So my car was stolen

RabidCatHater

The title is pretty self-explanatory.
I got up Sunday morning and my car was gone. Last time I saw it was Saturday night after work :x
Ive talked to the police and they took all my info, told me to inform my insurance company, and said they would get back to me if they found it or anything turned up. So Im in the process of talking to my insurance about it, but in the meantime I want to know if there is anything I can do to...I dont know, speed things up? Or is it mostly a matter of waiting and seeing what happens?
This might be a weird place to ask for advice for something like this, but Ive talked to everyone I can think of (cops, insurance, family, friends) and there really wasn't much help besides "lets hope you get it back!"
Thanks in advance for any help!

Zombiemambo

I don't really have anything really helpful to add, but my friend has his jeep stolen awhile ago. Weeks later, when we had all abandoned hope of finding it, he was walking to get some lunch and found someone driving it. I shit you not - he followed them, called the police and got it back.

So I guess all I can say is to stay optimistic and look out for your vehicle.

Blake T

Push to get the insurance money as fast as you can.

There's bullshit clause in most insurance contracts don't actually specify the time needed for a car to be considered missing.

GrimmyTOA

This is going to sound like a dumb-ass question, but it's meant earnestly and without mockery: There's no chance it was simply towed, right? You could -- if it was parked on the street and you want to be proactive -- call around to the various towing companies in your area and see if any of them picked it up for some reason.

If not, then I'm sorry man. I hope it turns up.

blincoln

My car was stolen last year. Yeah, pretty much once I reported it, it was just a matter of waiting. It ended up being recovered two days later when someone reported it to the police as being abandoned in an alley. It cost about $1100 to replace the steering column due to the damage that was done from the ghetto job they did on starting it without the key.

Depending on a number of things, you may get yours back like I did or it may have been parted out or shipped to another country. Definitely talk to your insurance company and figure out when they will consider it lost.

Depending on the area you live in, YMMV. I'm in Seattle, and the street-level police here are hamstrung in terms of cracking down on car thieves. The officer who took my report was complaining about it the whole time. I found some material in it when it was recovered that could have led them to who did it, but the car theft detectives were totally not interested.

JeffH

GrimmyTOA wrote: »

This is going to sound like a dumb-ass question, but it's meant earnestly and without mockery: There's no chance it was simply towed, right? You could -- if it was parked on the street and you want to be proactive -- call around to the various towing companies in your area and see if any of them picked it up for some reason.

If not, then I'm sorry man. I hope it turns up.

This happened to my dad once, and he thought it was stolen. I was going to post to check the same thing.

Jimmy King

JeffH wrote: »

GrimmyTOA wrote: »

This is going to sound like a dumb-ass question, but it's meant earnestly and without mockery: There's no chance it was simply towed, right? You could -- if it was parked on the street and you want to be proactive -- call around to the various towing companies in your area and see if any of them picked it up for some reason.

If not, then I'm sorry man. I hope it turns up.

This happened to my dad once, and he thought it was stolen. I was going to post to check the same thing.

Same here back when I lived in a college town where paying my daily parking ticket was considerably cheaper than keeping the fucking parking meter fed.

witch_ie

You might also try asking your neighbors if they saw anything if you haven't already. This could help you or the police have a better idea of what happened.

wakeboarderblunt

maybe someone is having it Overhauled or pimped.

Iceman.USAF

If you know of any local chop shops, or any shadier sections of town, take a drive by. Don't be stupid and endanger yourself, but just be observant. If it's safe, and I stress IF IT'S SAFE ask about some parts that your car might have to offer that people would be in need of. Know what I mean?

FirstComradeStalin

wakeboarderblunt wrote: »

maybe someone is having it Overhauled or pimped.

If only your car could come back to you like this



But seriously, where was your car parked? In an inner city or in the suburbs?

blincoln

FirstComradeStalin wrote: »

But seriously, where was your car parked? In an inner city or in the suburbs?

This is less important than you might think. My car was stolen from one of the nicest parts of Seattle. Within about six months, another car in the same lot was broken into and a third had its wheels stolen. I saw a map in one of the local papers indicating that this neighbourhood is something like #2 citywide in terms of car thefts. I assume it's sort of the gated community syndrome - people don't take as many precautions as they should because they get a false sense of security from living some place "safe".

When I got it back, I had a DEI alarm installed, and now when I park it for the night I put a steering wheel lock and a separate brake pedal lock on it. Not because they're impossible to get off, but because there are a bunch of other similar cars nearby that don't have them and so are more tempting.

RabidCatHater

GrimmyTOA wrote: »

This is going to sound like a dumb-ass question, but it's meant earnestly and without mockery: There's no chance it was simply towed, right? You could -- if it was parked on the street and you want to be proactive -- call around to the various towing companies in your area and see if any of them picked it up for some reason.

If not, then I'm sorry man. I hope it turns up.

Nope, it wasn't towed. The first thing the cop checked was a list of towed cars and it wasn't on there.
It was just sitting in my parking space (I live in an apartment) and then poof! Gone. I live in a decent part of town, not great but not too bad either.
blincoln- how much did it cost altogether for the alarm and locks? If I get it back Im definetly going to get an alarm and a steering wheel club, so Id like to now how much it'll cost me.