Sometimes you're the Pigeon.......
... And sometimes you're the Statue.
Well it looks like today is the day that I am the Statue. :P
My car got stolen last night, right out of my parking lot in the condominium complex where I live. My car was about three hundred feet from my door.
I really should not be too surprised. The car was a very popular make and model, and was highly desired. It didn't have any car alarm, but as it turns out, that would not have mattered much; it would have taken about a minute longer to steal it.
I went to the Police and filed a report, and the news is not good. Most of the time sports cars (like mine was) are stolen for joyrides, or for parts. Not the kind of joy rides that pictures you gliding down the road to the supermarket listening to your favorite radio station with the windows down. It's more like the most violent car chase you have ever seen on film...with screeching tires, and screaming engines...yeah...that is closer to the truth.
If it was stolen for parts, then it's sitting in some chop-shop right now, getting cannibalized. My car was a luxury Honda, and it's almost common knowledge that 90% of all Honda parts are interchangeable between make and model and year, that is why Honda's and Toyota's are stolen so often.
Next after filing a report with the Police, came the call to the insurance company. It looks like I will be driving around a rental for the next few days; courtesy of my insurance company. But that is where the good news ends.
If the car is found, the insurance company will assess the damages. If the car is considered 80% missing / damaged then its a 'total loss' and they cut me a check for the Kelly Blue Book value of the car. Assuming I get 6000.00 for the car (which is on the generous side), that is not enough to buy a new car; and hardly enough to buy a descent used car with a limited warranty. I could put that towards a new car, and then resign myself to five more years of car payments.
Believe it or not, I really hope that the car is totaled, or never found.
If the car is recovered, and the insurance company determines that less then 20% of the car remains, then its not totaled, and they then reimburse me for the cost to get the car "working". "Working" is a very lucrative term, and usually is barely enough to cover the cost.
I am then out a car for weeks (if not months) while the car is repaired, and my insurance will not cover any rentals after thirty days. And usually, a stolen car is never, ever, the same...even after the repairs are finished. Nothing works right, and usually the car is prone to break down often, due to the abuse it received.
And if that was not enough, I also have to worry about identity theft, as I kept insurance papers and the vehicle registration inside the vehicle; which had my full name, address, phone number, and policy number of my insurance. Not enough to start stamping out Drivers Licenses, but it gives enough information for anyone trying to forge my identity a healthy head start. So then came the calls to Trans-union to put a block on my Credit Account; and I will need to be called personally if anyone attempts to open a Credit Account using my name.
Finally there is the horrible violated feeling you get when your personal property is stolen from you...I wish I could say this is new to me; but sadly enough I have been stolen from before. I kept a pretty clean car, and luckily there was not really much in the car to steal, outside of a few car adapters, my new CD Radio, and two wallets of my favorite CD's.
But they stole my car, and it was mine...and now it's gone. :(
I am trying to remain positive and optimistic, but when faced with the shock of the theft, and the outcome... it's hard.
Well it looks like today is the day that I am the Statue. :P
My car got stolen last night, right out of my parking lot in the condominium complex where I live. My car was about three hundred feet from my door.
I really should not be too surprised. The car was a very popular make and model, and was highly desired. It didn't have any car alarm, but as it turns out, that would not have mattered much; it would have taken about a minute longer to steal it.
I went to the Police and filed a report, and the news is not good. Most of the time sports cars (like mine was) are stolen for joyrides, or for parts. Not the kind of joy rides that pictures you gliding down the road to the supermarket listening to your favorite radio station with the windows down. It's more like the most violent car chase you have ever seen on film...with screeching tires, and screaming engines...yeah...that is closer to the truth.
If it was stolen for parts, then it's sitting in some chop-shop right now, getting cannibalized. My car was a luxury Honda, and it's almost common knowledge that 90% of all Honda parts are interchangeable between make and model and year, that is why Honda's and Toyota's are stolen so often.
Next after filing a report with the Police, came the call to the insurance company. It looks like I will be driving around a rental for the next few days; courtesy of my insurance company. But that is where the good news ends.
If the car is found, the insurance company will assess the damages. If the car is considered 80% missing / damaged then its a 'total loss' and they cut me a check for the Kelly Blue Book value of the car. Assuming I get 6000.00 for the car (which is on the generous side), that is not enough to buy a new car; and hardly enough to buy a descent used car with a limited warranty. I could put that towards a new car, and then resign myself to five more years of car payments.
Believe it or not, I really hope that the car is totaled, or never found.
If the car is recovered, and the insurance company determines that less then 20% of the car remains, then its not totaled, and they then reimburse me for the cost to get the car "working". "Working" is a very lucrative term, and usually is barely enough to cover the cost.
I am then out a car for weeks (if not months) while the car is repaired, and my insurance will not cover any rentals after thirty days. And usually, a stolen car is never, ever, the same...even after the repairs are finished. Nothing works right, and usually the car is prone to break down often, due to the abuse it received.
And if that was not enough, I also have to worry about identity theft, as I kept insurance papers and the vehicle registration inside the vehicle; which had my full name, address, phone number, and policy number of my insurance. Not enough to start stamping out Drivers Licenses, but it gives enough information for anyone trying to forge my identity a healthy head start. So then came the calls to Trans-union to put a block on my Credit Account; and I will need to be called personally if anyone attempts to open a Credit Account using my name.
Finally there is the horrible violated feeling you get when your personal property is stolen from you...I wish I could say this is new to me; but sadly enough I have been stolen from before. I kept a pretty clean car, and luckily there was not really much in the car to steal, outside of a few car adapters, my new CD Radio, and two wallets of my favorite CD's.
But they stole my car, and it was mine...and now it's gone. :(
I am trying to remain positive and optimistic, but when faced with the shock of the theft, and the outcome... it's hard.