CarbonXe

iTrader: (1)

I was referring to your reference being lame.

ack154

iTrader: (7)

Oh... well ya... it was.

pyroman131

Can we say...

[/topic]?

PDX_xB

Thanks to everyone who responded. You guys raised some valid concerns.

The car is always garaged at night and we have a home security system with a 24 hour monitoring service. The parking lot where I work is covered by 24 hour surveillance cameras. I always make it a habit to park near other cars that cost 3 - 4x what I paid for my xB. That gives the potential thieves other more attractive targets for their mischief. Why mess with the little $19K xB when you have multiple $85K Beamers and Benzes to choose from?

I don't have $20K worth of mods in my car and never will. In fact, counting the cost of the car and all present and future mods, I won't have $20K total into everything. Other than the wheels/tires, most of my mods are in the sub-$100 range with a couple in the $200 - $300 range. I doubt if anyone is going to see photos of my Sharkfin antenna, painted brake calipers or Wheelskins steering wheel cover online and track me down using my license plate number. Still, better safe than sorry. I hate that our world has come to this, but I'd hate it more if someone stole my little red box.

Concerning my mods. I've set my limit at the $3600 rebate I got from the cash for clunkers program. 1/3 of that went to wheels and tires. By the time I get it painted, about another third will go to the Five axis lip kit. That leaves me about $1200 for all my other mods. I've spent about $500 so far on several small mods (Tanabe NF210s being the most expensive at $220). I have a TRD CAI and fog lights on order. That leaves me with about $300 - which I'll probably set aside for a dual exhaust. That pretty much eats up my cash for clunkers rebate and gets my total cash investment back up near the $19K sticker price of my car.

I just read in the paper that several local dealers are sending out checks to cover the actual scrap value of the clunkers (minus a $50 processing fee) people traded in. The article said the average scap value is $375. So, that could mean possibly a check in the $225 range for me ($375 - $50 fee - $100 scarap value they gave me when I bought the car). I called my dealer to ask. They are looking into it. If I get a check for $225, I have my eye on an Elemental Designs SQ10 subwoofer ($70.00 shipped) and a refurbished Rockford Fosgate P300-1 monoblock amp ($139.99 shipped). I have a bunch of 3/4" MDF in the garage from a previous project. So, I'll use it to build a custom enclosure for the sub.

I suspect audio upgrades are the most targeted by theives. They are easiest to remove and probably pretty easy to sell to convert to cash. Other than my potenatal $210 subwoofer project, I plan to leave the rest of the stereo system stock. Hopefully that will make me less of a target for potential internet theives looking for cars with >$10K audio set-ups.

PDX_xB

D_Unit

Personally, I don't get why people blur out their plates. It's like taking precaution of that .0001% chance out of 10,000 that someone is actually going to track your car because of your license plate. Give me a break. I had an M3 with well over $15K in mods and not once hesitated to post pictures on the Internet, especially since I have insurance.

If people can post pictures of themselves on Facebook, then I can post pictures of my license plate. If they steal my ride, big whooped--dee-do. I'd rather not cave into the paranoia or have such a bleak outlook on life. Just my 2 cents.