I just thought I would give everybody a head's up. My house was burglarized and when the crooks were in the garage, they took my manuals from the glove box. Who would have thought that a crook would want something like that. If you leave your manuals in your glove box as most people do, you might want to rethink that. They cost a small fortune to replace... the sheath is $30, and the Radio Boost Owner's Manual together with the Owner's Manual for the S are another 34.00. I am keeping an eye out on ebay. If anyone comes across a deal for a complete set of manuals, they have to be mine!! :???:

 

If you think thats a lot, dont lose the key.

--
Cheese

 

this has got me wondering why they didn't make the damn glove box locking!

 

>>this has got me wondering why they didn't make the damn glove box locking!

lock the car.

 

that doesn't help much when you are leaving your car with valet...

 

I remember you telling me about this.

What did you find out about the radio codes?

 

Oh, I just noticed this was in O.T.

it may be a first, but I'm going to move this from O.T. to MINI Talk.

Again, sorry about the burglary.

 

>>that doesn't help much when you are leaving your car with valet...

Don't valet.

 

>>>>that doesn't help much when you are leaving your car with valet...
>>
>>Don't valet.

what a brilliant idea?

 

>>>>>>that doesn't help much when you are leaving your car with valet...
>>>>
>>>>Don't valet.
>>
>>what a brilliant idea?

Thanks! It works for me.

The original post had nothing to do with valet...the car was in the garage. If the car was locked, and the crook didn't have the key, problem solved. If you don't trust valets...don't use them. Peace!

 

I just can't understand why a burglar would take manuals, but then I don't understand burglars in general. Maybe he knew how valuable they were. Maybe he already had a buyer. Maybe it was.....nah! (kidding - very sorry that happened to you.)

 

>>The original post had nothing to do with valet...the car was in the garage. If the car was locked, and the crook didn't have the key, problem solved. If you don't trust valets...don't use them. Peace!

If the car was in the garage but was locked and the crook didn't have a key, he would just smash his/her way into the car, doing hundreds of dollars worth of damage or more.

 

>>>>The original post had nothing to do with valet...the car was in the garage. If the car was locked, and the crook didn't have the key, problem solved. If you don't trust valets...don't use them. Peace!
>>
>>If the car was in the garage but was locked and the crook didn't have a key, he would just smash his/her way into the car, doing hundreds of dollars worth of damage or more.

Not necessarily...If I was burglarizing a house for quick cash and whatever I could carry I wouldn't want to smash the window of a car and possibly draw attention to myself. If the car was open, and the glovebox was locked, I could easly break into the glovebox since most gloveboxes that have locks are not that strong. (Of course if I was buglarizing a house, I wouldn't be looking to steal MINI manuals).

The way I see it, it's a crime of opportunity. If somebody wants something bad enough, they'll get it. A little deterrent might make them look somewhere else.

 

My guess is the burgalr was really looking for CDs since they can be sold easily for drug money. My wife's van was burglarized in a public lot once and all he took was a large CD case. In your case, he probably looked in the glovebox, saw something about the right size, and took it without checking, hoping it might be full of CDs. Once he found that there were no CDs in it though, he probably threw it away. If you're lucky you might find it lying on the side of the road near your house.

 

And with the cover of a garage to shield activity and noise, a burglar might feel emboldened to pick up something heavy in the garage, where one typically finds metal tools and heavy objects, and smash a window. It's a crime of opportunity.

 

>>And with the cover of a garage to shield activity and noise, a burglar might feel emboldened to pick up something heavy in the garage, where one typically finds metal tools and heavy objects, and smash a window. It's a crime of opportunity.

True. If he wants MINI manuals bad enough! :smile:

 

>>My guess is the burgalr was really looking for CDs since they can be sold easily for drug money. My wife's van was burglarized in a public lot once and all he took was a large CD case. In your case, he probably looked in the glovebox, saw something about the right size, and took it without checking, hoping it might be full of CDs. Once he found that there were no CDs in it though, he probably threw it away. If you're lucky you might find it lying on the side of the road near your house.

This sounds like the best theory!

 

The thieves will take anything that looks like it MIGHT have some value.
My other car had the driver side window blown out because they thought
that my briefcase was a laptop.

Thanks from now on I'll keep my books in the house.

 

>>If you think thats a lot, dont lose the key.
>>
>>--
>>Cheese
>>

HAHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEHE.......................HAHAH AHAHAHEHEHE...............HAHAHEHEHAHAHAHEHEHEH

 

Bearing all of the above in mind...

...it would be nice if the glovebox locked.

 

Sorry to hear about what happened...A few months back someone stole the radio out of my cousins car, they also took the manuals, registration and insurance cards which was also in a nice black bag kinda like the ones the MINIs have. The burglur must of though it was a purse, all this happened in front of a church too!

 

Chitown_COOP.....you're right!
i think the moral of the story is that if you have anything of value that can't be either locked or bolted down, leave it at home!
the whole locking glove box issue is one that i've never had with any car i've ever owned, they all had it!
it sucks that the mini's don't really have any secure compartments. i may have to go old school jeep style and install a lock box in the boot. all this being said, burglers are punks! i've had my share of broken windows and missing stereo's, i'm sorry you had to go through such BS.......

 

hmm

i always leave my manuals at home :smile:

 

The radio codes were in the packet. I keep the car in the garage, LOCKED now, so the crooks will have to work a little harder to get the radio than they did the manuals!

 

You are right, it was just a crime of opportunity. It's all about speed although my husband had a gun in a rear compartment in his and the crooks left that. They also left the Land Cruiser manuals. So this was part speed, part cool MINI manuals. I do keep the car locked but most burglary's happen during the day and the entry point is the front door. It is usually just kicked in. If they want it, they will take it!