# Car broken into last night, but didn't steal anything. Any ideas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414 "2017-09-27T13:00:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/41 "2017-10-01T18:32:03Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Has anyone suggested stealing gas? > > Stealing a gallon pf gas would probably go unnoticed. Why would they open all four doors to steal gas? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/42 "2017-10-01T19:47:41Z")
Look for damage like scratch marks on your interior. One of the two times I’ve been involved in car theft, they smashed my window but left all my belongings. There were obvious screwdriver marks around the stereo where they attempted to take it but gave off (have to take the trim off first, dumbass). The other time was a complete clean out and they drove it off. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/43 "2017-10-02T11:04:32Z")
You also might want to check your airbag cartridge. Those have been known to get stolen if they are accessible form the cabin. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/44 "2017-10-02T15:47:36Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > You also might want to check your airbag cartridge. Those have been known to get stolen if they are accessible form the cabin. Are they a marketable item? ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/45 "2017-10-02T19:33:27Z")
My car was broken into years ago, and some of the weirdest stuff was stolen. A training manual for work, my car’s owner manual, and other random documentation. But, the thing that really struck me as odd was that all the pens in my car were disassembled. The paperwork made sense in that I thought maybe they were just in a rush or something, but to take the time to take apart all my pens… it confused me. A month or so later, and I told the story, when a friend informed me that apparently, it is not entirely uncommon for drug addicts and dealers to hide the illegal substances in pens. Was a little taken aback that my car looked to be that of a junkie or a dealer, but at least I finally knew what had happened. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/46 "2017-10-02T20:30:26Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My event was back in the early 1990s and auto-close hadn’t been invented yet that I knew of then. Nice to learn that the feature is available now. Thank you. > > Although it’s not foolproof because even with manually-triggered closing every now and then a door may reverse on its own when the safety system overreacts to a gust of wind or whatever. Proper maintenance and adjustment can minimize nuisance reversals, but not eliminate them. Speaking just for me I’d not want to develop the habit of blithely driving off expecting the auto system to just handle it. Mine will try to auto close 2 or 3 times if it fails the first time. After that it will just give up and stay open. So the transient safety system failure would have to repeat. We certainly don’t rely on it _intentionally_, but we used to notice that the door had been accidentally left open for an extended period about once a month. Hasn’t happened once in the ~6 months we’ve had the auto-closer. So while it’s not perfect, it seems to be a lot better than not having it. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/47 "2017-10-02T22:10:23Z")
About ten years ago, somebody ripped the [cigarette lighter socket](https://www.cjponyparts.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/h/w/hw1525_3.118.jpg) right out of my dashboard once. Left a couple wires dangling out. Nothing else was taken, including a satellite radio that was just clipped to the AC vent and a pretty large case of CDs. Guess they weren’t music fans. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/48 "2017-10-02T22:25:49Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Why would they open all four doors to steal gas? Perhaps the persons supposed to stand watch were just bored. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/49 "2017-10-02T22:33:41Z")
If the thief was a pro, he or she was probably looking for items that could be turned for a quick profit on the black market, drugs, or cash. They’re going to leave the penny-ante stuff like a pair of headphones that aren’t going to get more than a couple of bucks on the black market and which would trace them back to the break-in if they were caught before they could dump it the goods. High risk, low reward. Guns, on the other hand, are worth a lot of money and can be moved quickly if you know a guy. Cash is untraceable, and drugs can be enjoyed or sold quickly. Another possibility is they were looking for wallets, registration, and other legal documents that could be used for identity theft. Was any of your paperwork missing? But my money is on guns. For one thing, they might not even be reported stolen, if they weren’t being stored legally of if the owner is worried about talking to the police about a gun theft for any reason. Guns are often worth more on the black market than they are new, and with the right connections they can be moved very quickly as the market for them is pretty liquid. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/50 "2017-10-02T23:55:07Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > (snip)In fact, my CD case was still there, in the car. My guess is that, if the thief had looked at it, he decided that a bunch of CDs by 1970s bands (ELO, Queen, Yes, etc.) wouldn’t sell well on the L. 😃 Yeah, I had my car rifled and they left both my copy of Tom Petty’s _Full Moon Fever_ and my box set of Bach’s _Brandenburg Concertos_. I did lose a pair of Kirkland dark glasses though, so it wasn’t all good. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/51 "2017-10-03T00:02:05Z")
I have dealt with more car break ins than I can remember. 90% of the time it’s a junky looking for change. Heroin is cheap. On occasion they will take something else that catches their eye. > [@Randolph](#): > > Your stuff sucks. Or maybe this. > [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > I think it’s better NOT to lock your doors if you’re good about taking all your valuables out of it. I know a girl whose window has been smashed twice to rifle through the glove compartment, and now she just leaves her car unlocked because the cost to replace the window is more than the value of the stuff she keeps in the car. I’m not saying that this is impossible. 20 something years ago I had my window broken outside of Trenton. In my experience it is very rare and you are much more likely to have your unlocked car broken into. Car alarms are not as sensitive as they used to be. A junky will go through a neighborhood and jiggle handles. Unlocked cars will get tossed as quick as possible. He’s trying to be silent and hit as many cars as possible since the take on each is small. Window breaking is not silent. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414/52 "2017-10-03T00:07:07Z")
Before we were married, someone broke into my husband’s car to steal jumper cables. They slim-jimmed it, and damaged the lock. Basically, they slim-jimmed the driver’s side door, and then pulled the trunk release, left the trunk opened, and the jumper cables were gone. So that’s one possibility. Another is a phone. Someone once went through out car in the driveway, where were didn’t always lock it, when we lived in a house out in the sticks. We tried to remember to go out and lock it at night, but sometimes we forgot. One morning, it was obvious the car had been tossed. By happenstance, about a month later, we found out some people down the road had been locked out at like 2am, and were looking through cars for cell phones (this was back when most people had landlines and limited minutes, and did keep phones in cars). Granted, few people keep phones in cars now, but if you lock your keys and phone in your car, and it’s so late at night that you don’t want to wake someone up, you might toss cars. Cash is probably the most likely guess, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-broken-into-last-night-but-didnt-steal-anything-any-ideas/797414.md?page=2)