Hey guys and gals,

I just wanted to let you all know that my car was stolen last night out of my driveway. Its most likly getting stripped as a type so please also keep your eyes open for a black SS hood and other "hot" parts for sale.

God I feel like shit. I expected to have that car until I was too old to drive.....

Jason "I feel like crying" S.

WOW !!! I'm so Sorry It must be this time of year or something, it seems like on EVERY message board I belong to someone has had there car stolen..... time to check and make sure all my stuff is locked, keys hidden, batteries removed, etc. etc. etc.

If I were you I would put a post up on: http://www.lvfbody.com/forum , 'Vegas is close and those guys may hear about something ???

SORRY !!! AGAIN ~DaVe

Damn Jason, there have been a rash of these lately. The last one was in Lousiana I think, but one or two others posted in that thread about stolen cars during the same time.

Was it driven or towed, or can you tell?

I'll keep an eye out, and if you have photos, I'll post them here, just mail them to me.

hmmm .... eyes peeled.

Damn! Sorry to hear. I'd keep a look out on eBay for SS parts. '96-'97 SS parts are rare.

if we see a UE-TA for sale, that'll be suspicious... but then again, chances are they have no clue what it is.
Sorry to hear about the bad news.

Damn, I know that feeling. Hope you find it or at least get some kind of closure.

Anything easy to spot about the car?

The UETA safety loop is easy to spot from the side or rear, even on a lowered car. You still have to get close to the ground, but you don't have to be under the car. It's probably easiest to see from the rear.

Damn Jason, I feel for you - have had that ticket punched myself. Will keep eyes peeled over here. Definitely get some pictures posted. I'm sure you have a CA license plate, may want to keep eyes open for that too (somehow).

PS - If you had ANY personal ID-related stuff in the car (insurance card, registration, etc.) you may want to contact Equifax or TRW and tell them about this, so in case some type of identity theft issue arises you will not take a hit on your credit rating or bank accounts. (Plus contact banks as well)

I hate car thieves....

Sorry to hear. Hopefully we'll all see a post here in a day that the car has been recovered with minimal damage.

Alan Blaine told me about this in the am - I have been visiting him in Santa Cruz at Blaine Fab. I hope a miracle occurs and you get it back the same way it was. So sorry buddy!

That's a bummer. I hope I hear good news shortly about its recovery.

This just sucks Jason, I don't know what else to say buddy!

How did they get pass the VATS system?

Sucks to hear. I'll do what I can.

We did have a rash of these a few years back. About 6 in a 3 month period in New Orleans. Found out they were copying VINs from the windshiled, tanking that to the dealership and having keys made. They said they had lost theirs. The guy at the dealership was either an idiot or in on it (was never indicted). Essentially, the perps had keys to everyone's cars. That's why most of us began putting business cards down our windshields over the VINs.

My neighbor's truck was stolen recently outside his house (Ford F-250) but unbelievably enough, it was recovered the next day, in relatively good shape (and still in the US...). Since my Z has now taken up the other half of the garage, my HD sits outside. I pull the starter and ECM fuses every night, along with the garage door opener. Cheap insurance, but they ain't gettin' my truck easy.

I hate car thieves...

I wonder if GM has a central database of all replacement keys that have been manufactured and sold. That might be a clue to tracking down a thief. I can tell you that I actually need a replacement ignition key for my Z28 (I only have one) and one of the popular GM internet parts vendors said that all I needed to do was email the VIN number. I asked whether they needed a copy of the title or registration and they said that they didn't need anything other than the VIN number.

It was towed or pushed. No broken glass, and the car was not started (at least not anywhere near my house). I suspect slim jim, and dent puller. I've been looking arround my house but so far haven't found anything.

Nothing that spectacular about the car, autopower roll bar, UE PHR brackets (red), UE TA safty loop, UE stickers on the lower front facia (red).

I'm definitly going to keep my eyes peeled for SS parts on ebay ect, but at this point I don't have much hope of getting the car back in tact...

The licence plate was Montana and the only "personal" info in the car was registration to a friends house in MT (so it won't help anyone steal my identity anyway).

Please cross post to any boards/lists you feel apropriate.

Thanks for the kind words and thoughts,

Jason S.

A dent puller won't get by VATS, unless you had it disabled. That leaves a slim jim and a way to tow it once they get the brake off/out of gear, or just use a "stinger" tow truck with the folding lance that grabs the rear tires.

That sucks. If you send me any photos, I'll toss them up in this thread for you.

The situation is of course different for a built car compared to stock, since we already abuse the cars ourselves and the components have more intrinsic value than normal.

However, if my car was stolen I don't think I'd want it back unless it had just been taken for a joyride and parked intact. A theft recovery will probably get a salvage title after all the stripped parts are replaced (probably with repro "crash" parts).

