Clearly they didn’t read the thread where you were being a nice guy trying to buy his sister a Kitchen Aid mixer. You don’t deserve this bad luck!
We have had H’s car broken into several times (he left it unlocked so they didn’t break any windows or damage the car itself). They did steal his sunglasses and keys to my folks house (who live a good distance from where his car was parked). They also stole a bic pen and his two Starbucks cards that had $5 on them. It was irritating but otherwise not too bad. It was worse when someone decided to sit in his car and smoke–make the car smokey for days!
You say your car was “vandalized (for no good reason)” but it sounds like someone broke in (breaking window) to try to steal anything from inside the car. That really sucks - especially to happen that frequently. When we moved to SF we had a rude introduction to the city when our van was broken into while in the unsecure hotel parking lot. Turns out, the hotel was accross the street from public housing, which may or may not be a coincidence. But after that, we had no problem parking 2 vehicles on the street on Russian Hill (Green st between Hyde and Leavenworth). Also had no problems for years parking on the street in front of our house in Oakland, except for that one time a neighbor left a note on my van objecting to how I parked in front of my own house! The note called my a “yuppie” and I didn’t even know what that meant… many, many years ago…
Oh how I wish that were true! My daughter, who lives in the Ingleside area of S.F. has a 1998 Toyota Corolla. She’s never washed it in the 4 years she’s owned it. It is the DX model, meaning hand crank windows. Has a wing nut for the glove box latch. She had a “GPS For Dummies” navigation device that I paid $49 for when she got the car. Last month they broke into her car and stole the navi, along with the loose change in the dash. At least they were considerate thieves and broke the small back passenger window instead of one of the larger windows that are more expensive. Her roommates have also had car breakins with similar modes of transportation…
NYC is a better place to live. For 350 I have a safe indoor place to park my car. It is only few blocks from my apartment too.
xiggi - sorry this happened to you so many times. I would be pissed.
In the 90s, when my friend lived in Queens, she found her car sitting on cinder blocks with all 4 tires missing. She had few more vandalism before she decided to give up her car.
Thieves will break into any car looking for valuables. NYC was the epicenter of this crime for decades. Thieves like older cars to steal since they don’t have sophisticated alarm systems.
Someone broke into an older car of ours once and tried to start it with a screwdriver. Didn’t work.
Then again, a newer car of ours (with an alarm) had the passenger window smashed while someone just reached in and took everything out of the glove compartment. The alarm wasn’t triggered that way. I started opening the glove compartment every time I parked so people could see there was nothing inside.
It is irritating when it happens because it makes no sense. I was ticked off because I am about to leave town and it is a hassle to deal with the window repair. A broken window also create moisture issues. My deductible is very low but that might change.
Oh well, there are worse things in life and many have much bigger issues to deal with than windows.
Not to make you feel bad, but I’ve lived in SF 30 years, and was only vandalized once (tires slashed on Christmas no one had anything to gain), many years ago, when my car was parked downtown. Maybe you live in too nice a neighborhood. I don’t think people in the outer Sunset, Richmond, Miraloma (boring middle class neighborhoods) have too many problems that way.
I am sorry though. It’s a huge, pointless pain. But don’t blame SF. In any event, car vandalism isn’t in my top ten of ways SF is cruel (don’t get me started on summer, the schools, the cost of housing, the cost of toast…).
If it’s just one window, that is often not worth dealing with insurance, and there are some great inexpensive auto glass places around.
I love where we live - the biggest concern if you leave your car unlocked is that you’ll end up with zucchini in the car (zucchini grows really well in northern New England in the summer). We moved here from New Orleans, which was terrible crime-wise. I’m really sorry about the break-ins.
@xiggi - isn’t the glass breakage from theft a comprehensive claim that might have a lower deductible? I don’t recall my insurance going up after the claim when it happened to us.
The deductible is only 100 dollars. The issue is the repetition of similar claims.
My D paid around $165 to have a mobile glass company come to her place of business and replace the small back window. Hardly worth going through the insurance company, with a $100 deductible and your premium going up.
Many years ago our parked VW rabbit was broken into while visiting our friend in Society Hill in Philly. They do our luggage which we had not thought to bring into their townhouse yet while out to dinner… but they left my husband’s golf clubs which were in the trunk and worth a lot more than the random clothes and our toothbrushes we brought for the weekend. But I guess walking down the street with luggage on a Friday night would not have attracted as much attention as a set of golf clubs.
Co-workers older model Toyota was broken into on a street in Staten Island last year and the entire steering column was stolen. The responding police said this seemed to be a new trend… commissioning someone to have your replacement parts stolen. Very sad for so many people who lost cars following Hurricane Sandy in places like Belle Harbor and the Rockaways as many of those with new cars had their tires stolen from new cars parked in their driveway.
I’m sorry that Baghdad-by-the-Bay has been hard on you, Xiggy…
My friend was so sick and tired of having to pay to repair his (definitely not new-looking) car from being broken into in the Sunset district that he put up a notecard in the dash saying “Doors are unlocked. Please don’t break the windows.” Nothing was kept in that car, not a CD player, radio, jacket, anything. Whenever he visits us in the suburbs, he can’t get over how we leave things like sweaters, coats, shopping bags, and sometimes even more in our car.
I don’t know about your car xiggi, but on my car the alarm apparently didn’t go off when the window was broken.
Not that anyone pays attention anyway.
But as I was literally only away from it for 5 minutes, and because the girls softball team was practicing in the field next to the parking lot, I didn’t notice any risk.
I also assumed that the man waiting outside the gym was a parent, and not someone staking out cars to break into.
Affluent areas has crime risk, but it is even higher in the inner city.
We don’t even lock our house doors in Maine. When we drive to Boston, we have to remember to go on high alert, since we’re not used to that state of mine.
“On the Embarcadero, a friend’s car broken into and her iphone and dog were stolen.”
So sorry about the pooch, dstark. He may have just escaped when the car was broken into and picked up elsewhere. I have spoken to my son and DiL about leaving their dog in the car (they only do it if it during cool weather) even for a quick shopping trip, as I would worry about someone taking him. It doesn’t seem to sink in, as I guess in their small town people do it. Seems risky to me.
It’s not just SF, or even big cities where theft is common. I just returned from my local grocery in my small, suburban upscale los angeles community where plants, fire wood and other outdoor items were stolen from the front of their store. Over $2000 worth of plants. And the nursery across the street from the market has been hit, too. It seems that anything that isn’t nailed down is fair game.
But breaking your windows just to see what’s there is pretty upsetting, xiggi. Hard to imagine how it could have been prevented, unlike when people leave things unsecured, or in plain sight.
Our home has been broken into twice in the last 20 years since we’ve lived here. This has become a part of modern living in any city near a metropolitan area.
Moonchild, thanks.
MamaBear16, do you know where in the Sunset? I grew up in the Sunset District. I am curious.
Since moving to the Pacific Northwest from Southern California our car has been broken into 3 times in two years. We know the window repair guys well. The last time the thieves took state park parking passes. And only the new ones, not the expired ones. Really?