Someone stole our car!

[MonicaMc]

It's definitely a Honda thing... They are easy to steal (alarm system? what's that?), *normally* easy to hot wire (or otherwise...), and easy to mod. Newer cars with alarm systems would only turn heads and get the robber caught.


Sorry, but been there, done that, sort of....


My SO had a '94 Accord. Some guy was accidentally caught in the act of trying to steal it/taking everything of value out of the car. The person (a neighbor) who caught him didn't realize what was going on until the guy had left.

Well, it was the car my SO and I were sharing because mine took a dump... ('01 Chrysler 300m.... needed engine repairs). The neighbor notified me, and I had to immediately cancel my credit cards. I had stupidly left my wallet in the car, because I was only going to be inside for a short while and didn't think to grab it. No issues there, at least. But I did lose all my spare ID's, a $2 bill, some cash that was in the wallet, and my loyalty cards, too.

Neighbor offered to drive me to go pick up my SO from work (whom I called immediately after cancelling my cards while I was taking everything else of value out of the car), and we went and got him. Got back to assess the damage, beyond a broken window and a few things of value stolen from the vehicle, when we had literally just parked in the lot, and got out to walk towards the car. The would be thieves came back for attempt #2 (apparently, my cards didn't work at Walmart... would have been a joke on them anyway! working a job that literally wasn't paying it's employees, I was broke!), and we walked towards the vehicle.

When the would be thieves realized they weren't alone, they backed up and got out of there!!!! But not before hitting me, point blank! I hit the hood of the car, then with the acceleration of the vehicle, slid onto the top of the car. Immediately afterwards, they hit the breaks, and I went rolling off the front and tumbled on the ground. They then drove around me and sped off into the night.




I called 911, had police, firetruck and ambulance show up. I only had bumps and bruises, nothing to go to the hospital about... but it got the cops there so filing a report was easy! And that's when we found out that the robber destroyed the ignition. We got a new window, replaced ignition, but due to electrical issues, could not get the car to start... so it was sold for $600... heater didn't work, needed alignment on the back, before it could get that, it needed a part of the frame replaced, and some other work to it....



What pissed me off the most about this situation was that I had used a card of mine to make repairs to the vehicle so it could be drive-able, and the tires wouldn't get destroyed due to them not being aligned (each tire costs $160.... they were practically rubber bands! on big red rims! a mod from a previous owner), and then the car gets broken into.... and it wasn't worth any more repairs at this point. (not like we could have afforded it anyway....) But I still had 6 months of payments for said repairs.



And this lead to me getting rid of my own vehicle (trading it in for a newer vehicle, which only lasted 1 car payment before getting totaled...). And I kind of hate myself for that, even though I put far more money into fixing the vehicle than I did actually paying for it! Had it for 3 years and it had 9 new sets of tires on it. The engine failure came *after* putting new tires on it and getting a 3 year alignment done... I would literally fix one thing and another would break... and whoever owns the vehicle now is driving it around! Everyone commented on how nice of a car the Chrysler was, but I told them it was a pretty piece of "poop". A very shiny one at that!



The guy who attempted to steal the Accord is now in jail... due to related thefts. However, the police and detective can't pin point the guy to *our* location, so we're screwed there, too! And I'm now driving a '94 Park Avenue.... and just waiting for it to get stolen. I feel like it's only a matter of time due to it being an older vehicle. It may not be no race car, but fixed up, it would make a great thug/gang car! -shivers-

 

[Tangie]

Oh my gosh!!! I am so sorry!!
This is horrible news, and it makes me despise people that steal!
Today, and it had nothing to do with me, and it wasn't major, but it really annoyed me!
We were at the store and we saw two people by the produce, and they walked off. When we walked over to the produce, right where they were, there was a package of green bell peppers that were torn open, and they were gone!!!

We have an interesting safety feature(apparently), in our car. We have a 2003 Cadillac, and we LOVE it. If our car is broken into, and a duplicate key is put in the slot, our car will shut down and stop working. But then it needs to be towed to a garage so they can reset it, which costs several hundred dollars.
But that still may not work in some cases, so I just WISH proper safety features can be put into cars...

 

[SailBoat]

I am so very sorry to hear that some lowlifes have stolen your 'around about' car. They hold so little cash valve, but their loss both cuts deep (they took my car!) and it affects your household's flexibility!

