[gjtt]

ALERT** Stolen 2019 ZL1** Bay Area, Ca 12/1/2025
Morning of 12/1/2025 Grand Theft Auto of 2019 Camaro ZL1 Black Mosaic License: P904W0 Black plate yellow letters. Carbon Fibre Hood. Flag on rear side windows.

At approximately 1:08 am Cameras and motion lights picked up the crime in progress in driveway. Car cover was removed and thieve tools used to shatter side window quietly. Then thief used iPad/software to hack into the cars diagnostics port (ECU) to retrieve and/or copy the key fob frequency. Once copied the key fob frequency was used to disable the alarm and ultimately start the car. My key fob was in house in a box far from driveway. The car also had a Club over the steering wheel which generally just slows them down as it can be defeated with proper tools or simply by cutting the steering wheel. At approximately 1:15 am my cameras showed the car leaving my driveway, along with a white getaway Toyota SUV, that looks to be a model Venza. At least 3 people involved, and traveled left from Hercules Ave, down Pinole Valley Rd, San Pablo Damn Rd, Highway 24, and back to Richmond, Ca

I was told the next day that the car was spotted and an attempt was made to pull over that actual night, but the car took off and Richmond Police did not pursue! No other info provided but alerts issued. Unfortunately, and luckily for the scum bags I didn’t hear anything and didn’t stay up late that night. My great neighbors who were up or heard some noise had called the police and called me and the cops showed up quickly by approximately 1:22 am. Missing my car by only several minutes and possibly even passing them. The Hercules police did an incredible job with several cars on the scene and again, the perps were lucky to have evaded. The car's Onstar was disabled when I called Onstar that night.

It’s important to note that my main goal is to look out for others at this point who have cars like this I know they are targets and Ca is the #1 State for Car theft, jacking, and all kinds of car related crimes. Bay Area/LA is the hub. Camaros, Mustangs, Chargers, Challengers, Corvettes, V-8 GM Sedans, or any car for that matter. ZL1s are 39 percent more stolen and is the #1 stolen car in the US. Secure your cars by any means possible and be vigilant, engage neighbors, and report suspicious behavior to police. Petition local, city and state to start enforcing the damn laws and hold these crimes accountable. We all need to look out for each other because private property protections are essential and Grand Theft Auto is indeed a very serious felony which warrants lengthy prison term due to the great risk, danger it imposes, and costly losses. Description: The craven parasites dressed in hoodies w/ black stripe across top, with face masks, gloves, and black/checkered sneakers. The pants were sweat pants with large side pockets with black zippers. Around 5’10 , 160lbs of human waste slinking around at night during Holiday season stealing people’s hard earned property are some of the most vile people on this planet. Personally, I have little hope it will be found and I’ll never get back the true value and work I put into it. It was perfect when purchased new and even now had extremely low miles (1,498)! and was pristine weekend only car, a retirement gift to myself. Still, Merry Christmas and Better New Year! to ALL ZL1 and Camaro owners, I do care about this community and the thieves can **** off all to hell you god damn parasites, for without the real owners - you wouldn't even exist. Garrett.

[2SS Capt]

Very sorry for your loss...

Curious, did you have the "Security Update" done to the vehicle? Any other anti-theft precautions taken besides the Club?

[kropscamaro16]

shouldnt leave your camaro outside or in the driveway its a pretty common issue but all over the news and this forum goodluck finding it

[bishopts]

Im daily driving mine now so i will probably remove my DLC this weekend. Probably move it to the trunk.

[gjtt]

I had all updates done and even though it was in Driveway, this could happen ANYWHERE the car is parked. It's on a Cul De Sac with one way in and one way out. I have Cameras everywhere. Thieves saw lights, cameras, but didn't matter. 5-6 minutes and it was done. It's nuts because I'm usually a light sleeper and hear everything, it's maddening and sickening and furious rage at same time. I have the entire thing on video and they had to break window to get to ECU port, so no key fob clones/keyless entry or anything. The ONLY thing that might work is a starter kill mechanism. Air Tags and Onstar don't do squat and can be easily defeated, especially with new tech. Just look online.

I'd also say that I read reports of cars even with starter kill/switches - Some thieves would just put in neutral and roll or drag onto a flatbed or tow truck. I'd also possibly recommend good wheel locks like a wheel boot as well as a pedal lock for gas/clutch/or brake pedal. In all these instances it seems like it will just slow them down, in hopes it's enough time to catch or record them for police or shoot them in the ****ing head.

[2023_ZL1-AUTO]

If you have HP Tuners, flash a tune that allowed ZERO RMP in any gear, even force zero Fuel Pressure at any RPM? The car would be immobilized?

[Bumbleboy92]

Sorry to hear this, thieves will always find a way. I agree they’d have bumped it into neutral and rolled it away if they couldn’t get it started.

Sad to see that the ‘enhancement’ update GM did didn’t deter them.

