Hey all,

I took a trip up to NYC this weekend to see Manhattan in all of its holiday glory. (Had to be this weekend due to too much crap going on in a little amount of time!) Now I knew since that I'm just learning to drive a manual transmission (which is going fairly well! ), that there was no way in hell that I wanted to drive in the city, and I also wanted my new baby to be safe and sound. So, I found a hotel on the other side of the river in Secaucus, NJ with easy access to the city. Plus my brother (who's fairly familiar with the area) says that the area was fairly safe. Great! I get there without too much difficulty, and only stalling maybe once!

I park the car in a 'secured' parking garage next to the hotel. The next morning, I go out to check on my baby. I get up the stairs, and everything looks good. I walk around the car, and the passenger window is smashed in. Glass everywhere, the passenger seat is scratched and gouged from the glass, the cover for the armrest is ripped off, a few nicks in the exterior paint, and my iPod which was hidden in the armrest is, of course, gone.

Crap.

So I start making phone calls. I file a police report, and call insurance. They can't find anyone to fix the glass. I call around, and luckily find someone (who was just about to close up for the day... don't people get broken glass on weekends?!) that's willing to do the work and has the glass in stock! So they take care of that.

After I'm done doing what I can with insurance and getting the glass replaced, I check out of the hotel Saturday (and didn't pay a dime for the room... the manager was about to argue with me, but I think my expression kinda said it all... (edit: I was about to summon my inner-Marina! ), and decide to brave Manhattan after all to head to a trusted parking garage there, as it's only 4ish at this time, and I didn't want to waste the whole trip. Getting there was... interesting..., but the MINI made it there in one piece!!

Today, I went over to Tate for an estimate. They recommended just buffing the paint (which I agree with - it won't be *absolutely* perfect, but it will look very close to it, and I really don't want a respray done), replacing the armrest top (the bottom is close enough to fine - just a little gouge in the inside rim. It looks like they opened the armrest with a screwdriver... . I didn't want them to replace it since the one I have from the factory doesn't squeak!! ), and replacing the entire seat. They say that they can't replace the leather due to the airbags in the seat. Ok, fine. Final parts cost - about $1700!!! My insurance co. is going to love me... Luckily, it's USAA, and they're typically very good to deal with, so I'll see how this works out when I get the final estimate and fax it over...


-Paul!

 

Aww man, that sucks... what is it with brand issues on new DCMM JCWs lately? First Sally, now you... OUCH!

I'm glad it's getting sorted out... talk about heartbreak. I'm thankful that even so far away from home, you were able to get the worst of it taken care of.

 

Ouch Paul! Take it easy and get your new baby fixed up.

 

.........heavy sigh.............all that trouble for an ipod? Can't they just steal them off kids walking down the street instead?

JUST KIDDING!

Paul.....heavy sigh......

 

that sooks man ;_;

 

And what gets me is that I'm 99.92% positive that I hid the iPod in the armrest, and the DICE unit (which was untouched) was tucked away next to the passenger seat and the center console. I find it very hard to believe that 'they' knew that there was an iPod there to begin with!

Ah well... On a positive note, I'm getting much better at not stalling going into first! And only about 250 miles to go before the JCW is officially 'broken in'!

---

And thanks everyone else for the comments! (And yeah, it sucks... even the MAs at Tate felt for me!


-Paul!

 

That's really lousy. So much for a 'secured garage.'

Maybe the theif just assumed a MINI would have something
of value in it somewhere. Especially if it is new.
That, and because I'm naturally paranoid, the most I will leave
in the car (visible or not) is a pencil.

 

Sorry to hear PAUL !! - I am glad to see my lessons went to good use

If it makes you feel a bit better (not) ... in Georgetown a few years back my VW Cabrio got broken into (could not longer use the driver door ) for a radio/cassette player w/o face ??? !!!
That stupid thief made over $1K in damages for an useless radio !! USAA, however, is great .. you are in good hands !

 

I need a alarm for NJ from what it sounds like...., my MINI was fine...but I parked it right next to the room window and sleep with one eye open on the MINI.
And you just got your MINI.
Hope things go smooth.

 

Geez, Paul! I can't believe that happened.

