Stolen/Recovered Dark Blue 89' 180sx

[Mr. Keets]

So your changing your nick to "Lucky Tuna"

So whats the damage????

[andz]

unfortunately no.

no alarm, no insurance, no immobiliser.

my own fault i spose.

u learn from your mistakes

alarm + immobiliser, kgooooooo

[R32gts-t]

i can't believe you didn't take any precautions, 3 point imob, club lock, park in sensible places, detach headunit/boostcontroller, kill switch!!!

protect your money pit's people!

[someonestolecc]

So what's the condition like Tuna?

[predator]

Looks like a bit of a car theft ring is operating on the goldcoast with the amount of imports stolen recently! Seems to have started about the time schoolies did, whether it's co-incidence or not.

[copycutter]

The article and story is in todays Bulletin; page 5.

The car was involved in the smash and grabs on the Gold Coast businesses.

I'll do a full write-up with the damage etc once I get the car. The impound is withholding all information regarding to the investigation, and will notify me when they've finished dusting it for prints.

Police hunt after smash and grabs

08Dec06

TWO young men blamed for a six-week stealing spree were caught in the act running from a car filled with wallets, jewellery and a plasma TV.

The duo were caught canvassing their loot in bushland at Molendinar yesterday as police were investigating a high-performance car which had been stripped and dumped at the same spot.

The men drove the stolen late-model silver Honda Accord, packed with thousands of dollars worth of items, including passports and personal documents, on to a dirt track near the tip.

The area is a hot spot for abandoned vehicles, with smashed glass and burnt-out car parts strewn across the area off Nerang-Southport Road.

A Nissan Silvia 180SX, which had been stripped, was earlier abandoned just metres from where the men -- believed to be in their early 20s -- were spotted by police.

Police watched the duo from a distance, gathering descriptions as the two examined their prizes.

When the offenders spotted police, they fled into bushland, sparking an extensive search involving the dog squad.

Police called off the search after an hour but managed to obtain a good description of the men, believed to be responsible for a series of smash-and-grabs on the Coast in recent weeks.

Acting Detective Inspector Terry Goldsworthy made a public plea for information on the offenders, dubbed the 'Skyline bandits'.

He said the group of at least three men were stealing Nissan Skyline or Silvia sports cars and using them to carry out night-time crime sprees.

The crimes also involve vandalism.

"That seems to be the vehicle they are most comfortable stealing with," he said.

On Tuesday night the men raided three businesses at Robina, smashing computer screens with crowbars and sledgehammers and stealing 'small-ticket' items, including digital cameras and laptops.

Police believe they are also behind five break-ins at Nerang businesses on Monday night, and are responsible for more than a dozen smash-and-grabs since November.

"There seems to be no pattern for what they're looking for," said Det-Insp Goldsworthy. "At this stage they seem to be picking their targets fairly randomly and they tend to group them together.

"If they do one business in Nerang, they'll do two or three more in the same location, and they are basically smashing and grabbing using crowbars and sledgehammers to kick their way in. It seems to be mindless vandalism."

He said the men had been caught on film at some crime scenes.

"They are of similar appearance and similar in the way they disguise themselves (with) items of clothing over the face.

"We also have a linkage with the vehicles being used in a number of offences, usually a Nissan Skyline -- different Skylines but the same type of vehicle."

Police said they believed the men were linked with the smash-and-grab sprees.

Det-Insp Goldsworthy yesterday advised Skyline owners as well as businesses, particularly in industrial areas, to step up security and asked the public to help find the bandits.

"If (people) see three young males driving around in a Nissan Skyline, be it silver, red or whatever colour, we'd ask that they ring the police and we can investigate it," he said.

Anyone with information call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

[Lithius]

Your car is famous, sell it on ebay!

How many calls are police going to get regarding innocent people just driving around in the skyline with a few mates in there.. better safe than sorry though I guess.

I wouldnt' be driving an expensive car if I couldn't afford comprehensive insurance, my nerves would be shot everytime I took it for a drive.

[Mike_]

I wouldnt' be driving an expensive car if I couldn't afford comprehensive insurance, my nerves would be shot everytime I took it for a drive.

So true, the very VERY first thing i did when i bought my 33 was pay through the arse for full comp insurance and fit a $1200 alarm system.