The newest automobiles including SUV's and Trucks have extensive on-board systems that are designed to resist someone stealing your very expensive auto. So, what has happened is; the Pros steal the new vehicles with a tow truck (wheel lift style), needing only seconds. The kids and smash /trash group steal older vehicles for their own short-term 'kicks.' The racers target coupes since they are lighter and therefore faster with an engine /trans swap-out.

With good luck, your Honda is several miles away sitting at the edge of the road out of gas! They have most likely taken the plate and that will slow its recovery by a couple of days. With the plate in place, the police simply run the plate find it stolen, which quickens the process. Then the plate is gone, the vehicle is towed and then the Vin number is run and then its found stolen. At this point, someone needs to report an abandon vehicle.

Once again, so very sorry! Too many lowlifes in this World!

 

[Birdman666]

That is probably kids out joyriding. They're the ones who steal the beaters because driving around in a new car, they are a target for the cops. "What's wrong with this picture..." So they steal beaters, do stupid things in them, and then trash them.

Years ago, mind you I was IN COSTUME at the time. CARNAVAL PARADE in San Francisco. I was one of the dancers... (Yeah, where was I gonna put my car key in THAT outfit?!) and some kid saw me hide my hide a key... and took off with my car.

FOR ABOUT TWO HOURS I THOUGHT I HAD JUST FORGOTTEN WHERE I PARKED... Then I realized...

About a week later, they found my car, on fire, in an alley...

Insurance totaled it, and I got blue book value.

So consider this your cash for clunkers check...

 

[Kiwibird]

So our car was found last night. Apparently, we were unfortunate enough to have been targeted by the dumbest car thief on earth who drove the car to his house, parked it out front, didn't bother to remove the plates and then proceeded to only remove the steering wheel (nothing else from the sounds of it, it apparently wasn't stripped out). The cops spotted it it and decided to sit and watch. Sure enough, this not so bright person (and presumed car thief) comes out to the car to rummage around. Oh, and there a bunch of stuff in the car like electronics and tools that is definitely not ours the officer asked about. We're guessing a meth head. Who else would be caught in that predicament? And with a ridiculous story about how he came into possession of our car to boot. Seems we have no other option but to scrap it out because of the damage and to cover the impound fees, but at least we can press charges. Kudos to the cops for not just towing it and actually waiting to catch the guy!

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm sorry April, that finding your car is not a happier situation. I'm glad he wasn't too bright, and drove it to his house and left the plates on haha! I'm just glad they got the guy right there.

 

[Terry57]

April, I am so sorry that it is not salvageable. That is awesome they caught this Darwin award reject and that he will be charged, but darn it, I was so hoping you would get your car back and it be driveable.

 

[Kiwibird]

It is just a crappy situation. We're just hoping the impound yard will accept the car to cover the fees, but we may be out of pocket for this and that will hurt financially. We hope he will be required to pay us restitution, at least for the impound fees. We won't know until Monday when the owner is in. Ugh

 

[Terry57]

It infuriates me how victims of crimes have to be even more out of pocket for things they had no control over. Keeping my fingers crossed that the owner will accept the car as payment, y'all have been through enough.

 

[Kiwibird]

It infuriates me how victims of crimes have to be even more out of pocket for things they had no control over. Keeping my fingers crossed that the owner will accept the car as payment, y'all have been through enough.

I was pretty surprised to hear we would owe anything. The officer said they were nice people at the tow company and he thought they might be willing to try to work with us. I mean, I'm sure they can sell the car off for parts and make far more off it than our towing and impound fees. Seems like such a waste of a perfectly good, drivable car. I will be looking into installing a removable steering wheel in the Mustang. We can't afford to have that one stolen too and I've done enough work on that car I can probably install one myself. Let's see them try to steal that car when I can take the steering wheel in with me at night. Ha!

 

[Terry57]

I'd love to see the look on the meth heads face that broke into a car and realized there was no steering wheel! I bet he'd still be in it in the morning ,scratching his head and trying to figure out what's going on.

 

[Tsali]

I am so sorry about your car. Sounds like an episode of "Dumbest Thief". Hope all works out for you.

When my daughter was about 18 months old we lived in Detroit, Michigan. I was at the hospital with Kim -- she was having tubes put in her precious little infected ears. Anyway hubby stopped by for a quick update and parked our conversion van right in front of the guard shack in a short term parking spot. (it was in the 80's y'all). So he comes in checks on Kim and leaves to go back to work. Some low-life STOLE the van from IN FRONT OF the guard shack. Never saw the van again, but fortunately for us the insurance company treated us well.

