Someone broke into my garage last night.

"GreenN_Gold" (GreenN_Gold)
10/29/2013 at 12:52 • Filed to: None

Luckily they did not appear to steal anything or vandalize anything. I keep my car locked, even when it's locked in my garage, which I am very grateful for on this morning. We've have a couple smashed car windows in my complex, but thankfully all my glass was intact.

Tonight I have to figure out a way to secure everything better. The only real item of value in there other than my car is my bicycle, which they didn't take.

Quick poll for those who park in a garage: Do you lock your car even when it's parked inside your garage?

DISCUSSION (27)

Casper > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 12:55

It locks it's self after a while generally, but I don't and I don't bother on my Z or bike (leave the key in the bike a lot). I really hope no one ever breaks in, not because they might take something, but because I don't want to be on the news for shooting and/or bludgeoning them to death.

CalzoneGolem > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 12:55

I live in rural Maine. Not only do we not lock are cars, garage or house but my wife leaves her keys in the ignition.

When I lived in a more urban area someone broke into (by which I mean opened the unlocked doors) me and my wife's cars all they took was a handful of change from my wife's car. They moved my cds out into the back yard and gave us a bag with a girl's sweater in it.

ddavidn > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 12:59

I don't, my wife does sometimes. I've left the garage open overnight before. Not much to steal in there, but you can get into our house through the unlocked door...

$kaycog > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 12:59

I don't lock my car in the garage, but the key is in the cup holder. Even living in a small town, I lock my car when I'm anyplace. Glad they didn't damage your car or take your bike.

Milky > CalzoneGolem
10/29/2013 at 13:01

Yea my father's house is the same way .... there are 3 cars with the keys sitting on the center arm rest / in cup holders.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 13:02

If your question applies to motorcycles, my father leaves the keys in both of his bikes in the garage, therefore keeping them "unlocked" so to speak.

CalzoneGolem > Milky
10/29/2013 at 13:03

My rat rod has a key in the ignition. It is only for looks as you start it by hitting a switch and then pressing a button.

Nibbles > CalzoneGolem
10/29/2013 at 13:06

Lived like this in Lakewood, CO. Five vehicles in the driveway, all with keys on the floorboards because we played musical cars nearly every day. It was fun having a different vehicle for each day of the week lol

I'm in Thornton now. Neighborhood is nice, but too quiet. I don't expect my neighbors to keep an eye on the place like they did in Lakewood. The Saab is unlocked (good luck getting that anywhere lol) but our other cars and house are locked at all times.

Captain_Overboost > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 13:07

Lock my cars, in the garage? Naaaah. That's why they're in the garage, so I don't have to lock them.... or cover them... or hide valuables laying in the console.

Besides, I live in a very tightly knit community, behind a big wall with a verrrrry nice security system that guards it all. If some guy knows his shit well enough to get into my garage undetected while I snooze lazily in my bed, he's earned the 5 bucks in loose change in the cup holder and ipod on the passenger seat. The least I can do is leave the door unlocked so he can take it.

Besides, this is Texas, castle laws and all, so he's flipping a coin that could potentially cost him his life for that $5 in quarters and an iPod. lol I collect more than cars and that collection resides in the house. With me.

GreenN_Gold > ddavidn
10/29/2013 at 13:14

There is no house access from my garage, it is detached. I used to leave my car unlocked, but only recently got in the habit of locking it when the other car prowls were reported. It's sort of a closed-in complex, and the car has a visible alarm, so I would hope that would deter thieves from smashing the glass.

fink stinger > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 13:15

I don't park in a garage and only occasionally lock one of our cars, the wife's Tahoe, when there is something valuable out there that I just don't feel like bringing into the house. My Impala SS always has the keys in the ignition because the chances of someone (stupid enough to even the attempt) making a successful getaway with that is zero. My truck usually has a spare set of keys in the console. My motto: "Locks only keep out the honest folk".

That said, when we lived in south Florida (in a quite nice gated community no less), someone took the trunk key out of my 1995 Caprice and either kept it or tossed it into the yard. Nothing was ever stolen from that car since there was nothing worth stealing. I just left the key in there so I wouldn't lose it...and then I lost it :-)

Of course, this is the same driveway where we had two TomToms stolen from our previous Tahoe within a week of each other...both while the truck was unlocked (I don't learn that lesson easily). By different assholes that just going around checking for unlocked vehicles. Interestingly enough, both were recovered and both thieves were arrested. Seems the odds of that happening would be somewhat less than the odds of getting struck by lightning 3 times in a row while masturbating to midget on sheep porn on the street corner while kids are walking to school. I still don't play the lottery.

