Posted on 08/28/2019 6:25:50 AM PDT by Red Badger
Anyone whos lived in California will advise you to never leave anything of value out and visible inside a parked car. Thats just an open invitation for a car thief to break in. But now it seems thieves are going beyond ransacking a cars interior: A San Francisco woman returned to her Toyota Prius only to find the car disassembled and its main battery pack stolen.
Multiple reports say that Marjory Kaplan parked her 2017 Prius just down the block from her apartment in Pacific Heights. Upon returning to her vehicle, she found that someone had stolen the Prius mid-mounted central battery pack, the one that supplies power to the hybrid-electric system, and not the auxiliary functions under the hood.
"You know, you go looking for your car and you know what you car looks like. It didn't look like my car. It looked like a jalopy car. It looked different. It looked disheveled," Kaplan explained to ABC7 News. "They took the seat out, cut all the wires and removed the battery, which I understand weighs 180 pounds.
Hi from Pacific Heights where a woman came out to find her PRIUS had been disassembled and car BATTERY stolen. (As a fellow Prius owner I didnt even know this could happen!) @abc7newsbayarea pic.twitter.com/l6DBO1gKcF Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) August 25, 2019
Battery pack thefts have been on the rise since ABC7 News first reported on the increase back in 2015. The packs are resold on the black market, which harks back to the days when clever thieves stole catalytic converters off new vehicles to extract the expensive precious metals found inside.
But what's different about this theft is that no windows or doors were forcefully damaged during the break-in. Rather, a small rear window was tactfully removed to gain access. This is a clear indication that the battery thieves are professional and know what theyre doing.
Its very organized, yeah, its very organized, Jeff Garcia, a Toyota mechanic, told KRON4. Garcia said his shop is in the middle of repairing four other Prius cars whose batteries were stolen in a similar manner. Its not just the battery theyre stealing, theyre damaging all the harnesses and everything else around there. Seatbelts are being cut.
"Had I been lucky enough just to have the window broken and the change taken," Kaplan continued. "I would have been very happy."
As a result of the battery theft, shes reportedly facing a $5,000 to $10,000 repair bill.
A street-view security camera was nearby, but unfortunately it was pointed the wrong way, so Kaplan doesn't expect much to happen. She also plans to sell her car after the repair and to depend more on public transportation.
“citiot”. Like it!
Heyyyyy! That’s brilliant! It’s certainly a lot more economical than building the glitter-bomb!
We haven’t had anyone thieving boxes left at the doors in our neck of the woods yet, but do you mind terribly if I use that idea when they start stealing boxes?
I’m going to be chuckling on and off for the rest of the work day thinking about that.
Thank you very much!
Low IQ Stupidity can only harm so much, it takes high IQ Stupid, proper ideological Stupid, to really put a civilization at risk.
The Cultural Marxist were betting on this. Those they’ve shat out into the society prove they were right to do so, as they’ve probably exceeded the wildest nightmarish fantasies that Stalin etc ever harbored for what Useful Idiots would become.
But if people are car shopping - I’ve seen the Amazon box things and they’re funny.
Otherwise, I would read all about the filth that is kalifornia, totally unconcerned. But these stories do concern me. For the wrong reason.
Did she pay cash for the car? Or is it financed? If financed, she should have full coverage insurance, and should only be out her deductible.
The ability to predict the future makes this author and Orwell even more valuable to us today!
If this becomes a more prevalent trend the insurance rates on Prius cars will go up. So then they might “save” their owners a little on gas over a few years compared to a similar non-hybrid car, but the increased insurance premium will make up the difference.
We had a similar discussion here a week or two ago. Depending on how much you drive, and how long you keep them Prius cars often do not “save” their owners any money at all as compared to other similar sized vehicles. This trend will only make it that much worse.
Another 10lbs and they could’ve taken the whole thing.
Would have been quicker!...........
“Had I been lucky enough just to have the window broken and the change taken,” Kaplan continued. “I would have been very happy.”
No she wouldn’t. If the window being broken for loose change had happened, how would she have known it was an alternative to what did happen?
Maybe she was about to get in her car, enter traffic, and get in a wreck that would’ve caused her to be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of her life. But, because the battery was stolen she avoided this misery, and she should be happy about that.
True. What she doesn’t realize is This may be a good thing.................
Garages have a special kit of bolts for the Prius battery that cannot be unscrewed replacing the existing bolts...like the special wheel lug nuts with a key.
One of the many reasons I prefer sedans over SUVs, pick-ups and hatchbacks is because I like having a trunk.
I first heard ‘citiot’ in the TV show ‘Royal Pains’. It was used to refer to the urban commoners from NYC visiting the Hamptons during the summer.
It fits very well everywhere in this country. :)
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