An interesting story out of Hawaii, where Dodge Charger rental cars are being targeted by thieves du

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An interesting story out of Hawaii, where Dodge Charger rental cars are being targeted by thieves due to the ease of which they can be broken into and officials are aware of the matter, with little action hotel washington dc being taken.
The Honolulu Civil Beat has reported on the matter, claiming that thieves can break into the Charger by inserting a flat-head screwdriver hotel washington dc into the door lock. The Civil Beat even interviewed one tourism official who copped to knowing about the matter
VASH (Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii) president Jessica Rich is well aware of the Dodge Charger issue and has already met with the Car and Truck Renting and Leasing Association (CATRALA) and HPD to brainstorm how they can partner up with rental car agencies to get the word out to tourists.
"Most of the car break-ins we see with our visitors do involve Dodge Chargers," Rich said. "We've been aware of this problem for several years now We're very concerned. It's a serious problem. We're working on it."
Despite hotel washington dc being aware of this problem hotel washington dc now for several years , nothing has been done about it, and countless thefts have occurred. The Charger s lack of theft security is compounded by its popularity as a rental. There is a growing push to warn tourists against renting Chargers, and having them decline the vehicles at the counter.
Why does this movement target solely rentals? Are all Dodge Charger models affected? And what about the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Challenger? If these cars are theft magnets, hotel washington dc I know a few people I need to warn
Outside of advising against renting hotel washington dc Chargers, what is the HPD supposed to do about this anyway? If it has been going on for years, shouldn t Chrysler fix it? Would some updated parts be too much to ask?
It is down to lock cylinders that can be turned with a screwdriver, hotel washington dc according to the article. This knowledge was reserved for Hawaiian thieves, but will now be exported to the mainland by stories like this one.
Or, you can check how many pages in the Honolulu phone book are devoted to car dealers as opposed to how many more listings there are for car rental outfits. Then, of course, if you re on Maui you can join the rental-car hotel washington dc parade up to Haleakala Crater any morning .
Most cars around honolulu are not rentals. Regardless anyone with a charger is probably someone with a bunch of stupid money to blow in waikiki. So it s simple to break into and you ll probably end up with some goodies.
I just got back from Maui and something I noticed about Charger rental cars is the bad driving. Mustang convertibles, Wranglers hotel washington dc and the like seemed to be taking it easy, stopping for pedestrians, etc. Not so much the Chargers.
Burgersandbeer is right smash-and-grabs of tourist vehicles are pretty common in Hawaii, hotel washington dc and if your vehicle has that little barcode sticker in the corner of the window and is easy to break into, it is more likely to be broken into. We rented a Jeep on Maui a few years ago and never left anything of value in the car for that reason. hotel washington dc (No real need to smash a soft-top Wrangler, of course.)
Yup. I was warned about this when we rented our Mustang convertible (which pretty much tags you as a tourist) over there. hotel washington dc One slit in the top to gain access and the trunk release button is active without the key.
It was national news because hotel washington dc the victims were tourists and that threatened the tourist industry. I was in Palm Beach from January-March of 1996 and pretty much everyone had a my neighbor had his head blown off while pumping gas in West Palm or Miami story. It could be they were talking about the same victims, but getting gas while driving a luxury car in the seedier areas wasn t much fun. Car jacking wasn t news when the victims were Americans though.
I could not find one that had a clean record. All of them were broken into. I ve spoken to the police hotel washington dc in one incident, and they are aware. I almost feel like we neglect our customers by renting these cars out without a statement These cars are highly hotel washington dc likely to be broken into.
@whoever remarked about only in hawaii We rent Chargers across the country, the only problems I ve noticed are in Hawaii. They aren t punished, hotel washington dc or investigated is the way it seems, so perhaps that s why it s so prevalent.
According to my kayak guide on the big island last year they are planning to succed from the US. Hawaii is OK to vacation at for a week or so but you couldn t pay me to live there. I ll take my fresh water paradise(10,000 lakes) in Minnesota.
While the little white barcode labels were supposed to be easier for the rental companies (they are) and more subtle hotel washington dc than the old Rental Wreck decals on cars from years ago that made them easy targets to spot those barcodes are still about as much of a giveaway as seeing a full-sized pickup truck in Germany running on German-issued plates (ya know since the bad guys won t be able to tell that it s an American driving that Ram truck since it has German tags ). I ve not travelled to Hawaii, but when I m down in Florida visiting my sister, it s all too easy to spot the rental cars, which then makes for an easy target. So if I read this right, rental lots on the islands should start backing hotel washington dc up with unused Chargers interesting.
Last time I was there (Oahu 09), on the real North End (where paved roads end and Beyond Thuderdome for Hobos begins), hotel washington dc the police put up a sign warning you cars are likely to have their windows hotel washington dc smashed and it s your damn fault for bringing a car here.
Happened to us in December of 10. I haad been living there for years when we brought over a new employee and rented him a Charger. We all go to Sprint in the rental, get him set-up with new phone and laptop with WiFi. On the way back to the office hotel washington dc we stopped for lunch at Ala Moana, when we came out the car had been raided of everything. The police came to make a report and said the same Chargers are targeted because they are easy. But that was the previous generation, I would hope this would have been corrected in the new model.
I lived in Hawaii or the 90s. I had locals tell me don t leave anything of value in the car. They also said don t bother to lock the doors, and to even go ahead and just leave the windows open if you want, because that sends a signal nothing of value is in the car.
Yup. On my last trip I left the rental car unlocked and nothing of value in it. If the car is stolen, as long as you have the keys, insurance will cover it. Just a gray Sentra, but it was newer and had the barcode sticker, not that it made any difference. Locals had windows smashed to steal anything within view as well.
The real local car is an older 4wd pickup coated in dust. You don t see much exotica in a world where you don t have any real highways and the 35/50 limits are mostly observed on winding 2 lanes. Also a lot of battered but still running motorcycles of all sorts.
#1 local boy s vehicle is an older Toyota 4 4, jacked up with big tires, and a bunch of dogs riding in the bed. Rusting ex-rental cars are the next most popular due to cost. Unlike Oahu or Maui, Hawaii County at least used to have cops use personal vehicles even for traffic enforcement. Camaro with little blue light on the roof is a lot harder to spot than a marked Crown Vic.