So someone tried to steal my rear emblem...
 

So I was visiting a friend for a couple hours in D.C. and when I came out to leave I noticed my rear Nissan badge was lopsided. Upon closer inspection it seemed like some @#$@! tried to pry it off but was unsuccessful. The perps did leave the inner part where it is color matched to the body scuffed up all to hell though. Granted things could have ended up much worse but still - people should respect others property. :mad: And who the hell steals car badges nowadays? :shakes head:

Needless to say I was quite heated. Rather than leave my leave my car at the body shop to get it resprayed and having to pay the insurance deductible I went ahead and decided to black out the inner part w/ flat black paint. So after a bit of shaving the nubs down + sanding with 600 -> 1500 -> 2000 grit paper ~ I am quite happy with the results - also went ahead and debadged the 370Z on the side as well.

Anyway, cool story bro. Enjoy pics. :tup:

Dude, WTF?? Im sorry brother for the dipsh*ts in this world.

Next time, try to park in a paid garage, maybe deter some as@Holes from messing w/ your car. i went to grad school in DC, never left my car on public streets.. always garaged, luckily avoided jealous haters..

But great work on the emblem. Looks awesome!

Nice job!

Nice save!!!

Im sorry for what happened. There are a lot of dipsh*ts around, but you could expect that in D.C.

Where in the hell in DC were you parked when this happened?

Damn dude. Looks good, but still. I hate going into DC.

Seriously who tries to steal a nissan badge?? looks good though

It looks better like that anyway,good job saving the bumper from a repaint.:tup:

Thanks for the comments everyone. Yea it sucks that it happened but it could have ended up a lot worse than a ruined badge. Haters gonna hate I guess. It just sucks that you can't have nice things without some lowlife messing with it out of envy. Luckily they didn't key it or something. The looks are actually growing on me with the center blacked out - I might go ahead and do the same to the front emblem so they match.

I was in NW close to American University. Car was parked close to where River Rd and Wisconsin Ave intersect -- across from where the Guapo's and Whole Foods are. I figured it was a nicer part of D.C. so the car should be ok. I was wrong. :mad:

wow :shakes head:

My thoughts exactly.. its sooo much crap.

That is very bizarre. I live near there and I park my car around there all the time without even thinking about it. There are usually WAY nicer cars than my Z parked around there. I will say I do see some shady characters right by the Metro stop and in front of the CVS.

That's the one bad thing about the Metro. It makes it easy for shady people to come to a neighborhood. One night I saw some kids (who obviously weren't from the neighborhood) stealing bikes right by the entrance to the Cleveland Park Metro. But a block away where I live, there are people who leave their kids toys out on the sidewalk in front of their house and nobody ever touches them.

If I have to go to DC I usually take the Metro in, because I don't want to leave my car on the street or in a garage there. But then I have to deal with all of the people on the Metro. Eventually I will be beaten down by a group of thugs (probably some large female thugs) because they want my Pradas. :mad:

Really nice save Masa, looks great. A buddy of mine had a similar issue in DC last summer; some crack head tried to break in his TL using a screwdriver and without setting up the alarm. In the end the crack head cut himself, bleeding all over the driver side window and either gave up or got spooked. When in DC overnight, I take the beater car ;)

Yea that's why I didn't think twice about parking in that area. It's quite normal to see higher end BMW's and Porsches there. It is really nice but like you said - the metro stops make it easily accessible for shady characters. :shakes head:

I don't want to resort taking the metro into the city again - public transport angers me. Maybe I'll just switch it up and drive my Civic Si into the city but then again that might get stolen if I leave it unattended for more than 5 mins. :rofl2:

..... really? Your Pradas? :rolleyes:


anyway, op.. I park over on Winsconsin ave sometimes, and yea I agree I thought that area was nicer.. Sorry to hear what happened, but glad you saved it.

I was being facetious.

Wow, a lot of DC hate up in this thread lol. To be quite honest, this type of stuff can happen just as easily in MoCo, NoVa or Baltimore. People have wheels stolen, cars keyed, and emblems removed in the Montgomery mall and White Flint parking lots all the time. I've been in the District in cars much nicer than a 370Z (i.e. GT-R/Porsche) and never had any problems. I've left my S outside my grandmothers house in Trinidad overnight and it was fine. Anyone who is from DC or knows of DC can agree with me in saying Trinidad is definitely no Upper Northwest.

Sorry to hear about your troubles OP, glad to see you were able to turn it into a positive. Unfortunately for us, comes with the territory of owning a nice car.

If you grow up in NOVA you are raised to fear DC. And it doesn't help that one of my friends thought it would be a good idea to buy a house in Anacostia.

I ran 3 red lights to get out of there once when I accidentally ended up there. Lol

I've had similar experiences. :icon17:

Yeah, you're right and I totally agree that it can happen anywhere. Just that if you were raised in the area you were taught to fear D.C. and PG County as places to avoid. There was another one here on the forums who got his wheels stolen over in Landover, MD. His car was parked for only an hour. Sigh, low lives! :mad:

Hahaha yea I've done the same. I'd rather pay a $40 ticket than stay in D.C. longer than needed. :icon18:

They probably just wanted to deface the car. Some POS who cant afford anything nice himself.

^This.

I guess it's different for me, given the fact that I'm from DC, so I know the neighborhoods that are good, and some of the ones to avoid. And there are people who have to deal with this on a daily, not just occasional trips into the city. There are some powerful partners, business owners and congressmen who live in Georgetown, Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase, etc. that take their Ferrari's, Aston Martins and SLR Mercedes into the city all the time. Sometimes you get some lowlife who tries to deface your car, but then most the time no one screws with you. Can't spend all your time worrying about something that might not happen.

And, I read that thread about the wheels in Landover, that's a shame. PG is pretty bad, no arguments there. Its just something unfortunate we have to live with. I really wish this wasn't the case, but when you have these kids who are growing up with no fear of consequences or respect for property, this is what you have to deal with. And that's everywhere.

Definitely. We live in a nice neighborhood in the good part of Hoodbridge (generally, areas west of 95 are "safe") but just last week we had some thug types trying to get into my dad's car at night. I just hope they don't try to get into the house because in Virginia we are armed!

That's one thing I don't like about going to DC/MD... leaving my Glock behind! At least when I go to MD it's for the Z meets so there is safety in numbers. Shado will protect me. :icon17:

:shakes head: There's no crime in Baltimore. Don't believe everything you see on "The Wire".

lol

hahhaha....:icon18: Steve, you're INSANE man... this is about the funniest thing I think I've read.

ohh nooooooo, Duh!:shakes head:

You know what they say: "when life give's you lemons.... paint the inner portion of your rear emblem matte black"

good job on making the best of a crappy situation

Dude, you gotta stay close to your 2nd amendment, your right to bear arms. I believe in it!

Sucks to hear what happened, looks like someone was trying to get their de-badging fix using your car :icon17:

Looked good when I saw it in person :tup:

I agree, dude. It's BS what MD and The District are doing to your 2nd Amendment rights. :shakes head:

Couldn't find a youtube clip so this will have to do:

Family Guy Right to Bear Arms Video - Browse Other Funny Videos and Funny Clips

You gotta jump through hula hoops just to get your carry concealed weapons permit in the state of MD, and the district is even worse, theres NO chance to get a weapon there, unless you're a federal law enforcement officer.

Some of you may have heard this on the news:

Elderly Couple Robbed in Tenleytown Parking Lot

that's the same area where my car was defaced. Feel bad for the couple - what a bunch of cowards. :mad:

:shakes head: but unfortunately doesn't surprise me.