Ambitious Thieves !!

http://www.chron.com/news/local/crime/article/More-than-40-vehicles-at-Ancira-dealership-robbed-6657037.php

Five guys stole the wheels off 45 cars & trucks in five hours.

somebody had to bring in all those little blocks - that was a lot of work.

Im.....actually a little impressed

Impressive! Especially the way they balanced that Camaro.

How do they know it was 5 guys? Camera or Caught?

Never mind, read the link.

The Penske rental truck will be their downfall.

Ambitious indeed!. I would like to see their business plan. A handful of wheels can disappear without a trace but it's going to be hard to fence 180 of them. The audacity of such a heist leads me to believe some inside knowledge was involved.

I'm surprised they bothered with the blocks. When I was a kid I saw a couple kids steal the wheels off a car without a jack. They pulled all the lug nuts off and shook the car side to side until the wheels fell off.

just imagine the looks on the faces of the dealers staff the next morning when they noticed...

Is it bad that I want to call the dealership tomorrow to see if a diesel Colorado Z71 was hit, because if it was I'd purchase it without wheels and come straight from ATD with a wheel and tire package (with BFG KO2s) ready to take delivery

"Though maintaining a sense of humor, Ancira said the total loss value is estimated at $300,000."

I'm having a hard time seeing that figure...

In reply to Nick (LUCAS) Comstock:

$300,000/180 = $1666.00 per wheel... Sompthing ain't right with their maths. I'll bet if they check the local craigslist they can get a better deal

Yeah over $1650 per wheel ...I think you could get CF wheels with good tires on them for that kind of money!

Ah well, the insurance company doesn't have to know, right?

It's not hard to see. I looked at getting a set of wheels for my Buick for the snow tires. The wheels list for $514 each. Add in tires, lug nuts, labor, and any misc. damage done during removal and I bet $300k isn't unrealistic.

In reply to Wall-e:

Damage to the vehicles I didn't think about. Also it said they were going to discount the vehicles that were hit so maybe they are factoring a little of that into it as well.

This is going to slow down operations for a while. I'm sure that some of those vehicles were already sold and awaiting delivery.

While there will be a few ambitious shoppers, I'm sure that a whole bunch more will go elsewhere.

And I doubt even something as big as the GM parts supply line can absorb a hit this big all at once.

Someone is going to get a huge order for aftermarket rims.
Sure, maybe they can get paid $1650 per wheel but I would bet they can put on some brodozers for only a portion of that price and then raise the retail for even more profit.

In reply to JohnRW1621:

Can they warranty them with Brodozer wheels and tires?

In reply to Woody:

They don't have to be super radical but dealerships often sell the trucks new with aftermarket rims/tires added and then charge more for the vehicle.

$1650 for a wheel, tire, mounting and balancing sounds about right. OEM wheels list for 12-1600 on average with some going for north of 2k. Factor in rubber at OEM pricing and I actually think they're undershooting the mark.

Wow, so OEM wheels cost many times more than anything from the aftermarket (except CF wheels, which start at $10k per set, now that I check)...I learned something today.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

Anything dealership is made of magic gold. Also, they do have to warranty a wheel.

Ambitious, but not likely to make a lot of money for all the work. Even if they can get $100 each, it's still under 20K and the likelihood of getting caught trying to move that volume of stolen stuff is nearly 100%.

Here's an interesting fact, in my 25 years in prosecution, other than embezzlement, welfare fraud or ripping off old relatives, the best crime I've seen financially was a guy who made 45-50K rustling pigs.

I wonder if the stealership can still sell them as "new" with major components removed/replaced?

How would you like to be the innocent guy in that town who is trying to sell his Chevy Truck stock rims on CL?

In reply to kazoospec:

The finance /aftermarket sales department will likely toss aftermarket wheels that come with a warranty from the aftermarket manufacturer on them and up the price claiming a premium wheel package. As long as it's disclosed they can sell as new with either aftermarket or OEM replacement.

I can believe the numbers. Years and years ago I looked to the dealer to get the optional aluminum rims for my Tiburon. The price they quoted me was jaw dropping.. we are talking close to 500 a wheel... for a small 15" rim

I got a set of Enkei 16s for the price of one OEM