anyone ever had a car stolen and never found?

just remember one thing law enforcement is reactive not pro-active..they dont really prevent theft..they may...may do something about it afterwards..on the other hand I am pro-active in my ownership..alarms..dogs..lights..and 4 shot guns 3 rifels..and 2 pistols..and i always hit what im aiming at!

 

My 86 MR2 was stolen one day. About a week later, my 85 MR2 was stolen too. Damn thing was on jack stands at the top of the driveway because I needed to drop the engine to put a new clutch in it. Come home from work, damn thing was gone.

Also had my 87 Starion stolen. My mom's ex stole it. Told the cops who had it, places he might be, they did nothing. Never found him or my damn car.

 

i guess i agree with fossil i just read his reply

 

Circa 1980. I had a really nice 67 Camaro that was bought new by a grandmother and handed down to the guy who sold it to me. Always garaged and just looked brand new. Anyway, i made it a hi 11 second street race car. One night i went out and street raced it til about 4.30 AM. So's not to wake my girfriend, i leave the car out front instead of shuffling 3 cars in the drive to access the backyard. Next day the ****ers gone. A couple days later a buddy says there's a guy at the all night arcade selling my wheels/tires. WOW! I jam down there, me and a buddy make him bring me to the car. 3 locations, and NO CAR! I beat the ****ing snot out of that ***** until my buddy peeled me off him, fearing i wasn't gonna stop. Man, i just saw RED! I had 3-4 cars, and he had to take my "toy". He could've had all the rest of em and i wouldn't have cared 1/2 as much. NEVER found the car or other parts. And it had some really distinctive pieces on it such as a Holley Strip Dominator intake that was show polished then black anodized. I must've kept the ***le in my wallet for 10 years hoping that one day i'd at least know WTF happened to it

 

am i wrong but it seems like there is a BIG problem out there in Cali in reguard to stolen cars..i have seen alot of posts on here about cl***ics being stolen..daily driver being stolen..you guys need some theft prevention out there.

 

Man these stories really give me the creeps, esp. the general reaction of the cops.

I never had a car stolen and don't carry theft insurance. After reading this, I might reconsider.

I have trouble to remember lock them too since I grew up in one of those places where you could leave the keys in them without any fear of finding them gone (never lock a convertible, they just cut the top and steal your stuff). I've had a few vandalized over the years but never taken.

Do cops everywhere react like that to stolen cars?

 

1991 or so, I had my first bike stolen by the shop that sold it to me. Long story short, I got laid off of work, and an agreement was struck between the finance company and the shop to put my bike up for sale on their floor as a consignment, with the proceeds going directly to the finance company.

The owner of the shop sold every bike on his floor, and took off with the cash. The finance company took the "we were never paid" view of things, even though police reports were filed, and the owner of the shop had a no bail warrant out for his arrest. My credit was SCREWED FOR YEARS because of that. I heard from a cop several years later that the owner sold everything to a foreign collector (they were all old Harleys, Triumphs, BSAs, Indians, and the like). Those bikes and the owner of the shop were never seen or heard from ever again, to the best of my knowledge.

Now, if I can't afford whatever I want to buy up front, I simply don't buy it.

 

No, but had one stolen and then returned two days later. Guess they got their use of it or they ran out of gas money. Nothing wrong with it except nearly all the gas was gone. I was kind of sorry to get it back, insurance money looked better.

 

Man I think the Police in your areas really need some, Citizen relation training. I agree theres alot of Officer out there who have have bad at***udes and they go from call to call. When your the victim of a crime it is emotional, and most cases your first encounter with Law Enforcment as a complainant. The Officer's intial reaction and comments can affected you deeply but if your in a major urban area with a professional law enforcment agency they do care about all crimes that result in property value lost. Those statistics are kept by the Federal Government and Law Enforcement Agency Adminstrators constantly go over these reports. Then during the Management meeting the patrol and CID Supervisors get an Ear full.
So Law Enforcement Departments do care, just some Officers can have a ****py at***ude.