[NYTMARE23]

As a fellow Black colored ZL1 owner....this hurts my soul.
Sorry this happened and I HOPE you get SOME type of justice or the thieves get their karma...SOON!!!

[gjtt]

Thank you brother. It's heart breaking, but madly enraging all at once. Walking on cob webs because I know I'll never see it again. I can still see the outline of it on my driveway, like a murder victim chalk outline...

I think the main thing is being diligent and implementing things on or around the car to alert when disturbed. Totally outside of the cars sub-par security. Such as a driveway/garage motion sensor alarms, loud sounds/sirens when engaged, even some clubs now have a built in alarm on the actual club. Be creative, I don't want others going through this shit. We love our cars.

P.S.> Even on my footage. The club slowed him down by 2 minutes, even after cutting/sawing/breaking. I had it on a very weird and awkward angle and that area is kind of cluttered in the Camaro. I bet if I had one with a siren on it, might have thwarted the attempt as can be louder than an actual car alarm and aren't easy to turn off.

[Patriot Motorsports USA]

It pains me to read this post.

I love my ZLE and I can tell you I drove an extra 45 minutes to get out of Daytona area this past week to an area in Florida where NO ONE DIALS 911!! As the Sheriff there also states to "Empty the Magazine Before We Arrive"!!

I too use a club, as an amateur deterrent but also have multiple system failures if a key is sensed by the system or someone tries to hack the system. Thanks Goodness for the Banks iDash Pro as I have to reset the failed voltage code and fuel error every time I start the car, but this is far less frustrating as it would be to load a tune.

I also have been testing a new stand-alone GPS tracking system that can be hidden anywhere in the car with its own data pinging system every 10-seconds. Everyone knows how many times I have taken my car apart... so this setup will take a lift, 30 minutes to access it and by then the cops will have arrived as it has already sent me calls, texts and emails every minute until I awaken or respond. I'm still not sure if I would call the cops until after I tracked the car to where it was to be later recovered by the Police.

Fun Fact... 99% of all the thieves are using tablets & Android phones to program the car, using a bridge that plugs into the diagnostic port. Guess what happens to that tablet or phone when it meets pure 18-volts without a charging block regulator to drop it to 5v-2amp draw!?? It gets SMOKED INSTANTLY!! Ya see... 12v is close enough the 5v phone or tablet can shut down it's power delivery but at a raw, unregulated 18V, its TOAST!

Guess they better find the switch from goes from the car battery to the Milwaukee M18 HD12.0 RedLithium before pluggin-in! LOL!!! Testing was fun to see an Android Phone blow the lid off a metal trash can from six feet away!! Who would have thought a powertool battery could save your car from a thief? Also makes a great starting backup if the car battery gets low.

[gjtt]

I love that. Shock the piss out of them and blow up their conniving thieving tools.

At this point, I'm just going to get a Tesla Plaid. I can't risk trying to replace the ZL1, and I don't want to continually worry about it until I move, which I was planning on anyways to another state. Owning cars like the ZL1 and many other for that matter is a calculated risk as this state won't protect you, while the vile element runs wild with little accountability. I've seen this change horribly the last 15 years and have been here since I was 17 many decades ago.

There are huge pros to the Plaid as far as security, performance, and built in tracking, even starting that car you can require a built in PIN#. And the GPS is very good with Starlink and the 7 or so built in Cameras. But I can honestly say if this wouldn't have happened to me, I wouldn't have replaced the ZL1, likely ever...That's how much I was drawn to that car.

[bishopts]

Originally Posted by gjtt

I love that. Shock the piss out of them and blow up their conniving thieving tools.

At this point, I'm just going to get a Tesla Plaid. I can't risk trying to replace the ZL1, and I don't want to continually worry about it until I move, which I was planning on anyways to another state. Owning cars like the ZL1 and many other for that matter is a calculated risk as this state won't protect you, while the vile element runs wild with little accountability. I've seen this change horribly the last 15 years and have been here since I was 17 many decades ago.

There are huge pros to the Plaid as far as security, performance, and built in tracking, even starting that car you can require a built in PIN#. And the GPS is very good with Starlink and the 7 or so built in Cameras. But I can honestly say if this wouldn't have happened to me, I wouldn't have replaced the ZL1, likely ever...That's how much I was drawn to that car.

Be the first to tesla plaid swap a 6th gen camaro shell. You get a really fast car with better security. And also mechanical door handles that won't fail when the car catches on fire.

[ZLRob]

Any person who attempts to steal these vehicles should be castrated on site. It pains me to hear you lost your car. I'm sorry you have to go through this.

[gjtt]

Castrated with a butter knife...

By the way the data is absolutely scary. In 2024 alone 4,000 ZL1s stolen across this nation, not just Camaro ZL1s as other models like SS, were in the 2k range. Huge, huge targets now. In the past not so much, but now - it's the worst I've ever seen. I would wager 2025 was even worse.

This is a major defect, almost class action I would think.