re: Re: Lock Me Up, Lock Me Down...Armor Door Plates

[Scott=John=Mockry%Mktg%TM@banyan.bv.tek.com]

Hello,

One point to consider, my 86 5000CS Turbo car was broken into by a rather 
nice and clever thief. They used a large pair of pliers or vicegrips and 
grabbed the door handle in the area around where the key is inserted and 
snapped (broke off) the flimsy pot metal bracket on the handle where the 
two screws are attached inside the edge of the door. The thief then 
pivoted the handle upward and this raised the door lock button up, thus 
unlocking the door. The door was not damaged at all. The armor plates may 
actually give a better support around the handle to make it easier to 
break off this pot metal bracket. I guess nothing is fool proof.
Scott. 

u3109@calv1.cray.COM (Mike W. Young) Wrote:
| 
| 
| John Eickerman -- jke@halcyon.com wrote:
| > > 
| > > So, how many of you out there have Armor Door Plates on 
| your Audi or
| > > derivatives?  If so, how difficult were they to put on?  
| Is it suggested
| > > to put them on the front and back, or just the fronts.  I 
| picked up a
| > > brochure on them at a parts store yesterday, and they 
| seem like a good
| > > idea, before the fact.
| [SNIP]  
| > > Comments anyone?
| > > 
| > > 
| > John,
| >   I have the ADP's on my '82 Scirocco.  The car spends most 
| of it's time
| > in Boston, and this was a simple investment for the piece 
| of mind.
| 
| * Key point - "piece of mind"
| [snip]
| > One thing to bear in mind, is that the kit doesn't come 
| with gaskets.  The
| > large rectangle has some foam underneath, but you might 
| consider replacement
| > gaskets when you do the mod.
| >   I would put them on all four doors (if I had four doors) 
| because the ease
| > of entry isn't limited to just unlocking the door, but in 
| opening it. So all
| > four could use the protection.  The tricky part is the 
| determined A**HOLE.
| > You've got these nice ADP's, his screwdriver is basically 
| useless, so he
| > takes his centerpunch and breaks a window instead.  
| Assuming the car isn't
| > stolen, you need to choose your damage.  Windows can be 
| replaced $$, but so
| > also can bodywork be ordered up for the doors $$$$.... Your 
| choice.
| 
| Additional Points to ponder. 
| 
| The Armor Door Plates are made of metal, and the VW door 
| handles on my
| '86, and '89 Jetta GLIs were made of plastic. When pressure 
| was applied
| at the door handle base with a large screwdriver the plastic 
| door handle 
| broke and the end result was as if I had not spent $$$ for 
| Armor Door 
| Plates in the first place. Although after buying the new door 
| handle, there
| was no visible damage except a scratch on the ADP.
| 
| A variation happened to my '89 GLI at LAX. They just pounded 
| the 
| screwdriver through the door sheetmetal under the Armor Door 
| Plate.
| These guys even had enough time to locate and steal the Alarm 
| components.
| I hate when that happens!!!
| 
| State Farm now insists that I carry a rider policy on my 
| sound equipment, 
| and I suggest this is the best way to spend your money.
| 
| If you make it more difficult to gain entry by adding Armor 
| *ANYTHING* they 
| will only cause more damage and stress to the car. VW/Audi 
| thiefs are 
| specialist in many cases, and know at least as much as any 
| owner on how to
| enter your car. They know much more about defeating any 
| attempt you make to
| prevent it. They probably practice more than a few times a 
| week.
| Remember,  THEY don't care what YOUR car looks like in the 
| morning.
| If they want what you have, they WILL get it. The current 
| vogue for defeating
| alarms is to put a drill bit through the fenderwell into the 
| battery, draining
| it of juice. This started with Corvettes, but somebody 
| figured that with a
| change of drill bits this could apply to almost any car 
| (Except maybe those 
| with a battery under the rear seat).
| I don't like it, but this is my experience. 
| 
| '83 GTI owned 3 years, 2 break-ins (Garaged nightly)
| '86 GLI owned 3 years, 1 break-ins (Parked in garage for 2 of 
| the years)
| '89 GLI owned 4 years, 3 break-ins (Parked in storage for 2 
| years)
| '93 Audi 90CS owned 1 year, nobody looks... or cares. (10k 
| miles and garaged)
| 
| BTW, my Nakamichi/ADS stereo equipment from the '89 GLI is 
| boxed until I 
| figure out how/where to install it invisibly in the Audi. 
| I can't imagine anybody is stupid enough to bother with the 
| standard radio.
| 
| If the Armor Door Locks make *YOU* feel better buy them, but 
| they (IMHO) do
| not make your car more secure.
| 
| The whole point is to lift the door lock mechanism, in all 
| cases they did.
| 
| Sorry for the gloomy outlook so early in the year.
| For Auto Burglury an once of prevention does not equal a 
| pound of cure.
| A visible (blinking) alarm with a back-up battery, and 
| selective parking 
| are the best prevention.
| 
| 
| Regards, and safe parking,
| 
| 
| Mike
| 
| 
|      
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| Support Group
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