Possible to hotwire a 1996 Avalon?

[asodamiac]

***DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT TRYING TO HOTWIRE A VEHICLE OF ANY SORT***

Whew, since we got that away...

Hey folks, this is my first post here. I actually registered to ask you guys a question.

Is it possible to hotwire a 1996 Toyota Avalon?

Recently, my car was backed into a pole (and then the culprit etched in profanity into my paint), and I have no idea who did it. I parked my car in my apartment complex and when I woke up in the morning, there was a dent in my back bumper. I'm almost positive that my car was backed into a pole because:

1) the width of the dent matches the width of the pole.
2) the pole has a hexagon shaped bolt screwed into it about knee high, which has made a hole with that same exact shape into my bumper.
3) the paint from the pole rubbed off onto my bumper at impact.

I'm almost certain that the car was backed into the pole. I live with 4 other roommates and I trust that they did not do this, but we had a guest over last night, who may have reared my car into the pole.

In my opinion, there can only be 3 ways in which this could have happened:

1) A roommate took my car at night, backed it into the pole. By chance, someone walked by at night and keyed my car with profanity.
2) A roommate took my car at night, backed it into the pole, and then keyed in profanity to make it seem as if someone else had broken into my car.
3) A stranger could have popped up my lock, hotwired the car, backed it into the pole, and then keyed in the profanity.

I trust my roommates completely, so that rules out the first 2 options (for now). The third option seems unlikely to me, as there were no broken windows. Another piece of evidence is that when I went to my car in the morning to discover the damage, I also noticed that the drawer where I store change was opened, and spare change was littered all across the drivers seat and below it. The spare change drawer seems very stiff to me, so it seems unlikely that it would have popped open at impact.

Anyways, sorry for the long story. Back to my main quetsion: Is it possible to hotwire a 1996 Toyota Avalon?

Thanks for reading guys!

[aigochamaloh]

if you don't have an alarm or ignition kill, i don't see why not...
the ignition switch might be complicated though...

getting into the car without breaking anything, that's another story i guess. they'd have to have one of those wire things that go under the window and flip the lock switch over.

[smuook]

It's great that you trust your roommates implicitely... heck, I wish I was your friend, or perhaps a used car salesman selling you a car. It's probably this trust that is the reason why they may be covering this up. Does it make any sense that a stranger would go through breaking in without a trace... defeating autokill and hotwiring... back it into a poll... scratching the paint... and putting the car back where it was?

A complete stranger would steal your car... gone... without a trace. This is what's called an inside job. The fact that they went to so much trouble to cover it up means they are not likely to confess. They are either going to all of a sudden find God and feel guilty over it... or you can call the Police and have everyone in the house fingerprinted and make them fold under pressure... or you can just pay to fix it and not find out who did it.

[asodamiac]

I understand that it was very improbable that someone could slim jim the lock and then hotwire the car, especially because everything looks clean in the inside (talking about the dashboard, beneath the steering wheel, etc). I just wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.

It does seem more likely that the key was taken from me at night, but all of my roommates said that they did not do it, and I'll take their words for it.

As unlikely as the other possibilities are, I'm sure there is still a chance that it could have happened.

Smuook, it's funny that you mention that they find God, because 3 of the 4 are actually devout Christians

[aznstylez]

Dude, if you trusted you roommates you wouldn't have listed them in the first two opinions. Anyways, nowadays anyone can make a spare key or more behind anybodys' back and do things out of the ordinary. And also, you said you guys had a guest last night. Where was your keys last night though?

[toyomoho]

Yes, your choices are: someone stole your car OR had a key, your key, duplicate key? Which is the more reasonable answer?

I can how understand someone could "borrow" your car and back it into a pole (had something like this happen), but keying the car with profanity. That’s bad. Suggest having a long talk with your roommates and whoever else was staying there.

[asodamiac]

aznstylez, I was just listing the possibilities that were roused in my head. I never condemned them of anything. The guest that stayed over is a friend of my roommates, who I have met on many many occasions. My keys were in my room. I was asleep and had ear plugs on if that matters at all.

toyomoho, it could have been two isolated events. In any case, I have talked with my roommates (including the guest) and they said that they did not do it. I trust them enough to take their words for it. No explanations needed.

I guess this "problem" is now squashed. I asked about the hotwiring to see if it was possible that someone slim jim'd my car and hotwired it, but that seems improbable. I'm sure there may be other explanations, but I'm not going to waste more time worrying about it. What's done is done.

Thanks for the help and your opinions!

[toyomoho]

Did not mean to imply your friends are dishonest.

Think about who else could possible have a key, did you buy the car used? Ever lend the car to someone who you don't fully trust. A parking garage, anything. Is it possible someone could have borrowed the car before but this time hit the pole.

Yes, someone could steal the car without having a key but this seems to be a lot of work just to go for a joy ride. This would be car theft after all, don't think a cop would appreciate stopping someone driving a car they did not own and not having the key.

Just might be two incidents here, one with the keying and one with the pole. Is it possible you missed seeing the keying damage for a few days.

[aznstylez]

did you see any hanging wires or anything of sort that would say the car was hotwired?

[2way]

or is it possible that it was pushed into the pole by another vehicle?

[asodamiac]

toyomoho, the car was purchased new by our family. We have never lent the car to anyone, though my roommates did move the car from time to time so that we could switch parking spots.

The keying was on top of the damage sustained to the bumper. By looking at it, it seems that the car was keyed after it was reared into the pole.

aznstyles, I did not see anything of the sort. Hotwiring seemed very unlikely, but I thought I would ask if it was possible anyways. It would take a lot to take apart the car and put it back together

2way, the car was parked under a "car port" as our apartment complex calls it. It is basically a shelter over a parking space. 5 feet in front of that is an apartment building, so I don't think the car could have been pushed into the pole. There was no damage to the front of the car as well.

Again, I appreciate all the insight guys. However, I have already filed the police report and an insurance claim. I have decided to move on. I would really like to know what happened, but that seems unlikely :X