Hi all,

I recently moved to Philly for school and was welcomed by having my 05 Accord broken into and my driver/passenger side airbags stolen. It was a very professional job and aside from the broken glass, done very cleanly. I found my club in the back seat, in full working order (the steering wheel was not cut).

My first question is this: I was wondering if Honda (or anyone) makes those anti-theft bolts to lock the driver's airbag in place (similar to what Nissan offers). I haven't been able to find anything along those lines (and what a shame, since it's apparently very common w/Hondas and Accuras).

Second: The club was just a deterrent, but apparently it was not enough. I was thinking of picking up another steering wheel lock that also offers airbag protection, ideally something that is a little less common and perhaps not as easy to overcome or a bit more annoying. I found products like "The Wrap" and the Viper Lock but I fear that these will not really serve as a deterrent and will just infuriate criminals and/or result in my steering wheel being sawed through.

Third: I'm putting an alarm system in, mostly to appease my family. I was going to have one of the Viper 2-way pager systems installed, but if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

Any other advice is more than welcome.

Thanks,
J

 

How did they steal the bags without ripping the dash apart? I don't see how that is possible... it's a ton of works just to get the steering wheel bag out, harder for the passenger side one.

1. Never even heard of such a thing... you could replace the bag and ask to have the bolts rounded off.

2. Ditch the club, it only attracts attention and obviously, is very easy to get off.

3. Depends on how much you want to spend... $200 - $1K+... lower end models will cause a hassle for a thief and make a lot of noise, upper end models offer GPS tracking and things like that. The deeper you bury and alarm and make the wiring look like factory, the harder it will be for a thief to take the car.

 

Thanks for the reply.

1. The driver's side bag appeared easy. It was removed cleanly without ripping any wires and they left the bolts on the floormat. On the passenger side, my glove compartment appeared to be broken, but they had just separated it from that plastic damper arm on the right side so it could be lowered completely. I popped it back in and aside from the gaping holes in my dash and the center of my steering wheel, the interior looks fine. Edit: it just occurred to me - maybe locking the glove compartment would make it more of a bitch to remove the airbag next time?


2. Obviously the club is not going to stop a determined thief, but I have to believe the extra X seconds one spends removing it is at least a small deterrent (especially now that there will be an alarm on the car). Is it really better to go without?

3. I'm going with the Viper 5901 Responder. As I said, it's mostly to appease my family, but I'm choosing a 2-way because people tend to ignore alarms and at least I'll know when it's mine that's going off.

I was also thinking about putting it in a lot (vs. street parking), but I don't know if that will just make it easier for them to flatbed/tow the thing. I'd imagine that my current practice of sandwiching it between two other cars would make that more difficult

I just don't know what to do. It's a real demoralizing thing to have happen to you. If it happens again, I'm just bringing the damn thing back to NY and taking the train for the next 4 years. That's if they're nice enough to leave the car next time.