DrDawkinstein Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Kicking the holidays off right, I walked out to go to work this morning only to find someone made off with my 350Z overnight. Now, living in the city I already know not to keep anything valuable in it. And Im fully insured, so if the police don't find it, I'll get some dough for a new ride. It's just a car and no one was hurt, so I'm not sweating it too much. Plus insurance is sending me a rental on Friday. But I just dont get why anyone would steal that particular car. Especially out of my small, private lot (we have about 15 cars total with the other condos in my building). Anyways, I dont really know what to expect. Anyone have a car stolen before? How did it work out? Was it a pain to convince the insurance company that you really weren't scamming them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 do Matchbox count because I had a kid take a bunch from me as kids and I am still hot on his trail....just never able to trip him up.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Wow, I have always wondered how much I would go nuts without my big truck. A 350Z? Hmm, maybe it's just easy to move, easy to rip the parts off of and resell? It's a popular car, right? For tuners? Keep us updated. I worry about this a lot...because (thieves don't look below) Like 3 of my vehicles don't need keys to start or I keep the keys in them... Wait, no I don't. One is generic key for all models, another is a not even worth stealing, the other always has a dead battery. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 Wow, I have always wondered how much I would go nuts without my big truck. A 350Z? Hmm, maybe it's just easy to move, easy to rip the parts off of and resell? It's a popular car, right? For tuners? Keep us updated. I worry about this a lot...because (thieves don't look below) Like 3 of my vehicles don't need keys to start or I keep the keys in them... Wait, no I don't. One is generic key for all models, another is a not even worth stealing, the other always has a dead battery. . Yeah, that's all I can think of. I see sooo many of them around the city. I'm feeling about 50/50 on the treatment I'm getting from my insurance. They've been helpful and rented me a car even though I dont have the coverage for it, but on the other hand they've been talking to me like I wanted it stolen or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowgirlsFan Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Sorry about the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I had my '95 Honda Accord stolen in San Diego this past summer. I was in a 24 coffee house for about three hours. San Diego streets are fairly dark as they try to accomodate a major telescope in the northern part of SD County (Mt. Palomar). It was a Sunday night around 2:30 am when I discovered my car was gone. Sunday nights are great for thieves because many streets are dark and quiet. Fortunately, the coffee shop is also popular with SDPD. Two things really had me worried. Firstly being around twenty miles from the U.S./ Mexican border I feared that my car was already disassembled in one of Tijuana's "chop shops. Secondly, there a lot of street racers around town who love to buy older car parts at reduced (stolen) prices. I had insurance but no alarm and no club. A cop was in the coffee shop when I left so I returned to report my loss. A couple of cruisers soon pulled up. The SDPD helicopters were down for the night. The cops asked if I had any security at all. I mentioned that I had Lojack installed when I bought the car in 1998 but I never renewed the service. The cops added that sometimes LoJack is still active regardless of whether the service was renewed or not. The cops recommended that I call the U.S. Border Patrol since they keep track of every car entering and exiting the U.S. Not having a cell phone, I took a taxi home to call the Border Patrol. I found their number in the phone book and was about to pick up the phone when I heard the voice of one of the cops speaking over my answering machine. I picked up to learn that the cops had found my car! The LoJack was still working! I was worried about the condition of the car. The cop on the phone asked if I had a way to my "new" parking spot. I did not. So what did the cops do? They sent a cruiser to pick me up at my home and drive me to my car about ten miles away. My car wasn't damaged. No busted locks nor busted glass. Nothing was stolen from the trunk. (In Southern California we learn not to leave anything in plain sight inside the car). The theory is that the thief used a "skeleton key" to enter the car and start the ignition. Some believe that they used my car as a ride home. I believe the theory that the thief staged the car for a later pickup. I was very lucky. I am amazed that I still own my car. As for the SDPD? They did more than I expected them to do. It is nice to have the cops on my side! They were incredible! I now have a club to deter the amateurs. I am concerned about the easy access. Hondas are great otherwise. I have somewhere around 225,000 miles on the car. The odometer is broken but the engine is still ripping. Good luck getting your car back. If you have LoJack, you have a good chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 Thanks Spun. Glad to hear you got your car back and in good condition. Unfortunately, I do not have LoJack and only the Atlanta Police Department on my side. And the APD basically took my report, gave me my report number, and said "good luck with insurance!". The APD doesnt even solve murders when there is clear video evidence of the killers face, so I'm not real confident theyre going to find anything, unless my car is driven