Hello all!


I just picked up my Certified pre-owned 2010 Fit Sport earlier today. I'm looking forward to being a proud Fit owner!


Unfortunately for me, I spent a few hours this morning reading lots and lots of stories about how the Fit's wheels are regularly targeted by thieves. After I was done reading all of the stories I had convinced myself that half of all Fit owners have had their wheels stolen!


I've really worked myself up about this. Although I live in a rural area I will, at times, need to park overnight (curbside) in NYC.


Please tell me that some of you have NOT had your wheels stolen! Especially if you live in a metropolitan area...


P.S. Sorry that my first post contains this type of content. Believe me, I really wanted today to be a 100% happy day...but I'm worried.

 

Congratulations on your new Fit. Don't let the fear of wheel theft deter you from enjoying your new car. If you search these forums you will find quite a few threads on the subject. Best way to search is through Google and precede the search term with "fitfreak". Most members will recommend wheel locks with variations on what is the best type. My daughter and I both have the Honda wheel locks on our Fits. Going on two years with no problems. I live close to Boston, and she's down at U mass Dartmouth. We both park outside. So based on our small sample size, I say don't worry and just enjoy your Fit. (Also make sure you have insurance coverage just in case)

 

Thanks, Rampo! I appreciate your feedback. I'm sure I'm just being way too paranoid today. I'm really looking forward to driving my Fit for a long, long time...!

 

I've had 2 Fits and no wheels stolen (also have Honda wheel locks).

 

live in brooklyn/nyc. had the car over a yr now and still have my rims. just get some wheel locks and park somewhere with high foot traffic. if anything else you could opt for cheap aftermarkets

 

Get some wheel locks, and forget it..

I work in queens, but occasionally hit the other boroughs for OT. I was more concerned about somebody popping a window out to steal something in sight. So, I didn't go super dark on the tint due to NYPD and thieves, and sprung for the read deck cover so I have decent space hidden from view..

 

Be concerned, but don't let it keep you up at night. I've been parking in the East Village for 5 years without trouble, albeit with both OEM and Gorilla locks on the wheels of my '09 Sport. Don't leave anything in your car. Also, leave the back seats folded down, and the lower glove box open, so that folks can see there's nothing to take. I also occasionally park on busy streets in Baltimore, again, without trouble.

Btw, are the kids after the newer Sport wheels? The older ones, apparently, fit on mid-'90s Civic hatches, and that's why they are being stolen. But the newer wheels?

 

I park in NYC overnight from time to time, with wheel locks, no problems so far.

 

Any 4x100 alloy OEM wheels would be acceptable targets, which both the older and newer wheels are.

OP not much you can do besides getting wheel locks and being a little more careful about where you park overnight or in parking garages. I wouldn't expect a brazen daylight wheel theft unless you live in the shadiest of neighborhoods

 

+1

I would run these OP, even buy two sets if it gives you more piece of mind:

 

Not to pee in anybody's Cheerio's, but ...

I walked out to the parking lot today, ready to go to work, and found my '08 Fit Sport up on blocks with all four wheels/tires stolen. I'm not a car guy, I liked the utility of the Fit, the mileage, etc. I had no idea there was such a market for stolen wheels. I found this thread (and others like it) while doing a little research on this topic, based on what the cops and the mechanics at the shop told me. Unbelievable. And two days before Christmas, too.

Spent all afternoon with the cops, tow truck drivers, mechanics, on the phone with insurance people ... what a nightmare.

Not sure what to do next, once the insurance adjustors and everybody else figures out what's up. What the hell kind of wheels should I put on it if I just want to drive to work every day and not have some lowlife steal from me while I sleep?

 

Oh man that really sucks

 

Sorry to hear that man. Someone give this guy some wheels to borrow for Christmas shops are closed probably.

Where are you located?

Did you have locks?

 

Haha, thanks for the sympathy. Yeah, everything is up in the air at this point, but they had to put my Fit onto a flatbed truck and haul it off. Once at the garage, they put four donuts on it to get it off of there. Quite the sight to see.

This is why you buy insurance, ya know? I'll get it fixed (and hopefully be able to get a rental tomorrow to get around), my concern is what to do going forward. Anything I can do to prevent this sort of thing in the future? I don't think I had the wheel locks on there from when I got new tires about a year ago (won't make that mistake again), but from what the cops and others have told me, they aren't much more than a speed bump if somebody really wants those wheels.

 

Anyone looking to avoid theft should just buy steel wheels and throw hubcaps on them.

IE: What the base models come equipped with.

Any thief who steals those is to be pitied.

 

I knew a tool and die machinist one time that had a similar wheel theft problem. He made himself 8 reverse threads studs and 8 reverse thread lug nuts. He installed 2 sets per wheel. He also installed 2 locking wheel nuts per wheel. Now when the wheels needed to be removed two of them were locking and two others had to be rotated backwards. He said once after that he did find a couple of nuts removed on two wheels but he never lost a wheel again.

It is beyond my capabilities to do that kind of machine work, but it was a neat idea that worked for him. You could not do it commercially because the word would get around right away making the reverse threads useless.

 

Yea, true, but if your office parking lot is like mine, people go far out of their way to avoid a speedbump, including swerving over into the oncoming lane.
The office managment finally had enough, and put in another speedbump going the other direction. Still, people try to avoid the speedbump and aim drivers side or passenger side of for the small flat section between the bumps or on the curb section. Very erratic driving

My point in this longwinded story is a speedbump does a lot. You just need to be less attractive than the other car down the street.

 

This is exactly it.

 

Another option is to buy a 2-way paging alarm that alerts you when someone is messing with your car

Viper Car Alarms with 2-way Paging | Car Security & Safety at Sonic Electronix

Otherwise you just need to try to park in well lit areas and try to do whatever you can to limit your exposure

I think the sad reality is there are alot of people who can run 4x100 wheels who have bad intentions and think that stealing someone else's property is easier than working hard and paying for it yourself. Here in SoCal, Civics and Integras are stolen every day and all the parts are stolen. It honestly makes me nervous but thats why I run locks for the piece of mind

 

So sorry to hear about the theft, GomoTigers (OP here). That really sucks...


I am definitely going to get two sets of wheel locks (Gorilla and probably Honda OEM). I do think, however, that I'd eventually like to make the switch to old-style steel wheels with hubcaps. I started searching a bit online but I have absolutely no idea what size steelies would be best (I am not a "car guy" at all).


By the way...have had a chance to drive my new Fit quite a bit in the past three days and I'm really enjoying it. Had a lot of fun driving around doing my errands today...