Ever had your car stolen?

[Delphinus]

My story doesn't touch yours but I was still incredulous about how the auto theft unit detective handled the case.

Detective: We think we may have found your car, can you identify it?
Me: Of course I can, where can I go see it?
Detective: No no, you have to tell me something about it I can use to identify it.
Me: Well what about the VIN? Did you check the VIN?
Detective: We don't check VIN's..
Me: (stunned silence) What? What do you mean?
Detective: You have to tell me something else about the car I can use to identify it as your car.
Me: Ummmm it's a black VW Rabbit GTI, it has a red interior .. there's a slight dent in the lower right corner of the hatch, .. um ..
Detective: Did you have ground effects on it?
Me: What? Er, .. no.. um ..
Detective: Was the car is really bad shape?
Me: What? Er, no .. um .. no it wasn't er, .. what do you mean in really bad shape?
Detective: This car is is really bad shape. It must not be yours. Thank you, we'll keep looking and let you know ...
Me: Well, couldn't I just come look at it? I mean I'll know right away if it's my car or not.
Detective: No, you can't come look at it until we make the determination that it's yours. You said your car wasn't banged up, this one is, it's therefore not your car. Thanks, have a nice day! <click>
Me: ... WTF? .......

I mean at this point I guess I didn't care anymore as I had my insurance claim settled and it wasn't technically my car .. but to think that in SIX MONTHS perhaps not some damage might have been done to the car that I didn't know about, MIGHT have been a possibility??? I mean wow. And to be told six months later "Yeah OK it must be yours. You may come take a look now." Uh, gee, thanks ...

EmilyB: Even if you find the keys, I would not be so quick to dismiss the possibility a copy may have been made. I would rekey the house and rekey the car just in case. One would LIKE to think that the odds of them coming back to victimize her a second time are pretty slim, but why play the odds. If I was not able to lock the car in a garage when I'm not in it, I would get a steering wheel lock in the meantime, or see if it can be disabled in the meantime (ie. disconnect the battery or something when not using the car). Heck, take a wheel off (Ok maybe that's pushing it.. I don't know). The fact that her keys are "out there" is something I would treat with great caution.

Best of luck and I hope this is resolved quickly.

[EmilyB]

Unbelievable stories..

Yes, I know the key thing is bad. She can park in the garage where she lives, but the garage key is also on her key chain. It doesn't look like they messed with the glove box at all, so they may not even have the address, but then, it IS possible and I know I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.....

I think she's just going to keep it garaged at a friends nearby for the moment.

[Lance]

Im very glad your daughter got her car back.
As for the legal system in this country it does seem to be all about the money. Cops spend most of their time on traffic because that's where the money is: traffic fines, etc. The dopers & thieves they bust don't have any real income to pay for fines so they don't seem to spend as much time on them. They don't put them in jail anymore, just slap probation on them. And it seems to be getting worse all the time. I know an individual who has been busted 3 times for selling coke & crack. Has at least one assault/battery conviction. The last time he was busted he had a loaded shotgun in his possession. Didn't do any time. Still riding around in his $100,000.00 vehicle.
I just don't get it!!

[lorenz0]

if she had her house key on the key chain have the whole house re-keyed

last thing she needs now is to come home to a break in. i don't know if this is the same with dodge but all of our keys have to be programmed. maybe she could just get the car re-programmed to a new code and the most they can do is get into the car but it won't start. i will have to ask at work if its possiable, just an idea right now.

[dabandit]

My truck was stolen with the key in the ignition,when they found it the ignition had been smashed out and they had hotwired it....... the guy had smashed out my column before he realised the key was in the ignition lol

Did insurance cover it? I had to jump though hoops to prove it wasnt a scam because they had my key,they talked about not covering me...but ultimately did

[EmilyB]

They've had the locks changed at her house.

She called the cops again about the jackets and they said, yah, maybe drop them off at a precinct, so she threw them out. Then her and I went through the back and found scant female clothing....eeewwww.

They left a bunch of pennies, nickels and dimes in the door pocket.

I think she's going to pick up a club. Maybe a couple different kinds....

[dabandit]

A club is a waste of money. I used to have a pimpin regal lowrider,I awoke one morning to find a 1'' chunk of steering wheel and my club where my car used to be....they never did find that car

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by EmilyB

They left a bunch of pennies, nickels and dimes in the door pocket.

That's really odd. What, they go through a drive through maybe??