friend's freaking me out a little, car thief.

[look 171]

Making me think, that's for sure. Today, I finally drove my 930 after months of sitting. On my way back home, I stopped by and had a coffee. As I turn the corner after I was done, I noticed two young men, mid 20s around my car. They were quick and ask if that 930 belong to me and if I wanted to sell because they had cash and are ready to do the deal. They even offered my 80k. This was 2:30 in the afternoon. What good hard working young people doing cruising in their pick up truck asking to buy 911s at that time? He was pushy to say the least, and continue to ask for my phone number even I said "not for sale" several times. He did ask the right questions and knew that it was an 87, (88, actually) and that if its a factory 930. they claimed to have just seen a Speedster around the block. There is no Speedster around for miles that I know. Ihave seen a couple around socal, that's it. Vary rare. One of them snapped a pic from the rear as they left. Nothing I can do to stop him from doing so. I got talking with a friend after at his shop, and he mentioned that maybe they left a homing device somewhere and will steal it later from the garage. I know it can happen, but how are serious car thieves doing now? He got me thinking and it could happened. I was too dumb to have left my passenger window wide open. Am I scaring myself? Would you guys be worried if that happened to you. I wasn't worried about it until my dumb ass friend opened his mouth.

[aigel]

Maybe there is a garage queen / barn speedster somewhere - not all cars are driven - and they were sincere? If they were planning on stealing your car, they would have GTFO of there instead of talking to you.

I wouldn't worry about it. Get good insurance and enjoy the car.

G

[Holger]

Have you looked under the car, if they left something sticking to the car you might find it.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by aigel

Maybe there is a garage queen / barn speedster somewhere - not all cars are driven - and they were sincere? If they were planning on stealing your car, they would have GTFO of there instead of talking to you.

I wouldn't worry about it. Get good insurance and enjoy the car.

G

I tend to agree. The last thing they want is for you to see them in person. If they wanted to steal it they could have followed you home then waited for you to leave. Get good agreed value insurance, have fun, don't worry.

[ckelly78z]

You never know the new tactics that high end car thiefs might try. At least they didn't try to jack you right there and then. I get nervous when I see slow moving cars or trucks around my house out in the country, you have to wonder if they are just curious, or actually casing the joint for later.

[fintstone]

What enthusiast sees a nice 930 and does not check it out? People are all over my cars whenever I drive them. Many want to talk about them although most know nothing other than they are cool. As long as you are insured, don't worry.

[john70t]

"Excuse me for a second"
Pull out phone. Camera/video. Pretend to push other buttons.
Place at head perpendicular.
"Yeah Bob, this is Frank. I'm running late. I'll have to call you in a few."

A team? Pushy? Don't take no for an answer? With $80k cash they want to throw at your car?
Stay in awareness mode. You never know. Keep distance. Look for possible weapons, escape routes and defensible positions. Leave yourself options for an out.

Be assertive. Ask them if they are from around the area.
How did they happen to notice your car?
Do they have a card (DNA/fingerprints)? You will call them if interested.
Have a nice day. Time for them to leave now. It's your place and your car.

[sm70911]

"hey even offered my 80k. This was 2:30 in the afternoon. What good hard working young people doing cruising in their pick up truck asking to buy 911s at that time"

People who work in the film business ... But then again Ted Varrick lived in LA too ...

[Jim Richards]

Just leave the 930 at my house.

[Seahawk]

Speeder was here a few weeks ago and we talked about this very thing.

The demand for Porsches is high with few well sorted, desirable cars hitting the market.

Legit buyers are being more aggressive and thieves are taking orders for the right car.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

how does the stolen 911 racket work?

I can see stealing a car and parting it out. easy, low risk but a lot of work and you can only sell generic pieces. Thieves aren't the brightest guys in the world, but they must know the 911 community is small and some parts may be recognized.

Are they then buying crashed cars at auction and stitching in VINs? Would have a salvage title and new paint under the hood.

Shipping them to Mexico? Is it easy to get a stolen car out of the country? In parts it would be I imagine.

If Jeff's 930 were stolen, how would someone make $ off of it?

What is the risk/reward ratio?

[recycled sixtie]

Simply put you have a very desirable car and you can expect attention. If you are worried about theft then you should sell it. If not then use it as a daily driver. If it was me I would have sold it and bought a water cooled P car. It would attract less attention.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

how does the stolen 911 racket work?

