Ok, this has been bugging the crud out of me for awhile now, and I must know. Why the heck do people black out, or blur out their license plates in pics they post? Its not like the thousands of people who see your car every day can't see your license plate! (insert sarcasm here)
People on the internet from all over can see, including high profile car theives. If someone were to post a pic of a modified car and the thief knows what its worth then they will be more likely to track it down... Ever hear of what happened to Jessica Barton's 1,200hp Supra...they are just trying to avoid a similar fate. " http://www.ibtimes.com/jessica-bart...els-hotrod-taken-thieves-photos-video-1000372 " <---In case for whatever reason (which I don't know how you wouldn't!!!) know of Jessica Barton or her story
Gotchya. I guess I never worried about it for a few reasons. One, I live in da sticks. Two, my car is only mildly "mod'd". Three, my car is fully insured, if someone wants it bad enough, I would be sad, until the insurance check came, and I got a new one. And four, a lot of cars I see with the license plate blanked out, are just as close to stock as mine, so it makes me laugh. I don't think a wrx with some mild performance mods is any different than the next what it comes to high profile thievery.
Oh, and, if a car from this forum was profiled by a thief that seen the pic on here, I think if they wanted it bad enough, it wouldn't be to hard to track the car down with profile info. Or the spotted thread kind of tells everyone where cars are seen all the time lol! I can see why cars that are in magazines have blurred out plates, but some cars with blurred out plates aren't quite "magazine cars". And I'm not knocking anyone's ride here by no means, there are some gorgeous cars around here. But for instance, my 98 impreza "L" I sold last fall. Bone stock besides struts/springs. And the guy who bought it posted a pic with the plates blurred out. I guess I still don't get why people do it... haha
It really sucks when a low-life just follows you home to jack you **** or they recognize your car after you posted pictures of what you are really running under the hood and then they breake into it or steal your car, (talking from experience). Doesnt matter if the insurance pays for your new one, all the hard work and little or a lot of effort is just taken from you. Of course this could happen even if you blur your lic. plate, but it could help a little. If you really honor and respect your car "like you should" you will care what happens to it, and remember how much can you really tell someone has into their cars by just looking at the shell.... IMO
Also, there was an issue a number of years ago, where I believe Mitsubishi was denying warranty claims because they found pictures of Evo owners Autocrossing.
http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-15974.html Some people blur their plates because they have something to hide.
That I could see. I just think the fact of tryin to prevent theft is a little far fetched in a way. There are scum bags out there who steal pos cars just to steal it, beat the crap out it, and ditch it. Bottom line is if someone wants to steal it, there gonna steal it.
I have a great long term memory. Plus he threaten to come to my place of employment With his friends. Yes, he's a member here.
Granted Minnesota does not have a high auto theft rate but when I lived in Colorado and was n AWDpirates.net which is their Subaru forum, daily a Subaru was stolen. They were stolen like more than Acuras, Hondas and Escalades put together. From RS to STI. I should be worried as I have my work address posted on here, but my office window looks right at my car
I'm from Central Oregon originally, and the theft rate is climbing there, but for an area with well over 100,000 people in it, there is no where near a theft a day, of any cars. And Subaru theft didn't seem to be a problem, and I would say subies make up close to a quarter of the vehicles in the area.
I agree that it is weird. I think it is pretty easy to spot a modified Subi. Rims, exhaust, robin charger... if you know what you are looking for you can find the car that you want to steal. I am always cautious when someone follows me into my neighborhood.
I remember when this happened. He's a real tough guy. Probably doesn't come here anymore because he was funding his car with stolen bikes.
I've done it in the past, but then it occurred to me that when I got my ham radio license, my home address became public record. So in the big picture, it really doesn't matter.
My default is to never offer more personal information than is needed. License plate info is unnecessary identifying information. Sure you can get it elsewhere, but it isn't going to come from me. There is absolutely no reason not to take 30 seconds and add a little measure of protection to your privacy. At least make them work a little. My reluctance to hand out that kind of detail is in no way limited to photos of license plates.
