wishes. tidester, host |
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| Is this problem occuring on the 2005 Maxima as well? I'm interested in getting one. However, this deeply concerns me. | |
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Replying to: bewstadd1ct (Aug 01, 2005 8:21 am) In between thefts, I received a notice of a class action suit against NNA in South Florida which was in the settlement phase. Basically, Nissan would make available a theft deterrent kit at a cost not to exeed $30 for members of the class (ie: 02-03 Maxima owners). A final hearing was scheduled in July, 2005. In July 2005, they were yanked again. This time, I worked with NNA and secured the new version of the theft deterrent kit (Parts #26040-6Y325 & #12089-6Y300). While it still contains the Torx bolts, Nissan has abandoned the hood lock and cylinder key protector; the new kit are a set of brackets that bolt the bottom of the HID assembly to the frame of the car. It was installed in my Maxima on 08/11 at a cost to me of $377.00. NNA agreed to reimbiurse me everything above $30 once I receive the "official" settlement letter. Four days later, 08/15, the HIDs were stolen again. Not only were the brackets ineffective; it appears they did not even slow the bad guys down. The time of day these thefts occur, combined with the activity in the garage during that time would only allow for a couple of minutes to steal the lights. Apparently, that's more than enough time. So, the remedy Nissan is proposing to settle these class action suits (in FL and NJ) simply does not work. You can bolt the HID assemply to anything you want, but it's still easily breakable plastic. If they were serious about stopping these thefts, they would recall all 02-03 Maxima's and retrofit the lights with at least two design changes that would stop the thefts cold: encase the HID assembly in a metal (rather than plastic) casing and move the ballast back further in the engine compartment. The HIDs are worthless without the ballast, and Nissan conveniently packages the ballast in the same plastic case as the HIDs. Great car, but after $10,000+ in repairs caused by HID theft, I doubt I'll ever buy a Nissan again. They really left us hanging on this one. |
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It is true, they will put the kit on, according to cops doesn't work, the theives will take more than a minute and do more damage...What Nissan should have done was create a different type of light or alarm unit to any proximaty or tampering with those lights or alerting customers before hand (god forbid). I bought mine at nissan nemet in queens, and will never buy from them again, having been battling for 2 months on a trade to get one excuse after another...They claim they weren't aware of the class action suit against nissan or that these were hot items...well i fell victim again, this time for airbags, my car is fixed and in a lot, i'm paying for it, can't use it. obviously don't want to contine being a victim again, will try my business with another dealership...it's frustrating and expensive...the 2005 don't have that problem, but trust me, maximas are hot for parts, so if they don't go for the lights, they'll go for the airbags, the stereo the tires...so having a nice quality expensive car, may not be worth it, if it's gonna benefit the theives...My advice sell your 2003's if you have them and get a toyota, a chevrolet or some other good car that the appearance or parts are so appealing....Good luck. If there is a class action suit in the New York area, please let me know, cause i will definitely join in on that, and get all my money back as a settlement. Thanks.
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Replying to: letgig (Sep 18, 2005 5:16 am) It takes less than a minute to pop those suckers out - how is it not a defect? And we'll see if their fix is as effective as Nissan's.
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Replying to: russianmd (Sep 21, 2005 8:53 am)
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