Moms car stolen today while at Doctor's office for a checkup...

[ultrarunner]

Did put in a call and e-mail to adjustor...

The long holiday weekend will add hundreds more to the charges and the car is less than 2 miles from home...

It's been a sleepless night because a lot of people are getting a head start on a holiday weekend so who knows if I will hear back from anyone...

I very much want to bring her car home... just don't know if it will come back to bite me.

Maybe use her road service to have the car towed home... it's tied in with her insurance with the Auto Club...

 

[dmccarty]

I would just pass the info to the insurance Co.

650.00 for a 12 mile or less tow and 1 day in an impound yard? Sounds like it got stolen a second time!

Agreed. That is robbery! I would call up the news about that one. The car was being towed because the police called to have it moved and this is often done by a process worked out with the local agency. Does the PD know that people are being charged this much money to recover their stolen car? Me thinks that company should be taken off the rotation, and if this is common place, the city should have a look see into the situation.

Glad to see the car has been recovered but it will be interesting to see its condition. Mine was trashed mechanically after it was recovered. Not a scratch or ding but the engine, transmission, AC and water pump were damage/destroyed.

Hope the photos are in the car....

Later,
Dan

 

[newbury]

Get down there with binoculars if you need to and assess the damage as best as possible.
Good luck

 

[ultrarunner]

I was expecting the worst... from no wheels and stipped... body, tires, bumpers all look pristine... can't quite tell if the windshield is cracked.

When it was first stolen... officer said 80% are recovered in 72 hours... often with an empty gas tank... others are just the leftovers... Mom's has been gone since February and now it is July.

Best I can tell is tow charges and rates are approved by the county each year.

 

[Parkanzky]

Need some real advice...

Just returned home and had two messages from the police... first one is they found Mom's car about 10 miles from here and we have 30 minutes to come and get it... since we were away... the second message said it is being towed to a tow yard about 2 miles from home.

I drove down to the yard at 3 am and sure enough it is there! Can't see much in the dark and through the fence.

It was stolen in February and now it is July... after 4 months hoping for recovery... Mom settled with the AAA insurance... she has been with AAA over 50 years and never a claim.

I asked the tow yard if there were any personal items such as picture albums in the car... tow said we can't do anything or remove anything without a police department release and paying the charges which are $650 if paid today...

Put in a call and e-mail to AAA... don't know what we can or can't do... I'm not going to just walk away from the family photo albums and remembrances from Dad's funeral and other personal items even if I have to pay $650 to get it... it's worth it to me to give Mom some comfort... a couple times each week she mentions her car and how Dad wanted her to have it and how it was built just for her.

What I don't want to do have problems with AAA since Mom has cashed their check and signed the Title... if the car is OK... we are happy to give the money back... also the fees keep adding up.

Anyone in insurance or loss recovery that knows how these things work?

Police said we should be there at 8 am to get the release and tow company said all they care about is the release and $650... but now, we no longer have the title....

It's not your mother's car anymore. As soon as she settled with the insurance company it became their property.

The plus side of that is that those impound charges are AAA's responsibility and not yours. Obviously, the downside is that you'll have to purchase the car back from the insurance company if you want it back. It's probably going to be branded "theft-recovery" on the title, which will diminish the value (which probably doesn't matter to you).

Your insurance company doesn't want anything to do with the car. Don't offer to return the settlement. Just ask them how much they want for the car and see what happens.

 

[Parkanzky]

Did put in a call and e-mail to adjustor...

The long holiday weekend will add hundreds more to the charges and the car is less than 2 miles from home...

It's been a sleepless night because a lot of people are getting a head start on a holiday weekend so who knows if I will hear back from anyone...

I very much want to bring her car home... just don't know if it will come back to bite me.

Maybe use her road service to have the car towed home... it's tied in with her insurance with the Auto Club...

Hauling that car home would, technically, be stealing it.

The car has been gone for almost half a year. Now is the time for a bit of patience. You have a call in to your adjustor. Let him do his job.

 

[ultrarunner]

True... but the police are the ones that called and told us where to pick it up...

The second part is insurance only settled on the vehicle... not the contents... sure, if it's all there... it might only add up to a couple of hundred at most and yet it's priceless to Mom.

I have no problem paying the $650 just to give her some closure...

All I know is storage is $80 per day... and after 15 days they process a lien sale... if I understand correctly.

I did ask if we can inspect and was told by tow company and verified by the law enforcement we need a police release to remove anything from the tow yard.

 

[dfkrug]

I was expecting the worst... from no wheels and stipped... body, tires, bumpers all look pristine... can't quite tell if the windshield is cracked.

When it was first stolen... officer said 80% are recovered in 72 hours... often with an empty gas tank... others
are just the leftovers... Mom's has been gone since February and now it is July.

Yeah, we were told 85% recovery rate when one of our cars was stolen. We got it
back 4 mo later.

If the yard will release the car to you with only the proof of registration, do it. Even if you
pay the outrageous fee. If not, then you have to wait until the ins company picks it up,
or transfers their ownership back to you.

In my experience, the ins company will be happy to sell you the car, and the price they
will want is a very low wholesale price, far less than you can sell it for, as-is, on CraigsList.
Or fix it up and sell it for more. The ins co will credit you the ransom fee.

You WILL have a Salvage Title since it was totalled out by the Ins co, which makes it worth
somewhat less. I have bought back cars & M/Cs this way.

 

[flyerdan]

Get it today. Let the insurance company know that you have it and if they want it, they can have it for the $650 and not the $1200 it would have been if they waited until after the holiday. Once clause in a policy is that it's the responsibility of the insured to do what they can to limit damage, and I'd opine that any jury will conclude that $80 a day is pretty da** damaging.

 

[ultrarunner]

Found a very sympathetic Deputy Sheriff that issued a personal property release... with release in hand... the tow company was more than willing... it was just there rules that nothing leaves without a release which I can understand to cover themselves.

Car does look a little worse for wear... and a few things than mean a lot to Mom were still there.

I do have a problem with CSAA... in no uncertain terms the car will go to auction with one accommodation... we will be permitted to bid which is a big exception because other than previous owner... all bidders are dealers, scrap yards and body shops...

It was pretty emotional but Mom felt better knowing her car wasn't just a burnt out hulk... if that makes sense...

It's like someone drove it around and just parked it...