Car tags got stolen!

We've just discovered that our car tags were taken off our car! Front and back ones! We've already notified the police but man, is it really that easy for someone to just pick a car and take their tags?! Kind of silly though because ours were expired. The car's been sitting in the parking lot for a few weeks because we have yet to put in a new clutch.
So, do you think carmakers or whoever should make tags harder to get off? I think so and not because ours was just stolen but because of how easy it is to just take them. I don't know how they would make it harder but a padlock wouldn't be a bad idea for starters.

Do you know the reason WHY? Now because of the price of gas, they are stealing plates, putting it over their own vehicle and going to the pumps and driving off.........the camera gets the plate number (or the clerk) and calls it in - takes awhile to match car/plate up and YOU will get the bill cause how are you gonna prove its not you that did a drive by at the station?

Meantime, they have a full tank of gas. I'm not kidding on this - it was on the news about it.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Do you know the reason WHY? Now because of the price of gas, they are stealing plates, putting it over their own vehicle and going to the pumps and driving off.........the camera gets the plate number (or the clerk) and calls it in - takes awhile to match car/plate up and YOU will get the bill cause how are you gonna prove its not you that did a drive by at the station?

Meantime, they have a full tank of gas. I'm not kidding on this - it was on the news about it.

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How does that work? Here, you have to pay for gas before you pump.

Originally Posted by StacyD1987

We've just discovered that our car tags were taken off our car! Front and back ones! We've already notified the police but man, is it really that easy for someone to just pick a car and take their tags?! Kind of silly though because ours were expired.

The car's been sitting in the parking lot for a few weeks because we have yet to put in a new clutch.
So, do you think carmakers or whoever should make tags harder to get off? I think so and not because ours was just stolen but because of how easy it is to just take them. I don't know how they would make it harder but a padlock wouldn't be a bad idea for starters.

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Simple solution... slice up your tags after you put them on. Cut them with a knife. If they try to take your little stickers, the little stickers will come apart and they will have to pick off every little piece...

Unless they want to steal your whole plate.

I think that she means the plates were stolen, she did mention that they were expired! But good tip about the sticker!!! We've actually had our sticker stolen off our plate a few year back. Never even noticed it either.

My first thought about the stolen plate was "drive offs" stealing gas. The news has been streaming an outlandish number of crimes regarding fuel theft in various ways. It's ridiculously phenomenal! Grrrrr......

I heard that the make specialized bolts that makes it harder to steal the plates. They want to be fast and if it is harder to remove, they will just go on to the next car.

My Dads Stickers were stolen twice this year and we are pretty sure who did it.

Yeah, they didn't take just our stickers, they took the whole darn plate!
I like the slicing stickers idea, we'll definitely be using that next time.
I had talked to some people at our apartment complex's shopette and they said that the other apartment complex next door has most of the 'bad people' who merely 'hop the fence over here and break into things', as quoted from them. Kind of makes sense now since the car was parked over closer to that complex. Grr... I'll definitely be looking into those bolts.

Originally Posted by StacyD1987

Yeah, they didn't take just our stickers, they took the whole darn plate!
I like the slicing stickers idea, we'll definitely be using that next time.
I had talked to some people at our apartment complex's shopette and they said that the other apartment complex next door has most of the 'bad people' who merely 'hop the fence over here and break into things', as quoted from them. Kind of makes sense now since the car was parked over closer to that complex. Grr... I'll definitely be looking into those bolts.

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Booooo! That stinks! I don't have a solution for that one. My license plates have these cheapy plastic screws. Ha.

I still don't understand how they get free gas by using your plates. (That's so awful!) Our gas doesn't pump until it's paid for, so if someone steals the stickers or the whole plate it's probably because they owe on their registration. I would be way more upset if someone could stick me with a gas bill!

Hugs for you!

On many pumps you can hit the button that says "Pay Inside" - you can pump it, then go and tell the clerk which pump number and pay. Even if the clerk needs to activate the pump and turns it on, its possible to fill the tank and take off.

With the stolen license plate attached (loosly) over the one on there, the clerk or camera will record that number as you take off. Its not that hard to do and you'll be hearing about it more and more with the price of gas.

Biggest problem is that its not noticed (stolen plate) quickly - especially if they only take one. It might be a day or two before you notice it and report it to the police. Not only will you get the gas bill, but I think you will also be fined. So it will be a mess in courts.

Be sure to report the theft of the plates to the police immediately, and keep a copy of the police report, in case the plates are used in a crime.

Find some regular bolts and use lock nuts and lock washers with them

http://www.autozone.com/selectedZip,.../selectZip.htm

This kit you can get at Auto Zone has a lock washer included. All you would have to do is go to the hardware store and get a nylon lock nut.

If you want to make extra sure that the lock washer and lock nut will do a good job, get a bolt that is a little longer and once the washer and nut are on, take some tools and mess up the threads so that even with good tools, you couldn't get the washer and nut off with out cutting them.

I guess if you wanted to get really wild about attaching your plate, you could use construction adhesive.

Thanks for that link, gotta love AutoZone!
On a good note, we had noticed the tags were missing within a day, so luckily there wasn't that much time that had passed between the theft and our discovery. I hope the cops catch whoever had taken them soon, stealing is a major pet peeve of mine!