Years ago we went out of town, came home the house had been cleaned out, the crooks took everything that wasn't nailed down, the police took that report over the phone. Talk about pissed...

 

Never had a car stolen but I use to own a Jeep CJ-7 that had the radio stolen twice. When I installed the third radio, I stuffed some monkey **** (grey electrician duct seal) underneath the radio and pushed a dozen razor blades in it. About a year later when heading out to the parking lot I noticed the p***enger door of my Jeep swinging wide open. Inside there was some blood on the floor and I could follow where the guy fled through the parking lot, drop-by-drop. Justice served, no need to call the cops.

 

yeah now ZOOMY thats what im talkin' about!

 

Three years ago , a neighbor caught three young pieces of **** breaking into my '65 Ford pu. He caught one and brought him up to the house--the others got away. The neighbor left the pile of **** and he took a swing at me , I hit him back. This happened two more times---my solid hits, him just swinging. Finally got him to give me a number to get some body to come get him. The next morning, I get arrested for ***ault! The charges were later dropped. I had my '29 Dodge coupe,(440 two fours etc etc) ripped off but recovered it -- no help from the cops at all. It was minus the engine and transmission.

 

thats why i said to shoot them and make sure no one can find the dirty s***...hard to press charges for ***ault when there DEAD!

 

Wow. Deja vu all over again. I just sent a note to the boss regarding this very subject yesteday. Then I come today and this is here.

Again this post or a variation of it needs to be pinned with a complete listing of all vehicles (related to the forum or certified membership credentials) missing.

We have a lot of missing cars and bikes out there from our membership and even some shall we say allegedly purloined by an old alleged good member.

Myself, Rocky, Jeepers, 53sledsleeve and a lot of others here still missng very unique vehicles.

 

I had my '67 camaro stolen out of my driveway at about midnight in 1989. Cops found it in the river bottoms stripped and sittin on blocks, the next morning. It took em 3 days to tell me, though, so of course I had to pay the pound fees to get it out. I got it back, got pretty much screwed by my insurance company, but did manage to get some money for the stuff the stripped (had reciepts and pictures). So, its sittin back in my driveway about a year later (new house) no room in the garage yet, and sure enough its gone again, and I havent seen it since. I should have learned my lesson, but didnt have much choice on where to store it at the time.

Does anybody know how long the car and the vin number stays in the system, and what would happen if someone tried to apply for a ***le for it? Would I ever be notified? Early Camaros are worth enough money now, that someone would be willing to try to get it re***led in their name.

 

If you pay the guy enough, he makes sure it is never found................Me happy, Insurance company sad.

 

Just saw this today:

http://www.kcra.com/news/14161888/detail.html

Stolen Model A Turns Up In Murphys After 24 Years

Vehicle Purchased Online Was Taken Earlier From North Carolina, CHP Says


POSTED: 2:40 pm PDT September 20, 2007
UPDATED: 3:01 pm PDT September 20, 2007



<SCRIPT src="/js/13260191/script.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT><LINK href="/css/13260803/style.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet><!--startindex-->MURPHYS, Calif. -- Mike Schwartz of Murphys thought he had received the perfect birthday gift from his wife when she bought him a 1931 Model A Ford via eBay.
But after getting the antique car in March, authorities discovered during the registration process that it had been stolen in North Carolina 24 years earlier, the California Highway Patrol said Thursday.
Thinking it would be best to buy from a reputable dealer, the Schwartzes found an auction listed by the St. Louis Car Museum.Using the "Buy it Now" option, they purchased their dream car for just under $22,000. They financed and insured the vehicle and arranged for an auto transport company to ship the vehicle from St. Louis, Mo., to Murphys.
When it arrived, the Schwartzes received a certificate of ***le with a vehicle identification number that matched a plate in the engine compartment area. Mr. Schwartz began the registration process with California Department of Motor Vehicles.
As part of the registration process, he was referred to the CHP for a VIN verification.
As a result of the inspection, it was determined the VIN on the firewall was fraudulent. The vehicle's true iden***y was determined and, with the help of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, confirmed to be an outstanding stolen vehicle reported to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina in 1982.
The police department was able to locate a microfiche copy of the report and although the victim had moved since the time of the theft, he was found still living in the Charlotte area.
The victim, Carl Bickel, was contacted and recalled the theft. He said the car was dismantled in a warehouse for his construction company he owned.
Bickel, who is now 76, was in the process of restoring the vehicle. There was no insurance at the time of the theft and Bickel still has his certificate of ***le with the correct VIN. The investigation is continuing in several states, the CHP said.
Bickel and family members are expected to arrive in California to pick up the vehicle Friday or Saturday, the CHP added.
Meanwhile, the Schwartzes are still contacting the St. Louis Car Museum and eBay for res***ution. <!--stopindex-->

