Been gone a while. Short story is that my baby was stolen Thursday morning (story below) and recovered thanks to a $600 investment made in Oct 2002.
My daily driver is a 08 Rubicon. The story has a happy ending =)
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So, as best we can figure, the car was stolen between 2:30 and 5:00 AM when the theft was discovered by my brother. The Jeep was in front of the car, so they disabled it (undoing the tranny cable and pushing it across the street). The thieves got in, broke the steering column, got it steerable and then pushed it down the street. Since it is a manual transmission, they rolled it -- popped the clutch and the car started. A neighbor thinks he heard my car down the street about 2:45 AM. After the theft (discovered about 5AM), I called police to report it and activiate Lojack, so they can track it. I was concerned about the battery, because it was dead, but I found out Lojack has its own battery internally as well. Plus, they drove it and that charged up the battery. The cops came out, got my statement and dusted for prints. After they left, I tried to start the Jeep, but the car thought it was in neutral, so it would not start. I had to call my shop, have them tow it and fix it. Within 20 minutes it was good to go, I showered, dressed, left the house and went and got the Jeep so I could go to work.
I got to work about 9AM. I got a call from CS police at 10:10 AM. The Hialeah police recovered the car and it was in a police impound. I don't have the full report, but it is highly probable they got the car well before 10AM, it took a while to get reported to me. I had to go back home, get keys, and a copy of my registration to retrieve the car. I met my insurance company down there. I told them I wanted the car fixed, not to total it. I went down there (35 miles from the office) with a friend. The car was in decent shape, the engine, transmission, new wheels and tires, radio and amplifiers were all there. They messed up a couple of parts and some paint. On the inside, the panel below the steering column was removed, but it looked all there. I was so relieved. I gave the yard permission to turn over the car to Progressive. This was all on Thursday, what a day.
On Friday, I found out the car will be at Platinum Paint and Body. They will fix it up, I'll pay my $500 deductible and all will be well. I'm going to ask them about painting the entire car (on my dime) and hopefully, they will work with me on a price. I'll be very happy to get the car back, I'm also putting in a security system (cameras) and there is a very cool upgrade to Lojack. Adding on to what I have, there is an early warning system that can e-mail me or page my phone, alerting me that the car has been moved w/o my permission. Then, I can notify police even quicker and catch the bastard driving it. What a month. I'm just so glad Feb 2010 is over.
John
My daily driver is a 08 Rubicon. The story has a happy ending =)
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So, as best we can figure, the car was stolen between 2:30 and 5:00 AM when the theft was discovered by my brother. The Jeep was in front of the car, so they disabled it (undoing the tranny cable and pushing it across the street). The thieves got in, broke the steering column, got it steerable and then pushed it down the street. Since it is a manual transmission, they rolled it -- popped the clutch and the car started. A neighbor thinks he heard my car down the street about 2:45 AM. After the theft (discovered about 5AM), I called police to report it and activiate Lojack, so they can track it. I was concerned about the battery, because it was dead, but I found out Lojack has its own battery internally as well. Plus, they drove it and that charged up the battery. The cops came out, got my statement and dusted for prints. After they left, I tried to start the Jeep, but the car thought it was in neutral, so it would not start. I had to call my shop, have them tow it and fix it. Within 20 minutes it was good to go, I showered, dressed, left the house and went and got the Jeep so I could go to work.
I got to work about 9AM. I got a call from CS police at 10:10 AM. The Hialeah police recovered the car and it was in a police impound. I don't have the full report, but it is highly probable they got the car well before 10AM, it took a while to get reported to me. I had to go back home, get keys, and a copy of my registration to retrieve the car. I met my insurance company down there. I told them I wanted the car fixed, not to total it. I went down there (35 miles from the office) with a friend. The car was in decent shape, the engine, transmission, new wheels and tires, radio and amplifiers were all there. They messed up a couple of parts and some paint. On the inside, the panel below the steering column was removed, but it looked all there. I was so relieved. I gave the yard permission to turn over the car to Progressive. This was all on Thursday, what a day.
On Friday, I found out the car will be at Platinum Paint and Body. They will fix it up, I'll pay my $500 deductible and all will be well. I'm going to ask them about painting the entire car (on my dime) and hopefully, they will work with me on a price. I'll be very happy to get the car back, I'm also putting in a security system (cameras) and there is a very cool upgrade to Lojack. Adding on to what I have, there is an early warning system that can e-mail me or page my phone, alerting me that the car has been moved w/o my permission. Then, I can notify police even quicker and catch the bastard driving it. What a month. I'm just so glad Feb 2010 is over.
John
