Buying locking gas caps for your car

[LuvMyHubby]

there was a news report on the other day about people drilling through gas tanks on the bottom of cars...bypassing the locked gas caps to get to the gas. Leaving car owners not only without gas, but having to replace their gas tanks

Oh Egads!! We had gas syphoned from our car a couple weeks ago and purchased a locking cap. Who would have thought that one may have to choose between replacing 20 bucks of gas or a 500.00 to 1000.00 gas tank/sending unit etc.

Oye, I may rethink that and just let them have the gas lol. I don't lock my doors because the if somone wanted my radio and broke the window, the radio isn't worth the price of replacing the window.

[DixieJ]

We have a big thing with copper thieves lately. Thieves break into vacation cabins or businesses and cut off the copper piping off hot water heaters, etc.

The farmers in our area have had a problem with thieves stealing the copper off of their irrigation systems. Looks like it's going to come to the point of having to guard everything with a shotgun!

[TheRootedNomad]

I can't remeber if it was the late 70s or early 80s when we had the gas shortage. I DO remember though that EVERYONE pretty much had locking gas caps by the end of it because siphoning gas became almost expected by us.

[Holly]

Heather ,
We have had that big time around here too.
Had a junk dealer come all the way from Syracuse this last weekend
because stuff is going for double what we are getting here in Utica.
As to the remark of gas tanks exploding if you drill them. It won't happen and it only takes about 2 minutes and the job is done.
I'm around guys who do demolition
derby's and junk cars .

[della92]

My office was broken into last April, the building has a dirt basement and an office and a workshop on the main floor. The thiefs came in the middle of the night broke the lock on the basement and came to the main floor through the old elevator shaft (it used to be a block plant) they loaded up all the construction tools they could carry, stole the computer, paper shredder, digital camera and of course the postal scales. They also took the copper pipe that runs from the propane tank outside along the basement wall and up through the main floor to the attic. We have two furnances and realized that the copper for the shop furnance was missing, but we didn't notice the other copper line was stolen until a week later when the temperatures dropped and there was no heat.

They were caught. It was two crackheads, they had unloaded about $5000.00 in tools and had managed to only get $50.00 each. So now they are in jail for 2 years for 50.00. They could have gotten a construction job for one day and made the same amount of money.

Our insurance reimbursed us for most of the tools we didn't recover, but it took about two weeks of work finding the receipts, getting replacement costs, talking with the authorities, replacing the items and repairing the damage (of course there was no reimbursement for the lost time).

Alot of people now have no respect for others!

[JerryG]

for awhile when my truck couldn't not pass emissions. I work construction and we just had someone break into a (secure) jubsite, break the gas cap on a a backhoe and stole all the gas. When my sub came to me and told me and asked me what to he should do, I said "Take it offsite and put it in your garage". He thot I was kidding. Now, how can I protect the copper pipe???

[HandyMom]

I've had a locking gas caps on my cars for over 10 years now! There's always someone out there stealing whatever they can lay hands on. I laughed at my neighbor when he told me he doesn't think he needs to lock his doors in our city! I don't think he reads the local police report but I do. Better safe than sorry.

[C@rol]

So sorry. Darn shame. But, yes it wil get worse.
This happen in the 70's also.
As soon as gas starting going up we put a gas cap
the cars. Good investment.