Author Topic: Shady neighborhood woes  (Read 7888 times)

MMMary

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Shady neighborhood woes
« on: February 18, 2014, 08:29:14 AM »
Hi everyone,

Due to some lifestyle changes, I live in a house with roommates where I pay only $450 in rent a month, and I'm saving up to buy a bike sometime this spring.  My saving is getting slowed down due to some unfortunate circumstances :-( my car was parked by the house and someone rammed their car into it and drove off... this has happened to multiple vehicles in the area.  Also, last night my roommate's boyfriend's car had its back window smashed and something stolen from the back.  While I'm saving my money, what can I do to deter idiots???? My neighborhood isn't awful per se, but it's close to some areas that are not so nice.  Plus there's a small bar district several blocks away.  Does anyone have tips?

elkbark

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2014, 08:35:14 AM »
-Video surveillance.
-buffer objects in front/behind the car.
-Sell the car, buy the bike.

Greg

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2014, 08:37:07 AM »
A couple of thoughts. 

Remove all belongings from your car, make it look clean and tidy inside so that no one looking in will mistakenly believe there's anything in there to steal... keep your insurance and registration in your wallet or purse rather than the glove box.  Are the windows tinted?  Un-tint them so it's easy to see it's clean and empty. 

Might even consider leaving it unlocked.  Folks with convertibles do this to try and dissuade others cutting the top to gain entry.

The parking thing is harder... can you park under a street light or further off the street, say aside the house?

Mori

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2014, 03:19:48 PM »
Could you just sell the car now and switch to a bike? I only ask because depending on how shady the neighborhood, you can do a lot of mitigating items and stuff will still happen to your car.

I like the other suggestions. One more:  as far as hit-and-runs, how far is where you park from a turn/driveway/intersection? Park so that people have no reason to swerve and hit your car, unless they can't drive in the first place. If your place doesn't make this possible, is there a neighbor nearby that would be okay with you parking in front of their house?

phred

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2014, 03:25:12 PM »
Any elderly people living nearby that don't drive?  Can you rent their driveway to park your car?

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2014, 06:00:49 PM »
+1 to the no valuable, or ANYTHING in your car. When I lived in a neighborhood like that, I didn't even keep my emergency kit overnight in the car. Everything was in an easy bag to transfer.

Of course, some thieves are dumb enough to break windows even when the damn thing is unlocked. Ask me how I know that.

Numbers Man

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2014, 09:34:44 AM »
Unfortunately, that is one of the hidden taxes in living in the city. We call that street taxes in Chicago.

nawhite

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2014, 11:10:34 AM »
Hi everyone,

Due to some lifestyle changes, I live in a house with roommates where I pay only $450 in rent a month, and I'm saving up to buy a bike sometime this spring.  My saving is getting slowed down due to some unfortunate circumstances :-( my car was parked by the house and someone rammed their car into it and drove off... this has happened to multiple vehicles in the area.  Also, last night my roommate's boyfriend's car had its back window smashed and something stolen from the back.  While I'm saving my money, what can I do to deter idiots???? My neighborhood isn't awful per se, but it's close to some areas that are not so nice.  Plus there's a small bar district several blocks away.  Does anyone have tips?

Someone sideswiped my car and drove off 2 winters ago and it was covered by the "Uninsured Motorist" part of my car insurance. I only had to pay a low deductible and they fixed everything. I've heard it differs from state to state but in most, hit and runs are covered by Uninsured Motorist and not by Comprehensive/Collision.

dragoncar

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2014, 11:17:07 AM »
I know this isn't about the neighborhoods, but if it's just cosmetic damage, consider skipping the professional repair job.  It's OK to have a crappy looking car if you live in a bad neighborhood.