Sorry it happened and good luck getting everything as close to new again as possible !

 

Man, that sucks! There are simply too many a**holes in this world... I'm glad it was an easy fix and you're back motoring again!

 

That sucks man!!! Makes me really not want to get a new JCW, 1st Sally's uht-oh! now this, what is it the DCMMers and their brand-spankin new JCW's :(. Good luck Paul, i hope everything gets taken care of and is put back into order ASAP.

 

yep, it definately sucked...I cried for Paul



But we made up fo it later. We took his MINI into the city after it was "repaired". Paul! let me drive it a bit, he was having some trouble on some of the hills in the Bronx. I DROVE A JCW IN NYC!!!!!

 

Hmm - Paul... was that wire there the whole time? If so, that was a dead giveaway that you had SOMETHING electronic in your car...

 

eww, that glass looks sickning :( congrats to sally for JCW in the bronx

 

Erm, yeah, I think... it looks like my cell phone charger cable... I guess that I left that out...

Still though, it's *NO* excuse for someone to bash in a car window for a stupid cell phone!! Especially when I was paying nearly $200 a night for a hotel room and parking that was supposed to be secure and patrolled!!! Who would leave a cell phone in their car anyway?

Hell, I left more exciting stuff than that out in my car at 3AM parked by the 9:30 club in DC, and didn't have an issue.

I even asked the hotel manager if there were security tapes, and he looked at me like I was insane....


-Paul!


EDIT: Now that I *really* think about it... it may have not been plugged in overnight... my phone was dead, so when I saw the mess that was my car, I may have plugged in the charger, then charged up my phone a bit as I went to the glass shop.... but I really don't remember....

 

aw hon, that sucks. I suppose there was the usual disclaimer in the garage, so ya can't sue them. What a bummer!
Stupid jerks for hurting your car.

 

No of course not... I wasn't saying that anyone had a right or excuse to do what they did. That was just messed up. I hope your insurance replaces your iPod too.

 

That's horrible dude. I hate that something like that happened to you. Without sounding preachy (because I have had a car broken into and valuables stolen), the average thief searches glove box then center console because they are looking for a quick in, quick out deal. No thief wants to open a car door and take a bunch of time searching around for stuff to take. From now on when leaving valuables in your car, put them out of reach of the windows. If they're dumb enough to break into a car and steal, there's just about no way they can figure out the MINI's central locking system.

 

I feel your pain

If you don't feel "whole" with your seat not being replaced I would suggest that you argue that point. The explanation that the leather can't be replaced because of the airbag is an uneducated assumption. I had a complete leather interior installed and there were not any issues with the airbags other than resetting the warning light.

It is my opinion Paul that you deserve to be "whole" - your car is brand new.

 

I actually have no problem with the seat being reupholstered, just as long as it's done correctly and looks like it did, ie. brand new. It was the SAs at Tate that told me that due to some kind of (federal?) regulations having to do with the airbags, that they're not authorized to just reupholster the seat, as it's 'bad' (they explained why, but I really can't remember the explaination! ). Are they giving me a line of BS? Dunno, but I'll let the insurance co. argue it out. As I said, as long as it looks new in the end, I'll be happy.

Aftermarket is a different story. Just like I can have a Tint shop apply 'limo' tint or I can install the 'illegal' parcel shelf, you can do whatever you want to your vehicle. Will it pass federal and/or state muster? Probably not, but unless you get called on it who cares? And especially for things like reupholstered seats, who will?


-Paul!

 

Good point! Actually, I had a bunch of crap in the boot of my MINI that they couldn't get to thanks to the locking system. I'd have to play play with it to be sure, but as far as I can figure out, it's impossible to unlock the boot without having first unlocking the vehicle via the key or remote.


-Paul!

 

Paul have you considered installing the factory Alarm? With it the theives would of broken your glass but been scared away and probably not gotten your iPod.

 

I thought about it, but the iPod is really the least of my worries. It's the smashed glass and the resulting damage that really screwed everything up....


-Paul!

 

Paul, BTW congrats on the new MINI. Somewhere along the line I missed that you had upgraded. Head in the sand and all of that............