Halp!! Car stolen this morning Birmingham, AL

[Medas360]

Stolen from downtown Birmingham, AL. 2012 2SS/RS convertible. Borla exhaust, custom heritage grill, customized shock tower brace, and engine cover. Personalized plate MOES SS. Any info, please PM me and call the Birmingham PD.

[kmarshall2121]

Nice ride - sorry bruh... Keeping an eye out for it on the west coast... Hope she gets recovered.

Why cant they put missing Camaro pictures on milk cartons???

[anth331]

Did you Contact OnStar?

[GretchenGotGrowl]

Might want to post here (http://www.camaro5.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16), too, to get some local eyes on it.

[Medas360]

Originally Posted by anth331

Did you Contact OnStar?

Yes. No help since I did not have it activated.

[Medas360]

Originally Posted by GretchenGotGrowl

Might want to post here (http://www.camaro5.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16), too, to get some local eyes on it.

Done. Thank you!

[GretchenGotGrowl]

Originally Posted by Medas360

Done. Thank you!

Good luck, hope you get it back.

[Welker2]

Originally Posted by Medas360

Yes. No help since I did not have it activated.

Let LE know it's installed. When my wife's 05 Monte Carlo was stolen, it had OnStar installed, but we didn't have it activated. We let LE know, they contacted OnStar and requested assistance; a few hours later the car was located {through OnStar} abandoned in a parking lot.

Hope the find your car & catch the SOBs that took it ... good luck

[kmarshall2121]

Originally Posted by Welker2

Let LE know it's installed. When my wife's 05 Monte Carlo was stolen, it had OnStar installed, but we didn't have it activated. We let LE know, they contacted OnStar and requested assistance; a few hours later the car was located {through OnStar} abandoned in a parking lot.

Hope the find your car & catch the SOBs that took it ... good luck

Curious - what is "LE"

[MrChrisLS3]

Originally Posted by kmarshall2121

Curious - what is "LE"

Law Enforcement

[Spec]

Did you leave the keys init? Did they break in? Do you have any details on how this could have happened? I know these cars are very tough to break into, nevermind actually stealing one...

I mean, it happens, probably all the time. But it aint easy and without the actual keys, it'd be quite the commotion...

Also, I've had cars get towed with nothing left behind. The local PD is able to confirm whether it was just towed or if in fact they had no reports of a tow and that it was actually stolen.

[anth331]

Sorry Bud, I hope you get it back undamaged.

[Balasarius]

Originally Posted by Spec

Did you leave the keys init? Did they break in? Do you have any details on how this could have happened? I know these cars are very tough to break into, nevermind actually stealing one...

Sigh.

This is such a common misconception, most likely spread by the manufacturers and dealers.

The fact is, Gen5 Camaros are easily stolen assuming the thieves know what to do. And many do, because they tell each other how to do it all day long.

1 - punch a hole in the door lock with a screwdriver and open the door, setting off the alarm. Which no one pays any attention to.
2 - Pop the hood, open the hood, and cut the wires to the horn, silencing the alarm.
3 - rip out the ECM, and replace it with one they've hacked. This removes the key-fob security.
4 - hop in the driver's seat, rip off the cheap plastic around the steering column and hot-wire the car they way you would a car from the 1960s since 99% of the car's security relies upon the key-fob security which was bypassed in step 3.
5 - drive the car away. Park it somewhere random and let it sit 24-72 hours in case it has LoJack or similar tracking devices. This is by far your best hope for recovery.
6 - retrieve the car, drive it to someone's house where you've paid them $300-400 to not look out their windows or ask any questions. Strip the car of parts, especially the engine.
7 - profit.

If they're smart enough to have a hacked ECM, they're smart enough to disable OnStar, which they of course do. I'm not sure how, though I've heard breaking off the shark-fin works pretty well.

Last year there were six Gen5 camaros (all SS and ZL1) stolen from my office park. They tried to steal mine three weeks ago, but fortunately they failed because I have a Ravelco.

Most of these thefts occur in CA, especially in the SF Bay Area -- where I live. If live you someplace else, you're just gambling whether or not the methods for stealing these cars has spread to your area.

We can hope GM learned their lessons and that the Gen6 will be more secure. Good luck, OP. It sucks.

[Medas360]

Originally Posted by Spec

Did you leave the keys init? Did they break in? Do you have any details on how this could have happened? I know these cars are very tough to break into, nevermind actually stealing one...

I mean, it happens, probably all the time. But it aint easy and without the actual keys, it'd be quite the commotion...

Also, I've had cars get towed with nothing left behind. The local PD is able to confirm whether it was just towed or if in fact they had no reports of a tow and that it was actually stolen.

Both keys are still on my desk at home. No broken glass, and I always leave it in gear with parking brake on. Convertible roof was probably cut to solve brake and neutral issue. No one heard a thing.