Thanks for the concern guys. The alarm did not go off, I noticed in the daylight the body panel around the door handle is somewhat off, which will probably have to go into a body shop to get fixed properly, but I doubt it will cost that much, there is almost no paint loss, just a little off near the door handle. I will probably also get an aftermarket alarm system as well. NNA will also get a phone call from me tomorrow, as this is something that isn't a one-time occurrence, as there seem to be others on this board that had a similar experience as I did.. ESPECIALLY in the NYC area...

 

No aftermarket alarm?! Your out of your mind man! Its the 350Z and you live in the big city. By the way where was the door handle? When you got back?

 

What is it about movie theatre parking lots and the Z? First Old Schooler gets his car beat up in one and now this!

I would be curious to see what NNA has to say when themyst calls them tomorrow. If there is a defect in the door handle (reminds me of the VW/Audi "door and a screwdriver" problem a couple of years ago) and Nissan knew/knows about it, I guess we could call it the "Door Handle Scandle"!

In a related matter to this one, I thought I would pass this "warning" on that I discovered one day with my Z.

I had stopped at a Kinkos to photocopy some files on the way to work one morning. I threw my key chain and wallet onto a work table, proceeded to copy the files and left the store about 15 minutes later.

When I got back to my car, I was shocked to see that both of my windows were down and the car was unlocked. I briefly questioned myself if I had somehow left it that way, but since it was close to freezing out (October in Massachusetts) and since I never roll the passenger window down, with the exception of the "obligatory reving of the engine in a closed confined space", immediately ruled that possibility out. I came to the only possible conclusion that I had somehow "wedged" the unlock button in on my remote when I threw my wallet on top of it.

Fortunately no one had come by and helped themselves to my ~20 (real) cds, cell phone or briefcase (which would have caused me much more pain than someone stealing my car!) sitting in the front seat! I realized the "great" feature of being able to roll the windows down with the remote control wasn't that great after all. I just bought a Compustar alarm yesterday and will take others advice on this thread and have the windows rewired when I get it installed.

 

Door handle was bent and still hanging on the door... and I will definitely invest in an aftermarket alarm with my next paycheck...

 

Whats the door handle made out of? I think its aluminum. What holds it in place?

 

Same thing happened to me. Damn girl leaves her purse in the car at the movies. Come back to find out that my alarm had gone off, and found a screwdriver hole in the passenger lock. Only thing missing.....$60 and a pack of gum. Of course the lock is messed up and the door is dented. Damn thieves!!

 

Sorry to hear this. My last car was boken into and they did about $1500 worth of damage to the car and stole $1200 worth of stereo equpiment. It really sux cause you know that they will never be caught. Keep us informed what NNA tells you I am would like to know for my future plans with this the Z

 

I called NNA today demanding that I get the EXACT procedure from Nissan Tech that I would PAY my dealer to perform in order to disable this ******** feature.

 

My alarm guy said it could not be disabled wtihout also disabling my power locks.

 

Keep on them about this as it is a Major concer to all of us here. Please let us know what you find out.

 

What did they say Droid? Did they sound receptive or just patronizing?

 

you guys should read that old thread. check for yourself. your key can disable the alarm from the door handle. meaning, if a thief pops off the handle an exposes the lock, all they would have to do is hold the cylinder in the unlock position to roll down the windows. the alarm will not go off. the alarm will only go off when the door is opened without the key in the lock.

lock up your stuff behind the seat. or get an alarm.

 

Time to Call NNA and start complaining about this issue. We are louder in numbers so start calling!!!

 

Please do not flame, but I don't get it.

If we are going to complain about this, what is it exactly we would want the functionality to be?

The way I see it : the crook can get in your car by lowering the windows or by breaking them. Supposedly he can't take the car without the key, so what you have is your stuff at risk. If they break the window you are at the same point of the game, plus you have a broken window!

They broke into my Lincoln Mark VIII. The radio they took cost me $120. Fixing the broken window cost $250. If I had a chance, I would live the door unlocked! It was cheaper that way!!

Also, I understand many aftermarket alarms can detect a voltage change, so using one of those would deter this since the electric window motor would set them off, right?

Do we want the windows to roll down or not? I don't use this, just tried it once today just to see it work... Are you saying disable the window rolldown totally? Or just disable the "hardware" rolldown and only allow the "remote" rolldown?

I guess I think we should define better how we would want it to work... As a manager, I am more likely to listen to a problem when it comes with a sugested solution that makes sense.

 

When the car was armed, I put the key and unlocked it. Well the alarm went in full blast. A aftermarket alarm is highly recomended.

 

ANY car that has a door that can be unlocked with a plain key can be opened easily. They just pop the lock cylinder and activate the linkage manually. This is not a defect unique to the Z.

They may be able to to this by prying the handle in a Z, but really you are no worse off than if they popped the lock cynlinder.

If the door key will disable the alarm so will popping the lock and moving the mechanism by hand.

The only alarms not vulnverable to this attack are alarms that require the remote to disarm. that is one of several reasons that people add alarms on top of factory alarms.

 

how about removing it or blocking the lock itself. I for one never use the key to open the door.

 

That's a good idea! If you do go forward and talk to NNA about it... this would seriously make them listen better to you and your concerns.

 

Just a question, what is the battery died in the car? Then the remote is useless. You would have to have the key to get in the car right? You could climb through the trunk.

 

Doesnt anyone here think like a criminal?
I sure do, and I think that this THREAD should be deleted from this Forum completely.
We are creating a TSD for criminals on "How to break into a 350z"!
Too much information. If I was a criminal and wanted to break into a Z, all I have to do is look at this thread and BINGO!
All that needs to be said is that an aftermarket alarm is highly recommended, and leave it at that. We all know that cars get broken into, we dont need a step by step guide for them to follow.