So, a while ago my car was stolen, and long-story-short the police somehow wanna try pinning the theft on me. Yes, you heard me right, they say I stole my own car. Anyway, their "evidence" consists of the insurance agency claiming that these cars (and the Passkey system) are unstealable.

SO, with that being said, would anyone who has a parts car or roller lying around mind making a quick video for me? I wish to show the prosecutor that F-bodies with T-Tops are notoriously easy to get into. I have explained to them earlier that in the past I have locked myself out of the car and reached through the window and unlatched the t-tops in order to get in (without the dumb alarm going off), and they went to a local GM dealership and asked a tech there if that was possible... he explained that the windows do not flex AT ALL, and there is no way to bend the glass out the 1 inch needed to slide your hand in and flip the latch.

So, if anyone would be kind enough to make a quick video of themselves popping the t-top latch from outside the car, I would be grateful.



Bonus points for anyone who has an ebay vats bypass box, or a self-built one (the kind that plugs into the PCM from inside the engine bay), and can demonstrate how it functions.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help.

 

Uhhh I thought these things got stolen all the time lol. Sounds like you need to get a better insurance company. Wish I could help you out, good luck!

 

I have heard that you can use a screwdriver from outside the car and go in from under the door handle. There's a small hole there I believe that when you push the screw driver through it it unlatches the door. Not sure about the alarm on this, but I swear I remember reading on here that someones car got broken into and a ton of stereo equipment got stolen because of it.

 

Interesting to know. Are there any "official" GM documents that can confirm this? or how to bypass the vats by supplying power to the fuel pump wire? It is obviously more beneficial for my case if there are published works explaining these basic things that most Fbody owners know from personal experience.

Also, it would be helpful if someone can find a published document stating how the VATS system can "disable" itself in an event that it discovers an error would be useful. I have seen people talking about this before, and experienced it myself once, where the security light is on, and the VATS just doesnt bother trying to match resistors, yet still allows the car to still operate.

 

Yes, it would be helpful if someone would do it.

Why don't you try to find a way to break into your own car to prove to them it's possible. I guess someone could do it if they had a laptop and tuned VATS out right there...

 

Wow this sounds like a fucked up situation!
I bet your insurance company just doesn't want to pay up!

 

Um well my v6 95 Camaro worked without a chip (pellet) even in the key. And I also used my friends key from his 95 Z to start my car when we couldn't find my keys. If i still had the car I would make a video starting it up with both keys from both cars to help you out. I wouldn't wanna risk breaking my window trying to unlatch the t-top though. Although i'm sure I could.

I suppose in your county I would've stole my own radio huh?

 

I don't have access to my car right now so I can't make a video, but a couple months ago I locked my keys in my car. Its a hardtop. All I had to do was get a 1x1 board about 3 feet long, nail a nail in to one end of the board so that it was left prtotruding about 3 inches. So it looked something like this _______________| I then pulled on the window with my fingers creating a gap between the window and door frame large enough for the board to fit through. Then I simply pushed the board inside and used the nail to unlock the door. Finding the board, nail, hammer and making the 'tool' as well as breaking into my car took 10-15 minutes max. Since I have the board I could break into the car in a minute, maybe less. It really was too easy, I was supprised.

 

I wish i still had the car so I could pull them all out of court and start tearing their case apart myself. But unfortunately I do not. I have a feeling that telling them to come here to read the stories that people have about VATS being disabled with a laptop, and different keys operating everything is not going to be sufficient evidence. What is messed up is that they have NOTHING to prove anything, other than circumstantial evidence and a forensic locksmith's word that the car could ONLY be operated with a key (who was hired by the insurance company no less), the damn cops have done NO investigative work on this at all, mearly using things that the insurance company pulled out of their ***. If I could find some repair manuals or GM recalls to back up some of this stuff, I would have a good old time in court and embrace the hell out of all of em.

