My car was stolen this morning. The perps used it in a bungled robbery attempt. The cops think they'll dump it soon.

Has anyone here ever had luck finding a stolen car by searching for it? Is there any point in driving around with a friend in a medium size city to find it?

Advice or stories appreciated.

-- Bummed (bummer@today.com), March 27, 2001

Answers

I drove a friend around once several years ago in a medium-sized city. I made it clear that I wasn't going cruising at night on the "bad" side, which he agreed to. He just wanted me to drive through several parks and shopping centers in the late afternoon which the police told him frequently contained abandoned cars.

We found his car on the third try. It had been abandoned at the mall. The passenger side windows had several bullet holes in them and there was what looked like blood on the back seat. He then called the officer who had been handling the case. Since there had been at least one murder the evening before, the car was impounded as evidence. My friend eventually got his car back about five weeks later and only after many, many calls to several agencies.

No one else I know who has had a car stolen has gotten it back.

-- (kb8um8@yahoo.com), March 27, 2001.

Two examples.

In the first case the car was used for a joyride. It turned up several blocks away and the gas tank had been filled.

In the second case the cops drove my friend around a long time and the car eventually turned up, totaled, a long way away. They tried to sell her drugs while she was riding around with them but she didn't bite.

-- dandelion (golden@pleurisy.plant), March 27, 2001.

My car was stolen from a hotel lot in Philadelphia about ten years ago (damn chess tournaments), but luckily was recovered by police within a day or so. Mostly superficial damage, although it ran to about $2,500 which was close to the book value of the car (it was around 4 1/2 years old at the time). I still have the car, although it's in the shop right now awaiting a replacement gas tank.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), March 27, 2001.

I see you posted this at my place, too, but since you're getting answers here, I'll pipe up here as well.

If the car was stolen for a specific purpose, it may show up -- probably within the area and within a few days. Yeah, I think it's worth looking. When mine was stolen, it was driven about 15 miles and then deliberately wrecked by a bunch of kids. The car was totalled, and I just called the insurance company to handle it from there.

My prize Gibson Les Paul had been stolen. :(

But about a year later, it turned up in a pawn shop and I recovered it. :)

To answer your question: it's worth a look. If it's a rural area, it'll probably be in the bushes somewhere. If you're in a metro area, look in large parking lots.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), March 27, 2001.

Find a "stolen car" site on the internet, and offer a reward if someone finds it. But dimes to doughnuts, it's probably in Mexico by now or dumped in a canal or river.....

-- so sorry (sosorry@sosorry.sorry), March 27, 2001.

I had a sport bike stolen about 15 years ago. It turned up a couple weeks later in a ditch, totaled. And not in a part of town I'd like to cruise around in, either.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), March 27, 2001.

With the exception of the ‘amateur hour’ thefts, most stolen vehicles end up as valuable parts or shipped out to Foreign Service. This is a growth industry that has produced billions of tax free dollars and a whole generation of highly skilled boosters.

-- So (cr@t.es), March 27, 2001.

My parents had their 66 VW Beetle stolen in San Diego in about 75. I told them not to plan on seeing it again since they lived so close to Mexico. Surprisingly, after about 2 weeks the cops called and said it had been found in relatively good condition and to come down to the station and pick it up. There were some minor dings in it and all my dad's tools and stuff was gone, but the car was OK.

In spite of the widespread belief that if the car isn't recovered in 24 hours that you might as well kiss it goodbye, that's not always true. Also cops usually actively work at recovering stolen vehicles and watch out for them. In many juristictions they get extra Attaboys for so doing.

-- Speedy (-@hope.it.turns.up.soon), March 28, 2001.

In 1996, one of my co-workers had her car stolen. The police recovered it within a day or two, but when they got it, they discovered a remarkably large amount of cocaine in the trunk and two drug dealers in the front. Unfortunately, the car became evidence and was impounded for a couple of months, as I recall (I think there may have been a procedural error that made it worse). During this time, she had to fight with her insurance company to pay for a rental car, because since the car was no longer stolen and not totalled, they didn't feel they should have to pay up. It was very unpleasant, and she often expressed the wish that the damn thing had never turned up in the first place.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), March 28, 2001.

I've never owned a car anyone wanted to steal, but location and trends seem to mean a lot. In Chicago, for instance, stolen cars were VERY swiftly delivered to "chop-shops", where they were immediately dismantled. Here in the DFW area, Mustangs are a prime target. SO had one stolen a few years back. We never looked for it, but the police eventually found it, and EVERYTHING had been removed from the shell...wheels, air bag, EVERYTHING. Speaking of air bags, one of our neighbors mentioned that Hondas are being stolen JUST for the air bags. ???

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), March 28, 2001.

Anita, a skilled criminal can break into a Honda in about 15 seconds and remove an air bag in under two minutes. There is no need to steal the entire car.

-- (kb8um8@yahoo.com), March 28, 2001.

I keep leaving my doors unlocked and ocasionally leave the key in it, but no one wants to steal my car :o(

My last one was a brown 79 Malibu station wagon - V8. I loved to tear off when lights turned green next to sports cars, as they sped up and over toook me I would stay at 5 miles per hour over the speed limit and watche the cops get them as they, for somew reason, felt the need to continue accelerating past me. I know where the cops hide *evil grin* and know what it does to the ego of some of the owners of these little sports cars to be shown up by what I drove. Hey, the light changes and I'm outa there.... Needless to say I tune up my own cars and learned to drive in Texas when there were no speed limits on some roads and I had my first car which was a Ford Galaxy 500 with a rebuilt engine.....

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), March 28, 2001.

a skilled criminal can break into a Honda in about 15 seconds and remove an air bag in under two minutes. There is no need to steal the entire car.

The DFW area doesn't seem to have classes in this stuff. My daughter's Honda was broken into, but the thief got so frustrated that he slashed the dashboard. It wasn't funny getting the broken glass cleaned up, but my daughter laughed when she thought about the radio/CD player that was stolen. That little number has been chewing up cassettes right and left. If we leave our cars on the street now, we leave them unlocked. The message is, "Please don't break the window, but you're welcome to steal the car or anything in it." MOST thieves have better tastes than we can afford.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), March 28, 2001.

Oh hell no, tell me the Honda comment is not right.

Runs for the driveway to hug the Accord. LOL.

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), March 29, 2001.

Thanks everyone -- my Honda is still not recovered. I learned that 50 percent of stolen cars are found within a 10-block radius of where car was stolen, so I'm going to try that.

-- Still Bummed (about@my.car), March 29, 2001.

Just thought I'd let everyone know I got my car back -- they had taken the ignition out, but otherwise it's okay. Young suburban punks who left the car trashed with McDonald's paper cups and empty Pallmall packages. The back trunk was stuffed with their goods -- an electric blanket, professional took kit, and box of CDs with skate board equipment. Weird.

Total cost to repair and pick up runs about $500. That's a drag, but hey, what can you do...

Does "The Club" work very well? I'm thinking about getting one. Or can theives get around this too?

-- No longer as bummed (damn@thieves.com), March 30, 2001.

Bummed, skip the club. IF a thief want the ride, they WILL get the ride.

Still hugging the Honda. LOL.

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), March 31, 2001.

my car was stolen once the police found it and called me a day or two later and i had to pay 75 dollars for the impound fee or some bullshit....the world these days

-- ryan martyr (johndoe@yahoo.com), August 24, 2001.

My license plates were stolen couple of weeks ago, and luckily I was pulled over and made a police report before someone had used my plates in a drive-by or something. whew, to think they would have come a'knockin on my door.

-- (cin@cin.cin), August 24, 2001.