If you are on the border of a bad area, can you park the car a couple blocks away?  Can you look at a crime map and find that one block that is safer than others?  Sometimes it's amazing how different two adjacent blocks can be due to foot traffic patterns, etc.

beltim

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2014, 12:21:55 PM »
Hi everyone,

Due to some lifestyle changes, I live in a house with roommates where I pay only $450 in rent a month, and I'm saving up to buy a bike sometime this spring.  My saving is getting slowed down due to some unfortunate circumstances :-( my car was parked by the house and someone rammed their car into it and drove off... this has happened to multiple vehicles in the area.  Also, last night my roommate's boyfriend's car had its back window smashed and something stolen from the back.  While I'm saving my money, what can I do to deter idiots???? My neighborhood isn't awful per se, but it's close to some areas that are not so nice.  Plus there's a small bar district several blocks away.  Does anyone have tips?

Someone sideswiped my car and drove off 2 winters ago and it was covered by the "Uninsured Motorist" part of my car insurance. I only had to pay a low deductible and they fixed everything. I've heard it differs from state to state but in most, hit and runs are covered by Uninsured Motorist and not by Comprehensive/Collision.

It does vary by state. I can tell you from experience that hit and runs are not covered by uninsured motorist coverage in California.

Mori

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2014, 02:16:42 PM »
They are in my state (Missouri) if you have comprehensive, but you'll pay for it in premiums for years afterwards because you've put in a claim. Not usually worth it to me.

nawhite

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2014, 05:03:47 PM »
They are in my state (Missouri) if you have comprehensive, but you'll pay for it in premiums for years afterwards because you've put in a claim. Not usually worth it to me.

I was saying that even though I did not have comprehensive coverage (why would I on a car worth 3k?) the repair was still covered because everyone has "uninsured motorist" coverage. Good to know about California though beltim. Another reason I won't be moving there. ;-)

BPA

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #12 on: February 19, 2014, 05:06:46 PM »
The less nice stuff you have, the less people want to take it.

Guaranteed no one will ever want to steal my flip phone or my beat up old laptop.  ;)  And I don't own a car.

Osprey

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #13 on: February 19, 2014, 05:42:37 PM »
Don't leave anything in your car and as a commenter mentioned above, make sure people looking in can see that it is empty.
Also consider never washing it and not fixing the dents.
Park in out-of-the-way areas for less chance of dents/scratches, but park in busy areas for less chance of broken windows/stolen tires. It's a trade-off I guess.
(After three months in the city my poor car had three scratches, a dent and a near miss with "alarm blocking.")

SwordGuy

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #14 on: February 19, 2014, 08:06:11 PM »
Or leave so much crap in it that it looks like a trash heap.  Make sure there are lots of fast food wrappers and bags strewn on top of everything.  Don't clean it, make it look junkier than it is.

Won't help against random drunks, but it's a good deterrent to poking around in the car.

olivia

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #15 on: February 19, 2014, 08:23:58 PM »
Unfortunately, that is one of the hidden taxes in living in the city. We call that street taxes in Chicago.

Haha ditto this.  If you park on the street this just happens in my experience.  My car got hit multiple times when I had to park it on the street and I just never fixed it.  (It was fine, the bumper just looked terrible and I had to duct tape the side mirror back on.)  Finally a drunk driver totaled it while it was parked in front of my house, which was on a one way side street. 

greaper007

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #16 on: February 19, 2014, 10:11:29 PM »
I've been trying to figure out a way to electrify a car to shock burglars or somehow have a system that sprays them with pepper spray ever since I watched Nightrider as a kid.   Illegal I know, but still...

Mori

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Re: Shady neighborhood woes
« Reply #17 on: February 20, 2014, 08:51:58 AM »
They are in my state (Missouri) if you have comprehensive, but you'll pay for it in premiums for years afterwards because you've put in a claim. Not usually worth it to me.

I was saying that even though I did not have comprehensive coverage (why would I on a car worth 3k?) the repair was still covered because everyone has "uninsured motorist" coverage. Good to know about California though beltim. Another reason I won't be moving there. ;-)

The difference between comprehensive and collision on my 3k car is about $6 every six months. After doing the math I left it on so I could build my stash a bit more before I removed the comprehensive. :)

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!