As for Z28_LT1, I don't have my firebird, so I cannot produce this evidence myself, hence asking. I have researched this crap way too much the past 6 months, and found some rather scary things... such as a how-to manual on how to bypass vats from inside the engine bay, and ebay bypass boxes, however... it won't hold up in court without video proof, or an "expert" verifying it (a GM manual explaining the theory behind it will suffice). We all know here that the vats RARELY functions perfectly for the life of the car, hence the need for people to bypass it. We all know that the window can be pulled back to reach in, or use a stick to unlock the door... but if a GM tech claims it is impossible to move that window... they are going to believe his word instead of mine unless I can come up with some way to show otherwise.

Yes, I realize people may assume I am doing this to learn how to steal a car, or just trying to gain a personal army to do this for me, but I am not. If someone who has access to a junker to make a quick video, that would be great. If someone has access to some repair manuals or diagrams to illustrate my point, that would be awesome. Unfortunatly I have no clue where to even begin finding such documents, but I know some of the techs here do... hence asking.

 

I wish I could help. Print up all the F-bodies that have been stolen in Louisiana and Mississippi the last few months. That should be enough evidence. I think your insurance company just doesn't want to pay up. If I were you, get another insurance company after this is all said and done. BTW, what insurance company is this? I got a feeling it's a small insurance company, if so, get insured with Allstate, State Farm, etc. they're not going to screw you around like small companies, they have a name to protect. Example, {this just happened to me 2 yrs. ago} I totaled my 2001 Z28 and I only made 1 payment {just bought it} they paid out $17,xxx, so that left me with only a $1,xxx left to pay it off.

 

well of course you could take the ttops off from outside the car with the windows up.. **** if you couldnt then why the hell would they put a lock on the ttops?

 

progressive... I had no problem with them til this event.

I hit a deer, they total car and pay off loan
I get cut off and spin out on ice, they pay the repair
I sit in class and NOT drive the car while it is destroyed... they pay nothing

Seems as long as I admit I screwed up, they will pay, the instant something happens that I did not do... CRIMINAL!!! FRAUD!!!!

 

with the windows rolled up.... I.E. the door locked, windows up, t-tops latched and unlocked (who the hell locks them anyway?)

 

Are you actually being prosecuted for a felony?? If so, you better get an attorney that can actually work for you instead of asking questions on the internet. Also, if you are actually being charged with a crime, what is the probable cause?? An insurance investigator needs more than a hunch, and law enforcement needs more than that as well. There is evidence or the case would be dismissed. Read the affadavit. What is it??

 

The same thing happened with a guy I knew here. His SS was stolen and law enforcement tried to blame it on him.

 

misdemeanor fraud and 3 counts interfering with a police investigation. Yes, i have a lawyer, but I have always been one to do things myself and make sure they are done right, the more I can find to back up my side, the better.

They have no hard evidence, I was in class all day with plenty of witnesses, security guard saw car there earlier in day, and not there later in day while i was still in class. Their "evidence" is that I was 3 days late on my car payment at that point (still within the 15 day grace period), the insurance-hired forensic investigator saying that the key that "last operated this car" was one of the "proper type" (no **** since I drove it TO the investigator after they recorvered it), and a GM tech saying the windows dont bend and the only way in the door is to use a key... sigh.

I live in a hillbilly town of less than 9000 people, with a grand total of two auto thefts a year... and a gung-ho detective who doesnt want a black mark on his perfect cities record. The detective himself said that if this was a bigger city, the case would have been thrown out, but they have so few major issues that they can spend the year trying to prove my guilt.

In this city, a police officers opinion is enough evidence to start a case, no evidence needed to initiate. Hopefully they don't use the same logic in determining guilt.

 

well i have a vats box for sale if your interested in buying it

 

if interested pm me

 

The '96 I had, I was able to completely pull the window back...out of the channel. Far back enough to where the front edge of the window would peel back and off of the rubber triangle thing by the mirror. I was able to get my whole arm in there to unlock my door. Once done, I simply rolled the window down, and everything popped into place on it's own.

Now, I don't know if it matters, but I had a hardtop and hand crank windows.

 

how do you or the police know that the thieves drove the car away? a lot of thieves these days are upgrading themselves to flat beds.