 

huh?

 

I guess if we can talk about Buick Grand Nationals and other, newer, cars, this should be okay and not too O/T-
1956 VW sunroof, original black paint red interior, one owner car. I had the engine out and on the stand to replace a rear main seal, and had the car locked up and sitting in the driveway.
Came home from work, and the car was gone.
Asked the neighbor lady if she saw anything and she said "yes, I saw a tow truck hook up to it, get underneath the back of the car and do something (I found out later is was to cut the e-brake cables, the car was locked up and the e-brake was on) so I figured you were having the car worked on by someone else" and of course she didn't notice if there was a name on the door of the tow truck or not, she just knew they came about 7:45 in the morning, right after I had left for work for the day... and of course the Police Dep't was less than interested about a 30 yar old, engineless VW being stolen..
Well, after about 3-4 months, I was doing my job as a Street Sweeper, and I noticed in a not-so-nice neighborhood, a house with a garage door opened, and a black/red '56 VW sitting in it...WITH MY LICENSE PLATES ON IT. I called the Sherriff (it was in the county, and the City PD couldn't be bothered) and they met me there, and I pulled up the back seat, showed the Officer where the ID number on the floorpan was, and had him match the number on the ***le (in my name, of course) with the number on the floorpan...The sherriff just said "Do you have a way to get this thing out of here?" and I had my truck and a tow bar with me when I met the officer, so we rolled it out of the garage, hooked up the tow bar, put my magnetic-attached tow lights on it, and took it home... come to find out, they had stuck an EMPI GT steering wheel on it (about 500 bucks nowadays) and a really nice, fresh, dual-carbed, 1776 cc engine in it, along with a high-priced shifter, new trans mounts, new King and Link pins, and all they really needed to do was bleed the brakes (all new shoes, wheel and master cylinder, too) and it was good to go..all I had to do was to replace the vent window they broke getting into the car, bleed the brakes, and I had a real nice daily driver for a long time until I sold the car...I guess maybe I should have given the engine and steering wheel and shifter back, but if they hadn't swiped the car from me in the first place, I would have probably been more charitable...They were the typical low-life speed freak tweeker type jerks, that had a bunch of other stolen stuff in the house...

 

I think stolen ID numbers stay in the system permanently, unless reported recovered. But here in New York, they keep them either in books, or if they're on computer it's not tied into the DMV's main system. Any car with no action on it in 7 years goes out of the computers. From the looks of these things, different states don't communicate with each other either.

What that means is you could register a stolen and drive it on the original serial or VIN, conceivably, and it might never come up unless someone runs it against the hot sheet. You'd have to have someone's registration or ***le left in the car to do that, though.

In NY, it's not hard to get a registration for the 1972 and older cars that don't have a reg with them, but they check that number in Albany against whatever records they keep.

The problem on your 1967 and older cars is most of them the primary serial number tag is pretty easily changed. If it's under the windsheild it's a lot more work to swap, and more obvious when you get pulled over. But if it's on the door post, a cop doesn't even see it when he pulls you over unless he looks at it. It amazes me to see these cars get recovered after so many years, especially something like a Model A - the serial is on the frame, but how hard is it to just get another one?


