'My Homies Called Me Paranoid:' Man Leaves His Honda Civic at a Friend’s House During Vacation. He’s Shocked When he Returns

A man is going viral on TikTok after sharing what happened to his car while he was on vacation.

Adrian (@adrian_peru) said he chained his Honda Civic to a pole outside his friend’s house before leaving town. When he came back, the entire car was gone—except for the bumper. The chain and pole were still intact.

“All my homies were calling me paranoid because I locked up my car,” he said. “Who’s paranoid now?”

Adrian said his friend lives in a “ghetto” neighborhood with a lot of theft. He couldn’t understand why someone would take the car but leave the bumper.

“If y’all see a Honda Civic with no bumper, let me know, please. I’m just trying to get home,” he said.

Then he asked, “How did y’all even steal this? Who did this? Now I gotta walk home.” As of this writing, his video has garnered more than 10.1 million views. 

How And Why Do Thieves Steal Car Parts? 

Car part theft is big business because many parts are valuable, easy to yank off, and hard to trace. In a lot of cases, thieves don’t need fancy equipment—just battery-powered saws, wrenches, or screwdrivers—and they can strip a car in minutes.

Catalytic converters are the hottest target because they’re packed with precious metals like platinum and rhodium. Hybrids are often targeted because their converters have more of those metals, and trucks or SUVs are easy targets thanks to their higher clearance.

Custom wheels and tires are another favorite because they have no serial numbers. A thief can jack up a car, use an impact wrench, and leave the vehicle sitting on blocks.

Even airbags aren’t safe. A smashed window and a couple of clips later, the airbag is gone. Specific Honda models are speedy work.

Other car parts—like conventional batteries, pickup truck tailgates, headlights, and taillights—are targeted as well, as several of these parts are expensive to replace and not tracked. A few minutes with basic tools can leave you with a massive repair bill—or, in Adrian’s case, out of a car entirely.

Ways to Protect Your Vehicle

If you don’t want to end up like Adrian, it’s crucial to ensure that your car is hard to steal. While there might not be an entirely foolproof way to prevent theft, the goal is to slow thieves down, scare them off, or make sure you can get your car back fast if they take it.

Start with the basics: Always lock your doors and roll up the windows. If you can, park in well-lit areas or, better yet, a closed garage. 

Visible deterrents like steering wheel locks or tire boots also make a thief think twice. And if you want extra peace of mind, a hidden kill switch can keep your car from starting, and a GPS tracker can help you find it if it does get stolen.

Key fobs can be a weak spot, so store them in a Faraday bag to block the signal and prevent thieves from using relay attacks to unlock and start your car remotely.

Finally, don’t tempt anyone by leaving valuables in plain sight. If you have to leave something in the car, stash it in the trunk before you get where you’re going so nobody sees you hide it.

Viewers Can’t Believe Man’s Predicament 

Commenters couldn’t get over Adrian’s situation, with many saying his locked-up car and deadpan reaction were too funny to ignore.

“This made me laugh so hard it echoed through my house and I teared up laughing,” one woman wrote. “As soon as you backed up to show the bumper, I lost it.”

“I’m dead,” another said.

“A slice of a car left is crazy,” a third viewer quipped.

Some joked that chaining up the car might have made it even more tempting for thieves.

“I just know they purposely targeted him cause the chain,” one man wrote, adding a laughing emoji.

“There is something about putting a lock on things that attracts thieves even more,” another added. “They were like, ‘Ok, bet.’”

A third said, “They saw the chain and said, ‘Is that a challenge?’” 

Motor1 has reached out to Adrian via a TikTok direct message.