One reason to buy a BMW
There's a depressing trend in Boston, stealing headlights right
out of Audis. The Carpundit has been
covering this odd crime for the past year and posts about the latest victim. Is this a problem elsewhere in the country
or just in Boston? I've never heard of it before. Please send us a comment if your headlights have turned your Audi
into a "King Lear" model. Or was it Gloucester that was blinded?












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mad Anthony 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
This has been happening for a while in NJ with Nissans and other Japanese cars with Xenon headlights. Car and Driver actually had a long article about it last year:
http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=27&article_id=8216&page_number=1
The NJ attorney general actually SUED Nissan for not telling people that their headlights might be stolen.
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chuck 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
It is so obvious that you guys are bias toward BMW big time!!! This is not a professional journalism attitude but then again, you guys are just a whole bunch of bloggers!!!!
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David Thomas 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
Chuck
it's called sarcasm
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Bryan 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
King Lear was, indeed, blinded. That made it easier for his buddy Kent to lead him around while concealing his identity from the King.
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MP 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
since when did calling people bloggers become and insult. bloggers are the best cause they are writing about what they want to and not what other people tell them to. it's nice not to just have people reading from a telepromter or singing to a back up track. this has been a great source for me to learn. thank you!!!
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David Thomas 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
was gloucester also blinded? I don't think I've read lear since I was 15.
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Mario 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
C'mon Dave, it's been a problem since a long time ago. Even Edmunds has thread in their forum dedicated to that:
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ef172ce/109
Here in South Florida that's a big issue that affects not only Audis and Nissans, but Porches and BMWs.
Any car with Xenon headlights is likely to be ripped off and therefore charged with higher insurance premiums.
But this problem is not exclusive to Xenon bearers. A friend of mine's 2002 Mustang also got its headlights stolen. :(
Here is an article (BugMeNot required)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/2004/03/07/news/local/states/florida/counties/miami-dade/cities_neighborhoods/northwest/8121179.htm?1c
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David Thomas 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
nah never heard of that and I lived in S Fla.
my bad but then again I'm nust a lowly blogger
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tech222 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
It has never been a problem where I live, but touching someone's vehicle in the Dirty South is grounds for being shot.
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Hugh 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
FYI - Sometimes theives try to access the car's battery via the headlight openning, disconnect the battery and then enter the car without any alarms going off. Not saying so in this case, but I had it happen to me before.
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Larry 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
bmw xenons get janked all the time too
doesn't usually take more than a flathead screwdriver and some fiddling
happened a couple times in san diego from what i know
-L
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B 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
Chuck-
If you were a regular reader, you'd know that Dave and the boys are Ford fans- count the number of articles on the mustang vs. everything else.
I'm just kidding w/ you Dave. Keep up the good work!
Oh, and Chuck, pull your head out of your ass.
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Gary 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
Are Audis actually victimized more often? If they are, it might because it's easier to steal the lights more quickly. Some cars, you can do it from the front; others require the hood to be open. Some of the latter have only a couple easily-breakable pieces, while others have strong metal holding them in.
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Ben Huh 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
Mario is absolutely correct. Whenever automakers make it easy to steal high-price parts, this is what happens. And this has been happening for a long time. 10 years ago, my cousin had his taillights stolen from his Nissan pickup while he was having lunch.
BTW. King Lear, Gloucester, and Albany were all blinded:
http://www.field-of-themes.com/shakespeare/essays/Elear4.htm
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racerx2k 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
This happens a lot in the northeast. 2 weeks ago I saw a S4 getting towed because its headlights were stolen. My friend had her Maxima headlights get stolen 3 times, once right in front of her house. I believe it started happening with the Acura TL's, and since then it moved on to the Maxima's and now Audis.
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Brandon 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
This is very common on vehicles that come standard with HID's such as the latest model year Acura TSX I believe. Its a win/win situation for the thieves, unlike in cases such as the Mazda3 which use projector housings for both halogen and HID setups so the thieves are basically guessing the Mazda3 is equipped wityh HID's. Maximas were the first large target for this crime if I remeber correctly.
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Manolo 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
It has been a common "happening" for Acuras in Miami
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chris 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
LOL at all of you who live in such areas where your headlights are stolen... sorry but it is wicked funny.
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Geoff 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
I have a buddy who grew up in Jersey City, and his brother's Acura's have been stolen several times.
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Arthur Che 10:59PM (12/18/2005)
This happened to my roommate's S4 about a month ago. We live in Allston, which is a neighborhood near the Boston University campus. Looks like it's a common problem, as every A4/S4 has HIDs, and you can pop them off pretty quickly and easily with probably just a screwdriver.
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