All in all, if finding some parts yields enough info to prosecute, great, but you might want to carefully avoid any chance of recovering the shell (granting that even the bare shell still has some custom fabrication on it).

Major bummer, hope all turns up for the best. A local guy had his stolen trailer recovered within a week, in tact no less. Hopefully karma gets the best of the perp.

If someone stole mine, I'm not sure I'd want it back, but I'd feel better if I found out that they wrapped it around something solid and were killed, or going to spend the rest of their life eating through a straw from the accident. I guess I'm just bitter like that though.

What did the police have to say?

This really sux. Good Luck on the hunt and kill of the theives.

What use are cops, other than as another form of taxation...

VATS was not disabled. I know from the neighbor who was home when the car was taken that it wasn't started, so hence the dent puller assssumption.

Some part of me still wants the car back. It was my first new car, and it has many, many hours of my blood sweat and tears. I realize the longer it goes without recovery the less likely any sort of recovery is....

Maybe the best thing to hope for at this point is that they find the shell in 20 days and I can buy it back from the INS company cheap as a starter AI car :-|

Jason S.

THIS is what was stolen, and IMHO should be insured against (well, plus dip thongs that don't carry insurance). All the little stupid crap I'll pay for out-of-pocket. I can buy CDs to invest my "Car Boo-Boo costs" payment money in. Just like fuel and oil change and new tires costs, fender-bender dings that cost less than $2K should be a factor in car ownership. When my pride and joy and life's work is taken from me by punks, I want my insurance to "make me whole" again. THAT'S how insurance should work.

Again, Jason, I'm so sorry to hear this news.

Christine

Wondered what could be said other than, "Sorry". Finally realized that for people who put as much of themselves in their cars as most of us do, the crime is closer to kidnapping than it is to simple theft. The sense of loss and violation is more personal than just the monetary and material loss. Perhaps you'll be one of the fortunate few to get your car back whole. In any event, be sure that those here understand the sense of loss you are feeling. Hope your luck improves.

I guess I can relate although on a smaller scale. I was heart broken when my car was keyed earlier this fall so I know how that kind of stuff feels sorry man.

I remember when my car was almost stolen from in front of my house 2 days after I got it, and I was pretty mad. Then I remember when my car was keyed on christmas eve last year and I felt sick to my stomache. I cant imagine what I would feel like if it was acually gone, thankfully its no motor in it right now. I hope the insurance company takes good care of you and maybe you can find something else that makes you happy.

For the most part, I generally refrain from attempts to say anything comforting or whatever, because I've learned that I suck at it. So, "what he said".

I'm hoping for the best for you.

sorry about your loss Jason

on the topic of cars being keyed, I might hold the record of 'how soon after purchuse did you got your car keyed' award. I had a car for 18 hours, day after I bought it, and she got keyed in the DMV parking lot while I was registering her inside. The next car we bought, basically a part chaser to run around town in, we bought pre-keyed. Nice long scrach all the way down the side.

That really sucks. I hope they find it and in 1 piece. I know how you feel. My 04 Dodge Ram was recently stolen, with my spare set of keys to my Camaro inside. About 1 month went by and I was actually walking out the door to go and buy a new Ram when the phone rang. It was the CHP and they had found my truck. It was missing the front clip and hood. The back window was broken out so I replaced it witha slider and the I replaced the hood witha SRT 10 hood. My truck is actually going to be better than before. I can also take some satifaction that the guy whom stole my truck is now sitting in jail. Not only was he busted for grand theft, but they also charged him with having a meth lab in his house and possesion. The SOB had a needle in his arm when the cop busted him. They also condemned his home and bulldozed it down. I wish I could have been the one driving that tractor.

As I have mentioned before on this board horsethieves were hanged by our forefathers. Wonder what our forefathers would do with these car-keyers? I would really like to know.........I like the gettin' "medieval on your ass" philosophy!

Thanks again guys and gals. If I have anything to report, I'll start another thread. I just wanted to say thanks, at least with you guys I know that someone else out there has the same feelings for their car(s) that I had for mine. To most people their car means as much to them as a couch or chair. Not so with us.

Jason S.

Sorry to hear about this. Reminds me how I felt when my old one got wrecked real bad (rear ended sitting at a stop light).

Sorry Jason - FWIW I'll keep an eye out here in Ventura Co...

Wow Jason. That really sucks I'll keep an eye for it.

Sorry dude. That really sucks.

kyle

Sorry to hear about the loss, Jason.
I hate to tell you this, but it's very hard to get over the loss of a car or motorcycle like this. I haven't replaced my street-legal Yamaha IT250 yet, and it still hurts, even after sixteen years. It was stolen on Christmas day, of all things.

About the only way to do it is by purchasing something that is more exciting than the first one.

...Might I suggest an LS1? It might help ease the sting.