Around here, they have an impound lot, but it's not even worth going to the auction... it's hidden away behind a fire practice tower and things and the theives just break in the back and what they don't steal, they trash, so most of the cars are only good for junk afterwards.

The original Gone In 60 Seconds was quite educational on what the car thieves do to profit from a stolen car, without stripping it. It's harder with the new cars what with the way they mark all the parts and so on, but if you send parts or the car out of the country, they don't care.

 

my father in law was on a cruise in the gulf, on shore leave on cosemel or some such island, he sees a truck with texas plates. He thought that was an odd place to see a vehicle from texas, so he takes a picture of the plate, when he got back he had his son (a sherrif) run the plate, sure enough it came back stolen/ insurance paid from houston 10 years earlier.
It is a big world outside the US they could be anywhere.
that is a reason that i did not really like the movie gone in 60 seconds, sure it had lots of cool cars in it, but it made stealing our precious cars look cool,(chopped merc , shelby mustang, ect...) and it's not.

 

there was that story about that guy from jersey or nyc who got his new 67 vette stolen, they just found it last year when somebody tried to register it.

 

Wow. These are all very sad stories, but the next time you transfer a ***le with just a bill of sale....... think about how easy it is for a thief to do the same thing. The DMV can **** a lot of times, but it's for a reason.

PS: Car thieves, like horse thieves, should be hung. SLOWLY.

 

pro active is the word...Never ***ume the police,where ever you are going to help if you don't help yourself. In Western Australia you cannot register a car unless it has an immobilser fitted to the ignition. Insurance isn't available for theft here unless you do the same. it won't stop the determined thief, but it will slow them down long enough to get positive ID .
I could write a book on the **** at***ude of Qld police,but when you have population of 3 million plus and only 10,000 cops,10-15 % of whom are desk jockeys and media tarts ,you are going to get **** service aren't you? .
I have learnt now the only decent weapon of defence is a large ugly viscious dog with a smaller dog as 'co worker'. The big dog scares people by looking bad,and little one has good ears ( big dogs in general have **** hearing) and normally wakes up the big boy when ****heds are prowling around.
The high price of s**** means that anything left laying about is a target for midnight s**** collectors.Old cars are redeemable for cash,no questions asked ,cash on the spot with no proof of ownership required...doesn't bear too much thinking about.

 

Agreed on the small dog/big dog. I personally like big dog/bigger dog. No one's come over my fence yet:

 

my 72 elcamino ss 454 clone it was stolen from in front of my apartment in Tacoma, i know it was this little s.o.b. that had a late model 80's camino for sure doesn't come around anymore after that car was taken. TPD was nice and sent me a letter asking if the car was recovered ever yet, nice police work !

 

My first car a 77 Trans Am silver and black no t-tops 400/4-speed. Don't get it twisted I paid $750.00 for it in 1985. Beat to hell with snow tires on the back and roaches in the ashtray. I loved that car. Thieves took it from in front of my parents house. Never to be seen again. When the police showed up the next morning. They told me that the car was most likely already chopped up.

 

A buddy had his car parked in front of my house by the curb one night......we came back at 2am to find the car up on cinder blocks and the wheels gone.The Cop that comes to take the report....tells us that he saw "us" working on the car in the street about 30 minutes before and ***umed we were just changing a flat tire......the dumb*** saw the thieves in action and did nothing!!!!!! Why would we be putting the car on cinder blocks in front of my house at 1:30 am in a residential neighborhood???

 

A co worker of mine had a piece of junk 80 something buick front drive thing. It got stolen one nigt from his driveway. Idiot left the keys under the seat. He wasnt so mad about the car as he was the 300 boxes of girlscout cookies that were in the trunk waiting to be delivered! Could you imagine opening that trunk when you got to where you wanted to go!