I thought I'd mention this since it happened to me.

I read back somewhere that the little antennas on the Fit (and I suppose other similar cars) are, for whatever reason, a subject of theft. Well, I figured I'd take care of that and used some Loctite to hold it on. About a month a go some jerk decided that he/she/it must have my antenna and having difficulty unscrewing it decided to break it off. In doing so the roof area around the support got stressed and is slightly dented all around the mount area.

Damage? Sit down for this - the lowest estimate I've received so far is ~$700. This includes having to remove the roof to straighten it out, repaint, re-clear coat, and all the little things that go with that. This does not include the antenna and mount; the antenna runs about $25 and the mount $90.

It would've been a lot cheaper and easier to just let the trolls take the antenna. The irony is that I almost never even use the radio...I listen to CDs. Just turned 3000 miles. Grrrr.

...bob

 

damn dude that SUCKS!! so did they finally get the mount or what? is the paint scratched? it's hard 2 help u out w/o pix. newayz take it to a paintless dent removal place and have em straighten it out. they can do it w/o having to repaint anything.

 

Why would anyone steal that thing? If you rip it off, doesn't that make it worthless

 

That sucks bob!

Is it OK if I take it off permently since I never use the radio? This way, nobody could steal it. I always use the CD or AUX anyway.
Could there be a problem of rust or something cause of the rain/snow?

 

I think they ship with a tiny nub and the dealer takes that out to put the antenna on. Check with your dealer if they have any laying around from recent shipments.

 

that sucks. not sure why they went through so much trouble. weird

 

you should get the roof remade into carbon fiber like the AMS time attack evo and chop top it. I always wanted to chop top the fit, it would look so much more sexy than it already is.

 

I see no harm with it off. I need to cover the bare metal part to keep the elements out. As was posted I'll bet the dealer has the little plastic covers.

There's no point in pictures...I've tried and it's hard to see with a camera, but evident by eye. The mount was broken as well but I can repair that with some Crazy Glue - it's just plastic. The antenna was laying on the ground and it pretty much OK...just some dumb ***k having fun at someones expense.

I've been having trouble finding a dent repair I can trust...we don't have Dent Doctor or anyone like that around here. It's just a real bummer.

I dont think I'll be investing in chopping the roof...

...bob

 

I had an S2000, which also has a short antenna. It was stolen twice in a campus parking lot. The reason people take these is because cars like the Evo come with a similar antenna at over twice the length. Instead of simply buying a 20 dollar piece for their 30K+ dollar car they steal them. That's the only reason I know of, other than simply pissing us off...

 

Sorry about your antenna. I took mine off when I installed my Sirius radio. The Sirius radios uses a wireless transmitter to transmit to an unused channel on the FM radio. To help eliminate channel drift on the unused channel I removed the cars antenna. I also never use the car radio, I either use the Sirius or play CD's. I guess keeping the mount clean is a good idea. I look for something to plug up the hole and keep the elements outs.

 

classic case of trying to hard to stop thieves

kinda like how jeep owners leave their doors unlocked. If someone wanted to break in and the doors were locked, they would cut the top and that would be at least a couple hundred to repair

 

Sorry to hear about that.

I find it quite strange when my dealer showed me that you could screw and unscrew the antenna. I need to get that nub...no point of having the antenna unless I'm driving (as if people would jump onto the roof of my car and unscrew it...then talk about being desperate).

 

So is there a nub?

 

dude sorry to hear wat happen to u, dats wat i dnt understand with the Fits, antenna is easy to b stolen n our gas has no lock or anythin

 

A week after I bought my Fit I installed a key-locked gas cap from AutoParts and since then I filled-up over 60 times, it works flawlessly
Sorry, and sad to hear about the radio antenna, freaking thieves are everywhere and after just about everything , now I know that I should take it down as is already useless, XM sat radio is my only source of music and news (Fox News Channel) while driving
Chris

 

You dont want a locking gas cap. If the cap is locked, they take a screwdriver and hammer to the gas tank and just drain it that way. Kind of like bob's situation. Try to stop a thief and they will do more damage.

 

I'm actually more worried about our headlights being stolen. Thats sort of a new trend with theives, especially with cars like Audi's where some of those headlights are worth $1000+ EACH. I have no idea of the value of our headlights, but I think it's safe to assume they're quite valuable.

 

before i'd gotten my fit, i had a break in on my 74' vw bug, smashed through the window to steal my radio.... problem was the faceplate was in my room, theft deterrent my ass *sigh* luckily no problems with fit yet other than some wierd guy who's just so interested in it and offered to buy it off me?

 

I am going to unscrew my spoon ant when in public places like the mall

 

It is bad to leave it unscrewed for long periods of time, aka is rain going to fark with it?

I'm moving to New Orleans and I likely won't be driving more than 5-10 mi a day so I may go weeks with out putting it on.