into a fountain or something. On a similar note, an abandoned Grand Cherokee sat in front of my neighbor's place for 6 months. They would call the police to have it removed every month but no one would come out and do anything about it. When the cops finally did show up they said "How long has this been sitting here? It was reported stolen like 7 months ago." Nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I had my '95 Honda Accord stolen in San Diego this past summer. I was in a 24 coffee house for about three hours. San Diego streets are fairly dark as they try to accomodate a major telescope in the northern part of SD County (Mt. Palomar). It was a Sunday night around 2:30 am when I discovered my car was gone. Sunday nights are great for thieves because many streets are dark and quiet. Fortunately, the coffee shop is also popular with SDPD. Two things really had me worried. Firstly being around twenty miles from the U.S./ Mexican border I feared that my car was already disassembled in one of Tijuana's "chop shops. Secondly, there a lot of street racers around town who love to buy older car parts at reduced (stolen) prices. I had insurance but no alarm and no club. A cop was in the coffee shop when I left so I returned to report my loss. A couple of cruisers soon pulled up. The SDPD helicopters were down for the night. The cops asked if I had any security at all. I mentioned that I had Lojack installed when I bought the car in 1998 but I never renewed the service. The cops added that sometimes LoJack is still active regardless of whether the service was renewed or not. The cops recommended that I call the U.S. Border Patrol since they keep track of every car entering and exiting the U.S. Not having a cell phone, I took a taxi home to call the Border Patrol. I found their number in the phone book and was about to pick up the phone when I heard the voice of one of the cops speaking over my answering machine. I picked up to learn that the cops had found my car! The LoJack was still working! I was worried about the condition of the car. The cop on the phone asked if I had a way to my "new" parking spot. I did not. So what did the cops do? They sent a cruiser to pick me up at my home and drive me to my car about ten miles away. My car wasn't damaged. No busted locks nor busted glass. Nothing was stolen from the trunk. (In Southern California we learn not to leave anything in plain sight inside the car). The theory is that the thief used a "skeleton key" to enter the car and start the ignition. Some believe that they used my car as a ride home. I believe the theory that the thief staged the car for a later pickup. I was very lucky. I am amazed that I still own my car. As for the SDPD? They did more than I expected them to do. It is nice to have the cops on my side! They were incredible! I now have a club to deter the amateurs. I am concerned about the easy access. Hondas are great otherwise. I have somewhere around 225,000 miles on the car. The odometer is broken but the engine is still ripping. Good luck getting your car back. If you have LoJack, you have a good chance. are you sure this was last summer and not 15 years ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 are you sure this was last summer and not 15 years ago? Which part? The part about the cops or the part about me living like I was fifteen years ago? The me part gets worse! You don't want to know my dinosaur story! As for SDPD, I can't commend them enough! Above and beyond the call of duty! Southern Cal has had some serious car theft issues over the years. The "wild west" has a lot of truth to it even today... People stealing tanks, busses... The freedom is cool. Some are just too free... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Which part? The part about the cops or the part about me living like I was fifteen years ago? The me part gets worse! You don't want to know my dinosaur story! As for SDPD, I can't commend them enough! Above and beyond the call of duty! Southern Cal has had some serious car theft issues over the years. The "wild west" has a lot of truth to it even today... People stealing tanks, busses... The freedom is cool. Some are just too free... i was just joking with the mid 90s car being stolen, no cell phone, answering machine stuff.... you couldve said it was 1998 and it mightve read more real. glad it turned out well though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmenow Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 My buddy had his mustang gt stolen out of moog parking lot. During the day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 In 2009, somebody tried to steal my 1998 chevy cavalier but failed. They ripped my steering column off to expose the ignition and tried to hotwire it Damn amateurs cost me $250 deductable to repair the steering column. I swore if I ever found the loser that tried to steal my car, I'd beat him stupider with The Club that I bought to deter any future thefts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Never had one stolen, but I did take a sweet little Nissan 350Z for a joy ride on a dare once... