Airbags stolen!

[Frank Patrick]

Upon return to Ontario(California) airport parking last night I was in for quite a surprise.
First, I never take my Boxster to park at the aiport, but this was a quick trip, leaving directly from work, and had no chance to swap out cars. It was about 10:00PM when I got to my car and noticed the passenger side door was ajar. After opening it and noticing a rather large hole where my passenger side air bag USED to BE, and another in the middle of my steering wheel, I yelled out a curse virtually everyone around me herd. BOTH MY AIRBAGS HAVE BEEN STOLEN!!!!

[djomlas]

wtf? sorry to hear that.
how did they get in, did you leave the car unlocked?
out of all things airbags? was anythinge lse stolen?

[CJ_Boxster]

OMG that really blows.... let me know what your insurance says about this.

[986 Girl]

Holy cow... I never realized airbags were such a hot commodity? Or that they were easy enough to remove that they could do a quick in and out job without setting them off...

Nothing else was taken? Radio? Windstop?

[Frank Patrick]

Unfortunately I'll Be Forking Up The First $500.00.
Car Was Locked-police Said No Signs Of Force- Looked Like Vin-# Laser Key-(whatever The Heck That Is??) Police Said The Blackmarket For Airbags Is Extermely High For Unscrupulous Body Repair Shops- Someone Needed The Bags Fron An 04 Boxster With A Black Interior-yours Fit The Order.
The Costs Of Relacement Bags,from Dealer, Is $700.00. Bag Cover $5oo.00 Drivers Side $550.00 Bag, $475.00-w.o.porsche Crest, Blackmarket Value-i Have Not A Clue.

[alikhan78]

What in the hell. I'm surprised that they were able to take the airbags out without setting them off or anybody noticing. Also shocked that the airbags are all they took. Two places I will never leave my car, a bus station or an airport, the crooks know that you'll be gone for a while and can take their time. Anyway, sorry about your loss, the $500 deductible sucks, hopefully your car will be back to normal soon.

[Cloudsurfer]

Very sorry to hear this. Unfortunately, airbags are a VERY common theft as the blackmarket for them is fantastic.

Patrick

[joosrsx]

Did you laugh at all once you realized the only thing missing were the airbags?

It is a little funny.

Hell, I wanna buy me some black market air bags so I can upgrade to the 3 spoke cheaply. lol

[djomlas]

there used to be a place like that in the old chicago days, you pull up with your car, guy comes to you and asks you what you need, tell hime for instance a lincoln front bumper, they say come back in 3 hrs, and you do, and what do you know, a front bumper for your car.
a guy that worked with me was into that (an older gentlemen) and they used to get all kinds of parts for cars from bumpers, to hoods, to wheels (leaving cars on blocks), all on order...full interiors. crazy.
so im not suprised that this still exists, i jsut dont know where lol

[jwilson95]

Wow, I feel good about taking the company car to the airport now. Never take the Box no matter how good the weather.

Good luck with your "renewal".

JMW

[Frank Patrick]

I'll have my Boxster, new airbags and all, today at 4pm. Dealer said they found no evidence of anything else, they said even the "yellow" connectors to the inflators, were properly dis-connected, unlike some that are simply torn out, making the relacement twice the labor.
The tech told me whoever did this was quite familar with the inflator housing that mates the sodium azide inflator to the ring assembly then to the bag. He had seen cases before in which the dummies broke the ring assmbley, left which he said sort of defeats the idea of the theft in the place, as you must acquire a new assembly from Porsche in order for the bag to work. Because airbags are considered a Safety item, (for purposes of a call back) the vin numbers detail the specific assembly lot, and there are changes (revs) that occurr in the manufacturing process.

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by Frank Patrick

Upon return to Ontario(California) airport parking last night I was in for quite a surprise.
First, I never take my Boxster to park at the aiport, but this was a quick trip, leaving directly from work, and had no chance to swap out cars. It was about 10:00PM when I got to my car and noticed the passenger side door was ajar. After opening it and noticing a rather large hole where my passenger side air bag USED to BE, and another in the middle of my steering wheel, I yelled out a curse virtually everyone around me herd. BOTH MY AIRBAGS HAVE BEEN STOLEN!!!!

Sadly, this is a common happening.

The airbags are a very expensive part and thieves can move them.

[Peer]

Initially when I was looking to buy a Boxster, I came across a used one that was priced very humanely -- but had a missing driver's side air-bag. I walked away. Although I like to fix & mod my toys, to work on something that might blow up in your face isn't too fun.

-- peer

[Perfectlap]

Whenever your airbags are swiped, immediately check Ebay or add the feature that will email you an alert when one shows up on Ebay.
I would email the seller questions like how much is shipping? where are you shipping from? is a local pick up available? How old are the airbags?
Then with that information call the local authorities and email them the correspondence.

Anyone with enough knowledge to believe that Boxster or 996 airbags are worth the risk of getting caught for a possible felony, is smart enough to know about Ebay as a place to fence the stolen items. This isn't some car radio theif looking for a hit of crack or meth.

[Frank Patrick]

Never thought about checking e-bay, but your suggestions are good.
In fact the Sheriff's department told me there are law enforcement agencies working this issue, trying to find both sellers AND buyers. He told me of a recent Ford Motor car case where Ford was sued as a result of a fatal car crash where the drivers bag did not deploy. The vehicle in question was throughly examined, and found to have a "black market" relacement airbag This was done by a body shop that used a stolen bag for the repair. Although virtually anyone handy with tools can put the bag in; on newer model cars, the rate of bag deployment is keyed to the cars main computer, and special equipment; pretty much (dealer only) makes the appropriate connection. This determines, amongst other info- speed of car, weight of passengar etc. The new "Smart Bags", make adjustments in inflation rate, based on the size of the occupant it trying to protect.In this case Ford sucessfully proved, that although it was a Ford airbag, the vin numbers and inflator part number did NOT match. The body shop on a plea agreement coorporated with Police investigators to reduce their penalties.

[Perfectlap]

that sucks, makes me wonder if my airbag was ever replaced!

as far as law enforcement, the operation is only as good as its people and some guys really don't give a crap. I had vehicle stolen once, called the local PD every day. Nada.... Decided to do some leg work of my own (interesting story) and found my vehicle in another jurisdiction (minus wheels). Been sitting there all week with my registration in the car! No one bothered to call anybody else. Another time I had another vehicle stolen and the local PD did nothing to find the loser. I did some asking around and found out who it was as he was spotted. Forwaded the info but the guy takes off after he had plenty of time to pack his bags.
When I spoke to the local PD about all this it was clear they couldn't be bothered with small time stuff. Don't ever count on the law enforcement to catch anybody.
This applies to local, state and federal. Have dealt with them all. Not enough people, not enough pay, and the criminals are one step ahead. Most of the guys caught for anything really are the dumbest, slowest and most drug addicted. Which doesn't sound like the Porsche air bag ring.

[Frank Patrick]

You hit the nail on the head-My sense was -this guy' got a Porsche, so his airbags are missing-get over it-

[chgolatin2]

Sorry to hear that, that sucks! But doesnt your vehicle have an anti theft device with motion sensors?

[Topless]

Man! That's about 5 miles from my house! I wonder if a Boxter with black int. is in a body shop nearby for repairs? Might be worth a drive down Holt and Mission Blvd.