GreenN_Gold > Casper
10/29/2013 at 13:16

The garage is detached, so it's quite hard to catch someone breaking in unless I got real lucky with the timing. Especially since I also have to work and sleep.

GreenN_Gold > CalzoneGolem
10/29/2013 at 13:21

I'm not exactly rural, but I am two miles down a highway with no stores or business or anything around. Nobody would walk there, however it's a fairly large condo complex (~140 units), which leads us all to believe that the thief/vandal/criminal lives among us. The only other explanation would be someone targeting our specific complex and driving from fairly far away to commit petty crime, such as breaking into a garage and not stealing anything, which seems unlikely.

Property management thinks it might be a youth. In one case a car window was smashed in order to steal an iPod.

Casper > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 13:25

Think about putting an alarm on it? You can buy a basic kit system for a few hundred bucks and it will make more than enough noise to let you know someone is in there.

GreenN_Gold > Casper
10/29/2013 at 13:32

If I'm lucky (that's sarcasm) the thief will remove everything while I'm at work today. Then there will be nothing to secure.

There really isn't much of value out there to be honest. I might move a couple things inside my home, lock up the bike, and throw out the rest, and maybe slap a pad lock on there, but that will be a pain to unlock every single trip and probably unneccesary once the garage is empty.

Battery Tender Unnecessary > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 13:36

Better check to see if they "added" something to the car. Might notice a government-issue GPS tracker. /tinfoilhat

Meatcoma > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 13:37

I normally lock my car whether it's in the garage or not. I however will not lose sleep if I forget to lock it, especially in the garage, since I lock the garage up tight.

GreenN_Gold > Battery Tender Unnecessary
10/29/2013 at 13:37

I'm an extremely important and powerful person so I just assume the government is tracking me at all times.

Casper > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 13:38

You should stack a bunch of empty boxes in the shape of a classic car and throw a car cover over it. Leave a light on in there so the thief can just see in through the window. When the thief breaks in, they will meet the street urchin children that you have equipped with wolverine claws who live in said boxes.

Word will spread fast not to break into your garage. Then you just have to figure out how to get rid of the children.

Kinja'd!!!

505Turbeaux > CalzoneGolem
10/29/2013 at 13:42

I live in Portland and same thing, there are 4 cars out there right now with the keys in the ignition. If they could get 2 of them running they can have em, or at least do me the favor of getting caught after getting them running. Gonna get a big surprise from the E30 with the utterly blown head gasket about 4 miles down the highway though

Party-vi > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 13:44

Where I used to live (aka with mom and dad) we only kept my Willys in the garage (keys in ignition) and bikes (keys in ignition) with the garage locked. At my new place the garage will stay locked and the Willys will sit there sans keys (detached garage).

corvairsomeday2 > Captain_Overboost
10/29/2013 at 13:54

+1 for subtle references.

GreenN_Gold > Casper
10/29/2013 at 13:54

I read a tip on another website that said place a baby monitor in the garage and the speaker on your nightstand. That would be a cheap solution, because the loud ass garage door will definitely wake me up, and it will be like a silent alarm so I can catch the jerk.

MonkeePuzzle > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 14:00

yes

use steering (turn wheel all the way to the right before removing key), lock car, engage car alarm, engage garage alarm, and more. every time.

step 48: leave decoy unlocked car outside garage

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 14:22

I tend to leave the cars unlocked in the garage, and keys in the house.

Since the garage is attached (and my bedroom is next to it), and I can hear things happening in the garage, there is a fairly good chance that I'd be repairing buckshot holes in the sheet metal if someone broke in.

The truck however, is parked outside, and it stays locked. Keys would be in the house.

Captain_Overboost > corvairsomeday2
10/29/2013 at 14:36

LOL, hey, sometime what you don't say, blah blah blah. hahaha It's Tuesday, what's a little trollin' for newbs gonna hurt anyway?

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > GreenN_Gold
10/29/2013 at 14:41

I don't lock my car, but then there are also a large number of tools and objects that would make getting into a '61 Corvair trivial at best.