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Never had one stolen, but I did take a sweet little Nissan 350Z for a joy ride on a dare once... Like the valet in Ferris Bueler's Day Off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFerguson Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 My friend had an old Buick stolen from him outside of his apartment in Chicago. They found it a week later, the police suspected some kids just were taking it on a joy ride. It was a beater to begin with, so I think they ruined the ignition and my friend collected less than $1k from the insurance company. As a side bar, when I read stuff like this I wish they had the death penalty for all crimes, especially robbery. When I was in 8th grade I read a pre-1994 biography of OJ Simpson. OJ stole lots of cars during his teen years in San Francisco. The biographer depicted this type of behavior as harmless tomfoolery of a young OJ. If they had administered my suggested punishment and just killed OJ for doing this, he never would have killed Nicole and Goldman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBeane Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 (edited) My friend had an old Buick stolen from him outside of his apartment in Chicago. They found it a week later, the police suspected some kids just were taking it on a joy ride. It was a beater to begin with, so I think they ruined the ignition and my friend collected less than $1k from the insurance company. As a side bar, when I read stuff like this I wish they had the death penalty for all crimes, especially robbery. When I was in 8th grade I read a pre-1994 biography of OJ Simpson. OJ stole lots of cars during his teen years in San Francisco. The biographer depicted this type of behavior as harmless tomfoolery of a young OJ. If they had administered my suggested punishment and just killed OJ for doing this, he never would have killed Nicole and Goldman. Death penalty for all crimes? Must be nice to be perfect... Edited November 24, 2012 by Marcellosaurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffaloboyinATL Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 From some of the stories I've heard, you may not want them to find it. Some people get them back after a long joy ride, stripped down and trashed. More of a pain in the ass for you then just never finding it again. Good luck either way, sucks that it happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopsGuy Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Back when I was a senior in college ('93), I was walking back to my apartment around 3 PM. I was in my Army ROTC BDUs and had just run into one of my roommates coming from the dry-cleaner. He was coming from work so he was wearing a suit and now carrying his pressed shirts. As we turned the corner (this is in West Philadelphia) we saw a guy running towards us about 100 yards away with 2 of our roommates chasing him. One of our guys yelled out, "Get 'em, he broke into Phil's (not his real name) truck!" The dude looked up, saw us, and crossed the street. I dropped my book bag & my other buddy (a badass body builder) dropped his dry-cleaning and we moved to block his path. I had moved to the other side of the street and was on the sidewalk ready to... well I don't know what I was going to do... and the dude slowed up. The two roommates chasing were rugby players and the faster of the two caught up and slammed the guy into the building. Just then, the truck's owner (Phil) showed up and began to exact revenge. I was about to join in the melee (hey I was 23 and full of testosterone) when the fast guy said "Hops, call the cops!" So I ran up to our apartment (neglecting the fact that there was a pay phone right there on the corner) and called 911. While I was doing that, the dude's partner pulled up, brandished a tire-iron and said, "Let him go", which they did. When the Philly cops showed up, we gave them the plate number (which was stolen) and told them our story. I was holding a baseball bat that we kept near the door. One of the cops asked me, "Hey Rambo, how come you didn't use that? I would have been happy to fill out that paperwork." My buddy's truck needed some work on his lock but they rolled up just before he got to the column (secured with a Club). I replay the "what if" about choosing the wrong phone quite a bit and some of those scenarios make me glad I went to the apartment. Hope everything works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFerguson Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Death penalty for all crimes? Must be nice to be perfect... If you have ever stolen a car I highly doubt you will be of any use to society from that point on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Never had one stolen, but I did take a sweet little Nissan 350Z for a joy ride on a dare once... If you have ever stolen a car I highly doubt you will be of any use to society from that point on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaattMaann Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 (edited) I love the movie Gone in 60 seconds (sucker for Nic Cage - and no im not a chick), does this count? truly hope you either get your car back, or the insurance is hassle free Edited November 25, 2012 by PaattMaann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowery4 Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 (edited) Someone stole my 1977 f150 in like 1991 or so....I remember the feeling of walking out my door and it being gone (****ty feeling, that), sorry for your loss. Hope you get it back or get something else you like. My truck, it looked great.... I worked at a collision shop. the paint and interior were beautiful. The truck only cost me 500$ when I bought it. It had about 200,000 on the clicker but the frame was seriously rusted out. I drove it about 5 years. Shortly before they stole it the upper control arm broke off from the frame and it made a real serious loud bang if you hit a bump going faster than 30. They drove it a few blocks away and parked it. My friend just happened to see it while he was driving up Rhode Island (I lived in the west side at the time) and I went and picked it back up no worse for wear (although I did have to replace the thing the key went in as they used a screw driver to start it). When I left Buffalo in 93 (yes, I