Did someone steal my gas cap?

[Six Speed Stephen]

No way this just came off by accident

 

[Nick Sticks]

There doesn't look like there's any damage to the surrounding body so maybe not levered off.
Definitely a tab thing is broken though.
How annoying.

 

[WindJunkie]

When the car is locked, the gas cap is locked. I'm guessing someone tried to pop it open as to vandalize your car, saw it was locked shut, so decided to just pry it off completely. If you are really in NYC, that's an area I see a lot of vandalism on the Civic Type R groups that I come from as well. The good news is it should be relatively straight forward to replace without having any record of it on the CarFax

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

When the car is locked, the gas cap is locked. I'm guessing someone tried to pop it open as to vandalize your car, saw it was locked shut, so decided to just pry it off completely. If you are really in NYC, that's an area I see a lot of vandalism on the Civic Type R groups that I come from as well. The good news is it should be relatively straight forward to replace without having any record of it on the CarFax

Yeah I’m in NYC. Surprised as I was parked in SoHo

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Anyone have the part number?

 

[SPoivre]

I'm pretty sure the invisible gas cap was an option for the NYC market. It was to deter people from stealing it. It's a pilot project for the full pre-vandalized package coming soon to US markets.

 

[Time2Fly]

I'm pretty sure the invisible gas cap was an option for the NYC market. It was to deter people from stealing it. It's a pilot project for the full pre-vandalized package coming soon to US markets.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Anyone have the part number?

Lotus only have the part number for the black plastic piece which is $375.00 . There's no available part number for the painted cover yet - need to contact Lotus HQ

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Got a quote...

Cover $66.55
Flap $373.56
Paint $160.00
Labor $412.20

Feel like I could skip the Flap since 3 of the 4 tabs are still good

 

[Jinba ittai]

Ughh, sorry to hear man. That sucks.

 

[Rupes]

Imagine being so miserable that you get satisfaction out of anonymously vandalizing someones property for no personal gain whatsoever. These people are among us!

 

[Dino67]

When I lived in NYC, there was a large open parking lot on the west side of Manhattan that bordered a hill about 20-30 feet high. The local juvenile delinquents gathered on the hill to throw rocks at the cars to see who could set of the most alarms. Then there were the hoodlums who lined up on the side of the Henry Hudson Highway to pelt eggs at passing cars.

So glad I don't live there anymore. Never brought any of my nicer cars into Manhattan except for a couple of months when COVID started.

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

Imagine being so miserable that you get satisfaction out of anonymously vandalizing someones property for no personal gain whatsoever. These people are among us!

Maybe not for no personal gain. People are now drilling into the bottom of gas tanks in So Cal to steal gas. Just read a news story on this. Stealing gas is still a thing it seems.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

On second glance, someone did break it off with what was probably a screwdriver. You can see the damage in a straight line to where the clip was broken.

 

[SPoivre]

This whole thing is a bit disturbing to me since I thought stealing rodios, car batteries and gas was a thing of the past. It does look like somebody tried to pop your gas cap open when it was locked. Maybe to steal the gas since if they wanted to vandalize the car, the could have just keyed it or some other easier way.

It's not like when people were stealing badges off of Rolls-Royces or other sourvenirs. It's hard to believe we are back to stealing gas from cars lke in the 70's. Maybe some punk kid who wanted gas for his motorcyle and hopefully a one off..( (although from a previous post it does seem like it's a thing.)

I presume the car was parked on the street but that probably doesn't matter anyway.

The OP has my best wishes. I was in Manhattan last weekend and chose to leave the Emira at home. It never really occured to me that the car would be vandalized by I dint want to deal with the manual and valet parking.

 

[Eagle7]

Try looking for a wrecked or parted out yellow Emira. Chances are the gas cap would still be good. If you can do you're own wrenching, it might take a few hours, but it would save you $412.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Try looking for a wrecked or parted out yellow Emira. Chances are the gas cap would still be good. If you can do you're own wrenching, it might take a few hours, but it would save you $412.

Thanks for sharing this. This is definitely above my abilities - I can't believe how intensive of a procedure this is.

I've decided to just order the gas cap cover and have them paint it, and not replace the fuel filler flap. I'm going to use a plastic epoxy glue when I reapply the cover for the broken tab. In total it'll save me about $750.00+

 

[RoryBellows]

The Emira isn't even a good candidate to steal fuel from. Why wouldn't you steal gas from something with a larger tank or go through the lot till you find something with a non-locking cap. I think they did it just to be an asshole. I bet they have pried plenty of these before yours and since.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

The Emira isn't even a good candidate to steal fuel from. Why wouldn't you steal gas from something with a larger tank or go through the lot till you find something with a non-locking cap. I think they did it just to be an asshole. I bet they have pried plenty of these before yours and since.

Think you're right.

This whole thing is a bit disturbing to me since I thought stealing rodios, car batteries and gas was a thing of the past. It does look like somebody tried to pop your gas cap open when it was locked. Maybe to steal the gas since if they wanted to vandalize the car, the could have just keyed it or some other easier way.

It's not like when people were stealing badges off of Rolls-Royces or other sourvenirs. It's hard to believe we are back to stealing gas from cars lke in the 70's. Maybe some punk kid who wanted gas for his motorcyle and hopefully a one off..( (although from a previous post it does seem like it's a thing.)

I presume the car was parked on the street but that probably doesn't matter anyway.

The OP has my best wishes. I was in Manhattan last weekend and chose to leave the Emira at home. It never really occured to me that the car would be vandalized by I dint want to deal with the manual and valet parking.

Was parked on the street - but I've done that many times in a nice area, so was a bit surprised. Oh well.

 

[Dino67]

Was parked on the street - but I've done that many times in a nice area, so was a bit surprised. Oh well.

Just my experience living in NYC. Nowhere is a safe place to park. Manhattan is easily accessible to everyone and all neighborhoods have their derelicts. Parallel parking by feel is an accepted practice. Valets will repeatedly start your car to make room and retrieve other cars, assuming they don't Ferris Bueller your car.

If I had to park in NYC, I would leave my car at a self-parking garage. There are at least 3 left. The ones I know of are near the Seaport, Penn Station, and the East Side in the 30s. Even there, expect to come back to door dings.