Auto break-ins?

I keep hearing about the high rate of theft from cars on Maui, that we shouldn%26#39;t keep a thing in the car..EVER.

Is it really that bad?

Auto break-ins?

Not in my experience, but I%26#39;ve been lucky. Why take a chance?

Auto break-ins?

We rented a Jeep while we were there. We left the top down the entire time, we did leave our little cooler in the back, but if it was taken, we could have cared less. Nothing ever happened to it. But we really did not leave anything in there if we did not want to lose it either.

In the several years I%26#39;ve been to Hawaii, I%26#39;ve never had a problem. It%26#39;s probably not a good idea to leave anything valuable in the car anyway though.

To avoid trouble, I went with these rules:

-don%26#39;t leave anything visible in the car (valuable or otherwise)

-don%26#39;t leave anything valuable in the car period (even in the trunk, glovebox, etc.)

-don%26#39;t let someone see you put something into the trunk at your destination

At Iao Valley parking lot, there were piles of broken glass in some parts of the parking lot!

We went to Heritage Gardens. As we were getting out of our car, we noticed this suspicious group of guys in a pickup truck surveilling the parking lot.

Add to that, don%26#39;t lock your car. Let them get in without breaking a window or slashing the top. Your insurance may pay for the damage but you will be resonsible for the cost of the car rental company not being able to rent the car for however many days it is in the shop.

Sometimes they slash the top anyway. Not locking the car is no guarantee.

That is true but odds are it won%26#39;t need to be slashed to get in.

Locks are just to keep honest people honest. Anyone wanting in will not be slowed down by a locked door.

We went last May and noticed that there seemed to be broken glass at almost every area to pull off the road, especially in any of the less populated areas such as all the things discussed in Maui Revealed. Lots of shady-looking characters staring at us around the NW side of the island past Kaanapali,etc. We felt a little unsafe without a pistol for protection at least. Also, what%26#39;s up with all the old boken down cars left on the sides of the roads? Someone needs to open up a junkyard on Maui. We went to Kauai 6 yrs ago and felt safe all over the island and didn%26#39;t think twice about parking our car anywhere and heading down s trail.

Huh? A pistol?????

NOW I am freaked out. Are a lot of people (locals %26amp; tourists) packin over there???

A Canadian who definitely DOESN%26#39;T carry...

Shady-looking characters? Unsafe without a pistol? Are you SURE you were on Maui? I%26#39;ve never, ever had an experience even remotely like this on any island, even in areas where the guidebooks will tell you the the locals hate tourists.

There are break-ins, probably more on the more populated islands. Just don%26#39;t take anything for granted. Even paradise has its ';snakes.';

Don%26#39;t leave anything even remotely valuable visible inside your car. Don%26#39;t leave anything valuable in the trunk or glove box. Especially don%26#39;t leave guidebooks, maps, tourist publications or paraphernalia visible. The key is to blend in as much as possible... but you%26#39;ll want to do that anyway. You might want to leave local papers visible in the car, maybe hang a lei from the mirror... %26#39;course if your rental is bar-coded, you%26#39;re SOL.

Learn to do the shaka. Smile. Say aloha. Be a guest, not a tourist. You%26#39;ll be fine.