Crooks target Dodge Charger rentals

A wedding planning trip to Hawaii turned sour for Louis Ryan and his fiancee, Aileen Bautista, when her engagement ring was stolen from inside the trunk of their Dodge Charger rental car, which was parked at Wai­mea Bay.

Honolulu police responded to what state Rep. Tom Brower (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana) said has become an all-too familiar scene in Hawaii: valuables stolen from a locked Dodge Charger. The Hono­lulu Police Department says Dodge Chargers are the cars most often broken into.

“What caught us in disbelief was when the police officer told us that thieves always target our specific rental car, Dodge Chargers, as the easiest car to break into,” said Bautista. “What do they use to break in? A flat-head screwdriver. With this piece of information, we would have never rented a Dodge Charger in Oahu.”

Brower, whom the young couple contacted for assistance, said he plans to introduce legislation next session that would require rental car companies, especially those renting risky models, to warn tourists. While Brower is still working on the bill, he favors a four-part approach, which would:

>> Require rental companies to add wording to contracts that warn tourists not to leave valuables in their car.

>> Post warning stickers inside rental cars, especially riskier models, reminding tourists not to leave their belongings inside.

>> Require that rental companies report thefts and break-ins by make and model to the police and public.

>> Include crime prevention tips for car renters in airplane welcome videos.

While the legislation would not specifically target Dodge Chargers, Brower said the bill is motivated by their track record in Hawaii and the potential for rental car problems to negatively affect Hawaii’s visitor-dependant economy. Last December, HPD warned renters about Dodge Chargers, saying more than half of recent break-ins involved that make and model.

Scott Brown, spokes­man for Chrysler Group LLC Western Region Communications, said when stories about Dodge Chargers circulated in Hawaii last year, the company did not find a defect issue or any quantitative data to suggest a problem with the door locks on Dodge Chargers.

“This is simply a matter of volume; there are lots of Chargers in the rental fleets in Hawaii,” Brown said.

In the case of Bautista and Ryan, the thief took $15,000 worth of items from their Charger. But, Hawaii lost out, too. The two, who had been planning a 60-person destination wedding on Oahu, now plan to marry somewhere that doesn’t trigger bad memories. 

“We didn’t want to come back to the scene of the crime,” Ryan said.

Brower is worried other visitors will follow suit if Hawaii does not reduce the chances that they will become crime statistics, too.

Ryan said a warning would have made the couple more cautious.

“We’re from the California Bay Area. You think about something like that happening there or in a tourist destination like Mexico,” Ryan said. “You don’t think that anything bad could ever happen in Hawaii.” 

Jessica Lani Rich, president and executive director of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, said the organization has helped a number of Dodge Charger renters who have found themselves in similar situations. 

“The Dodge Charger is a very easy car to break into and has the highest amount of break-ins compared to other models,” Rich said. “Of course, the visitors that we hear about are those who have left their valuables in the car. We don’t hear from visitors who left their belongings in the hotel safe.”

During the first six months of this year, VASH handled 83 cases of car break-ins involving 217 visitors, Rich said. At the same time, it handled six cases of car thefts, involving 12 visitors, she said.

“These are only the cases that police refer to us, so the actual numbers are higher,” Rich said.

Kent Izuka, owner of Security & Sound Systems of Hawaii, said he has installed lots of car alarms in Dodge Chargers owned by Hono­lulu police officers.

“They know about the problems,” Izuka said.

While a security alarm won’t prevent a thief from being able to break into a car, it might deter one from attempting it or create enough commotion to interrupt their plans, he said. Higher-end alarms even come with mobile access that let owners monitor and control the system from anywhere they can get a cell signal.

“I’m getting all the bells and whistles,” said Buddha Koba­ya­shi, who was having a high-end alarm installed in his Charger on Thursday. “Better safe than sorry.” 

However, alarm systems in most rental cars do not go beyond the basic factory installations, Izuka said.

“If you break the lock, most of these turn off,” he said.

Rich said HPD, VASH and the Car and Truck Renting and Leasing Association of Hawaii earlier this year discussed crime prevention for rental Dodge Chargers.

“We’ve talked about a number of measures,” Rich said.

However, Brower is the first to take action.

“I didn’t know until this couple contacted me that we seem to have a persistent problem with Dodge Chargers in Hawaii,” Brower said. “Making this company and any others disclose problems to the public will force them to fix them.”

Dan Lauer, owner and CEO of Hawaii Rental Cars, which brokers cars for Enterprise, Budget, Avis, Thrifty, National, Hertz and Dollar, said he’s not opposed to a broad warning reminding customers not to leave valuables in cars. However, he does not favor singling out particular makes and models.

“I’m not sure it’s any easier to get into one car over another,” Lauer said.

Targeting specific brands, such as the Dodge Charger, which is popular with tourists because of its spaciousness, could cause economic hardships for rental car companies because visitors would shy away from them, he said.

Laura Bryant, spokes­woman for Missouri-based Enterprise Holdings, which encompasses Alamo Rent-A-Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental, said Dodge Chargers make up a small percentage of the company’s rental fleet and that it does not keep statistics related to break-ins on particular makes or models.

“If a customer ever expresses concern about the susceptibility to vandalism or theft of a vehicle they have reserved, we will gladly substitute another vehicle,” Bryant said.