[Burgerman]

I feel for you dood. I had a car stolen a while back and it was never recovered. I learnt my lesson and now have insurance and a top notch alarm imobilser system for my current car. You can never be too safe.

Lucky you have found your car again. I suggest your next few pay cheques be spent on a decent alarm and immobliser. It's good peace of mind even if you are parking it in a secure complex.

LoL at the 3 people in a skyline thing. I'll be sure to travel with only one other person to avoid being pulled over by police!

[R32gts-t]

any new info?

[eMsta]

congrats on gettin the car back.

now run along and get the following:

insurance

alarm

immobiliser

club lock - unless u can remove the steering wheel.

[silver gts-t]

wtf?

so everytime a skyline gets spotted with 3 males in it ppl are suppose to call the cops??

[lingeringsoul]

well, the montly SAU dinner will sure to get the public in a dialing frenzy

[copycutter]

Ok everyone, sorry it’s taken so long to finally compose a follow up, but as I’m sure everyone can appreciate; time moves quick when you’re world gets turned upside down.

Before I begin with details, let me first thank everyone that has helped me in any particular way with what has happened. To everyone who offered to keep an eye out for my car, to the people who spotted it after it was taken, those who offered to help with getting my car back together, even down to the people who wish me well with the outcome. You people know who you are, and to you I truly offer my thanks.

You people are the reason I join these car forums in the first place, aside from the information you can get here, it’s really nice to know that there are people that don’t know you, but will still help any way they can.

Okay. Details…

The car as most of you know was taken from the David Jones Car park on Wednesday the 6th at around 3-5pm. I have an idea of the time, because someone on the Skylines Australia passed my car near where it was dumped while I was working at about that time.

Obviously I called the Police as soon as I realised the car was missing, and went out that night to make the official report at Southport Police Station. I also spent that night and hours into Thursday morning with heaps of mates driving around looking for it anywhere. The following night at work my friend called me to about the first article I quoted above called “Sports Car Bandits Strike”. Later on, I was contacted by the Police to tell me that they had located my car under some bridges and in the bush off Old Coach Road. They informed me that the body was still in basically one piece, and that the officer thought engine appeared to be mostly untouched, and that the dashboard had been removed. This sounded slightly strange, but I was extremely lucky that the car had not been torched or stripped completely, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

The next morning another friend called me to say that my car was pictured found with the stolen Honda Accord and all the loot, and that the Police had spotted the thieves with the cars, and they’d run off into the bush and gotten away. I went and got the paper, and saw the picture of my car in the bush with the bonnet bent all the way back. The Police told me the holding yard would only need the car until Friday, but the holding yard said they couldn’t give me any information, and that they’d call me when the car was ready. I didn’t hear from the holding yard until Tuesday, and they said to collect the car by Wednesday or they’d add holding fees.

I got the car back from Wheeldons Holding Yard on Tuesday of last week. This was the first I’d seen of the car since the previous Wednesday when it was taken while I was working. It was in pretty rough shape – I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

They used a coat hanger to break into the car, snapped off the key barrel and used a flathead screwdriver to start and use the car with the section behind the key barrel.

The driver side lower dash areas are broken, and they stole the Power FC, the Blitz id-iii, and the Blitz turbo timer. They also got the pioneer cd player.

What was really strange was that the complete engine wiring loom has been taken, as well as various other things in the engine bay. Luckily we used the ‘flathead method’ to turn the engine over to do a compression check: 175psi across all cylinders, 173 on the last one – thank god. They wrecked the front right quarter panel, and the rear left is dinted and scratched, as well as various other scratches, presumably from heading bush. Bonnet’s ruined from being bent back too.

So to where I am now: I now need a 180sx wiring guru to figure out if the damage, if any to the 180sx wiring is bad enough when combined with the body repairs that I’m better off getting a new rolling shell.

I’ll just get a new wiring loom and get me and my mates to get that going, but before I decide I need to know if im better off sticking with this car still.

Thanks again everyone.

Don’t let it happen to you..

-Nick

[Bliksem]

Good to see you've got it back mate. Could have been a much much worse outcome!

[Mr. Keets]

So which pic is going to be your new avatar..the forklift one or the bush sneeking out from the rear bar

Seriously though, the car doesnt look too bad, pity about the pfc.

As for the print powder, I would remove it from the glass as a priority. I've seen it on a TV screen and it left a permanent residue. Different type of glass etc but hey just passing on an experience.