 

[Scott]

Sorry you did not get your car back in drivable condition, but at least you won't be fee'd to death and yet another societal reject is in custody.

 

[Allee]

I wish your car had been returned in better condition, April. Hopefully the officer is right and you have no out of pocket expenses in addition to the loss of a vehicle. I'm sorry it happened but glad to hear they caught the guy.

 

[GraciesMom]

Aw dang wish you had a better outcome hope they are right and you don't end up having to pay really stinks when the victims end up further victimized like that. Hoping you have a good outcome.


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[Kiwibird]

So, went down to the impound lot. Glad I took my tool kit. The only thing they stole was a towel and the jumper cables we had (these HAD to be meth heads). They had sawed off the steering wheel with a hacksaw (steering wheel just tossed in the back seat, air bag still in it), ripped the car up, broken stuff senselessly (just trim and stuff that would not need to be destroyed to steal the car), lots of food wrappers, makeup and hair ties under the passengers seat (that were not mine), but they had not removed any parts besides the ignition (literally the only thing I couldn't find). They had spray painted 2 of the cheap plastic rims black and obviously nailed a curb really bad and popped a tire (probably screwed up the suspension). They had also cut up all the cords and cables in a way that would just render the car underivable. They also broke off the hood release, so I had to use a pliers to pop the hood. Inside the engine compartment, I found numerous bent screwdrivers but nothing missing (did I mention, this guy had to be a METH HEAD).

The tow people were actually very nice, they let me sign the car over to waive the impound fees and since they just send it to the crusher, they let me strip it out for parts to try and recoup some of the losses. Kinda surreal to be stripping out my own car. Good thing I know my way around a car reasonably well, I managed to pull a couple hundred bucks worth of parts off of it. I had the cops come down to recover all the tools and electronics, but they didn't want them so we got that stuff too (I now have some very special car stealing tools lol, not that I would EVER use them, but at least they won't be passed off to the next thief). Oh, and I found out from the tow people this guy had a second stolen car in his possession they'd towed the same night. Fun huh? It was just such a senseless waste of a perfectly good car. These people had no clue what they were doing, they weren't stripping it for parts, they were just destroying it for fun by the looks of it. I doubt they could have even changed the oil. Anyways, I guess that's the end of the car. It will go to the crusher now and it just kinda makes me sad

Edit: Forgot to add perhaps the strangest thing of all- they had written a shopping list on the back of the insurance cards. I found all the items on the shopping list in the car (sharpies, hand sanitizer, air freshener...). Absolutely mind boggling what they planned to do with that stuff...

 

[SailBoat]

As with everyone else here, Our Hearts Goes Out To You! You're a Jewel that this should have never happened too!

Regarding your other car(s). There is a 'product' that cuts the power to the engine and will not allow the car, boat, etc... to be started! It is commonly places in a position that would not draw attention to you when you enter your car and 'shut' this devise OFF. I have also seen an upgraded version of this devise that has a passive appearing switch, button, or nob that acts as a Panic Button that will kill the engine if you are carjack. FYI: Downside, it will require a trip to the installer via a tow truck!

Available at most new car auto dealer (good place since knowledge of the wire harness is very important) and also high-end auto repair shops. As good as removing the steering wheel, but does not require the tools.

 

[Taw5106]

Hugs to you April. I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. When I was a junior in high school ( yes a very long time ago), my parents had a 1984 Chevy Silverado truck, that was the family ride. I had been at band competition all day and my parents picked me up, my band uniform, instrument and book bag were in the back (we had a camper shell and a nice seating insert in the back/bed). We went to dinner and my Dad stopped at a sporting good store. We hadn't been inside 10 minutes, come out and the truck was gone. I cried because all my band stuff was gone! The following week the cops found our truck, my stuff was gone, but whoever stole the vehicle was interrupted in stripping it. We learned from the tow people that the way they broke in was by taking a pair of pliers and twisting the lock on the driver side door. Not kidding, so simple! Learning that, and being a very new, teenage driver, saved me numerous times driving that truck, lol! I was bad about locking the keys in the truck. For the young ones, we didn't have a remote or fob, we had to lock the truck by hitting the lock button on the door, then shut the door.

Everything will work out. It sounds like the people that took your car were definitely NOT skilled in stealing and stripping. While things don't seem bright, you will get get a new ride and hopefully you will have happy days ahead!


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