I can see stealing a car and parting it out. easy, low risk but a lot of work and you can only sell generic pieces. Thieves aren't the brightest guys in the world, but they must know the 911 community is small and some parts may be recognized.

Are they then buying crashed cars at auction and stitching in VINs? Would have a salvage title and new paint under the hood.

Shipping them to Mexico? Is it easy to get a stolen car out of the country? In parts it would be I imagine.

If Jeff's 930 were stolen, how would someone make $ off of it?

What is the risk/reward ratio?

Don't forget all these people buying a bunch of rust just for the VIN.

[Seahawk]

Supply and demand. Interesting point about key fobs in the first article.

Illicit cargo: Why are more stolen cars disappearing overseas? | NJ.com

29 charged in $8 million takedown of international car theft ring | ICE

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

how does the stolen 911 racket work?

I can see stealing a car and parting it out. easy, low risk but a lot of work and you can only sell generic pieces. Thieves aren't the brightest guys in the world, but they must know the 911 community is small and some parts may be recognized.

Are they then buying crashed cars at auction and stitching in VINs? Would have a salvage title and new paint under the hood.

Shipping them to Mexico? Is it easy to get a stolen car out of the country? In parts it would be I imagine.

If Jeff's 930 were stolen, how would someone make $ off of it?

What is the risk/reward ratio?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Wow!

[mpeastend]

The phone pic was to snap your plate. They will get someone to run it and find out where car is registered. I would be extra vigilant, best not to even store the car at address where it's registered. As for the guys speaking to you, they could very easily have another person take the car and not be involved. They could've been just feeling you out by chatting. You may tell them that the car has serious motor issues and they might then pass on the car. You never know. You are right to be on guard. Trust your spidey-sense.

[sugarwood]

In hindsight, the right move would have been to ask for their phone number and contact information, and tell them you'll get back to them.

If stolen cars are a thing in your area, maybe it's worth renting a garage for the next few months. If they ever broke in and saw the car wasn't there, they probably won't come back.

Also, maybe you can look into a motion detector alarm. Or LoJack? Or The Club? Or all 3 ?
Amazon.com : PROXIMITY RADAR MOTION SENSOR DEI 508D ANY CAR ALARM : Vehicle Remote Alarms : Car Electronics

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Just leave the 930 at my house.

My house is much more secure... leave the keys and I will be sure to "warm it up" on the weekends.

Lily our guard cat will defend your 930 with her life!



But seriously, thief's generally don't do face time, I wouldn't worry.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]But seriously, thief's generally don't do face time, I wouldn't worry.

Years ago, I read an article in a Corvette magazine. There was a guy that had been a car thief that specialized in 'Vettes. He was in jail and they interviewed him about his MO. Lots of interesting info.

He said that when cars were for sale, he would go talk to the owner as a prospective buyer. The owner would be all too happy to show off his fancy alarm which was what the thief needed to disable the alarm when he came back to steal the car.

Apparently, some of them do face time. But I agree, the vast majority probably don't (assuming we discount carjackers).

[MRM]

I used to belong to the trade group that combats vehicle theft. I know a bit about the business. It's unlikely that the pair were car thieves.

Remember, your license plate is a public record. They don't need a GPS device to locate where it's registered. They don't need to take a picture to remember the plate number and they don't need to talk to you to scope out the car. If they did any of these things they weren't real pros, and anything less would not be up to stealing your car. But don't sweat it. Even real pros don't often steal cars from garages or other secure locations. Off the street with a tow truck, sure, but not so much out of a garage. To comfort you a little, statistics suggest that a late model Honda that can be turned into a street racer is a higher risk than your 930.

Handy practice pointer: Our vintage of 911 is pretty easy to steal because it can be driven by pounding a screwdriver into the ignition and force rotating the lock to start the car as though the screwdriver was the key.

Anyway, in the US a professional thief would replace the VINs or cover the existing VIN with a replica and retitle the car. Ideally they would use the VIN of a car that existed but was no longer on the road. Each manufacturer's VINs and the rivets that hold them are unique, so someone who knows what they're looking for can spot a forged VIN unless it is very well done. Even a fairly well done forgery will pass a casual inspection, but it's very hard to fool an experienced vehicle inspector who knows what to look for.

Internationally they just sell the car as-is because there isn't a central database of US VINs in other countries.