So, I get back to my car in what I THOUGHT was a pretty secure parking garage and what do I find? Someone broke in through the passenger side door, stole my head unit and nicely messed up my dash in the process, popped open the trunk and stole a downpipe that I was going to sell to someone and the subwoofer that happened to be in there as well.

It looks like they popped the lock on the passenger side, and I am posting this because I wanted to know what the best way to take care of this would be. It's got VERY minor cosmetic damage, and I am a bit reluctant to take it to a body shop for this, for I feel that if/when the locking part is repaired it'll be hard to notice. I was going to call my insurance company about it, but as I was holding for them a friend of mine said there's no point, as I have a $500 deductible and it probably won't even be that much to fix what happened.

Here are some pics. These may looks a bit strange since it's an RS and I have the non-color keyed door handles.

You can kinda see where there is some slight damage here:



And here you can see where the lock is jammed way back there:



So basically, I am just looking for the best way to resolve this issue. Should I take it to a body shop? Go to a dealer? Talk to a locksmith? Any input is appreciated...

-Trevor

 

if its minor dont bother calling insurance unless you have low/no excess. if its minor it can be done at a body shop for half the cost. i made the mistake of rining the insurance company thinking it was the right thing to do, but the excess made it cost more then what it was worth fixing. unless its major, get the job done by 3rd party. your insurance wont know the difference

 

So the bodyshop took care of the lock for you..? If you don't mind me asking, about what kinda price does that typically run? Thanks for the reply.

 

time to get an alarm system! hater are everywhere nowadays!!!!! sorry for what happened.

 

gps alarm+new door handle from south coast and ur golden!

 

yes mate the body shop took care of everything from the paint scratches around the key hole to replacing the keyhole. i suppose it was a multipurpose autoshop. the thing would have cost the most is the damage to the dash. was your dash damage? do you have a pic of it? having an alarm system will deter some but like mine, if noone is there, and they are professional, they will be in and out in 30 seconds flat. and this was in a secure parking lot with patrols. obviously it was random car but patrol are only once every hr or so.

 

something like this happened to me when i first got my evo... that was years ago but if i remember correctly it was like $200-$300 for the repair... thats just a guesstimate but prettysure its somewhere around there...

 

Cool, thanks for the quick replies.

The dash has some real minor scratches on it, nothing too bad and I don't think I'm gonna bother replacing it, as it's hard to notice.

Yeah, I'm far from an expert on car theft, but a few people who've looked at the break-in said that this was certainly a professional, and they went in and out FAST.

 

new handle+ beter security system

 

you know that older comercial where the guy walks up to the car and a forcefield activates and sends him flying. You should get that!

 

i'm sorry to hear that. happened to me too a couple years back. you could file a report to the police, but as you said you don't have to go thru insurance. do you have reciepts of the stuff that was stolen. some insurances cover stolen items if you prove they were in the car. the system is always a guarantee if you show reciepts. hope everything turns out in your favor.