drove it that way for almost 2 years lol), I sold it for 500 just for the body parts. Worked out pretty good. I loved that truck, was a great vehicle. BTW, I "borrowed" a car when I was a kid and drove it all over the place (a bunch of times), of course my parents didn't know about it and I was only 14, I guess I deserve the death penalty. Edited November 25, 2012 by bowery4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFerguson Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Someone stole my 1977 f150 in like 1991 or so....I remember the feeling of walking out my door and it being gone (****ty feeling, that), sorry for your loss. Hope you get it back or get something else you like. My truck, it looked great.... I worked at a collision shop. the paint and interior were beautiful. The truck only cost me 500$ when I bought it. It had about 200,000 on the clicker but the frame was seriously rusted out. I drove it about 5 years. Shortly before they stole it the upper control arm broke off from the frame and it made a real serious loud bang if you hit a bump going faster than 30. They drove it a few blocks away and parked it. My friend just happened to see it while he was driving up Rhode Island (I lived in the west side at the time) and I went and picked it back up no worse for wear (although I did have to replace the thing the key went in as they used a screw driver to start it). When I left Buffalo in 93 (yes, I drove it that way for almost 2 years lol), I sold it for 500 just for the body parts. Worked out pretty good. I loved that truck, was a great vehicle. BTW, I "borrowed" a car when I was a kid and drove it all over the place (a bunch of times), of course my parents didn't know about it and I was only 14, I guess I deserve the death penalty. You're lucky to be alive.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpbillsfan Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 About ten years ago we had our van stolen in St. Louis. We had switched our auto / home insurance to a new company and the first day in our 'new' coverage was the day it was stolen. I thought our new insurance agent was going to have a heart attack when I called him...lol The police found the van a week or so later, it was trashed on the inside and had been wrecked. We had to wait about a week to see if our new insurance company would cover it as I'm sure they thought maybe we scammed them. After getting the go ahead they were pretty good to us. The insurance adjuster made a huge mistake by allowing the body shop to start fixing the outside of the van before the interior as it ended up costing close to $5,000 to fix everything on the inside. New carpet, headliner, re-upholster several of the leather seats...etc Should've been totaled out. Hope everthing works out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Never had one stolen, but I did take a sweet little Nissan 350Z for a joy ride on a dare once... For the slow people... I was making a joke about the original post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 For the slow people... I was making a joke about the original post. Never the less, you will be shot at dawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 (edited) For the slow people... I was making a joke about the original post. Edited November 25, 2012 by inkman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) Since DrD never updated anyone... @ DrDareustein : (18 January 2013 - 02:58 PM) its Progressive's now and thats fine. Ive moved on to my new car. Upsized to a 2009 Jeep Liberty Sport (the re-designed, non-lesbo model). @ DrDareustein : (18 January 2013 - 02:57 PM) haha the police basically asked the same thing. but nope, i didnt leave it there. @ peterpan (18 January 2013 - 02:57 PM) Did you get stoned and forget you parked itt here? @ Rob's House (18 January 2013 - 02:57 PM) Did they find your brief case? @ DrDareustein (18 January 2013 - 02:55 PM) oh! they found my car, btw! a week after insurance settled out and i got my fat check. half a mile down my street in someone's parking lot. took APD over a month and only found it because the property owners called to have it towed. Edited January 18, 2013 by jboyst62 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 lol very good, jboyst, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justice Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 My second car, a 97 Honda Accord LX was stolen three times. In three totally different places. The third time my car was recovered by the police was during a B-n-E. One of the guys was waiting in the car while the other was inside robbing the house. A policeman spotted the guy and noticed the steering column had been damaged when he got out to question him. Both of the perps were arrested. On the 28th day, too. I was pissed, I didn't want my car back. Not after the third time was stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I have two funny stories about friend's cars stolen. One friend had a defective gas tank gauge that always read full. He had to write down miles and keep track to make sure he had gas. So one morning he walks out to his apartment parking lot- and his car was missing. Thief stole it, and ran out of gas on 95 and hoofed it. Well funny thing was there was $3000 worth of electrolux vacuums in trunk. Second story, I picked up a girl I used to date in New Haven. We headed east over Q bridge in New Haven and we see a car broken down on side of road. She says "hey, that looks just like my car". It turned out it was. It was stolen and broke down And Dank man, I am sorry for your situation and hope it works out for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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