So my son gets his car stolen in San Fran . . .

[Tele 'til You're Smelly]

. . . and it turns up 2 weeks later, and is now in an impound lot. They want him to pay $500 to get it out. It's worth about $1,000 and would need a few hundred $ to get the ignition fixed. Or he can sign it over to them and forgo the impound fee.


Sounds like a racket to me- any creative solutions?

[bergbryce]

Don't use the term "San Fran" when discussing the issue with the impound guy.

[Tele 'til You're Smelly]

hey it's not like I said 'frisco

[Nurse Ben]

My daugher's mountain bike gets stolen off her car in Seattle, she makes a report, the bike has a registration for the University of Utah, so a few weeks later she gets a call from the Seattle PD, the bike was identified by a pawn shop. We call the pawn shop and they tell us that it's $500 to get it out of pawn. The bike is worth maybe $600 IF it's still in good shape.

It's a racket, they know it, and that's all there is to that!

What I want to know, is who in the hell would steal a $1000 car??

[Hindfoot]

My daugher's mountain bike gets stolen off her car in Seattle, she makes a report, the bike has a registration for the University of Utah, so a few weeks later she gets a call from the Seattle PD, the bike was identified by a pawn shop. We call the pawn shop and they tell us that it's $500 to get it out of pawn. The bike is worth maybe $600 IF it's still in good shape.

It's a racket, they know it, and that's all there is to that!

What I want to know, is who in the hell would steal a $1000 car??

Seems I've heard that mainly older cars are the ones being stolen because the security electronics on the newer ones make them too hard to steal.

[bergbryce]

There are probably economist terms for the following analysis, but I don't know them, so bear with me....

In this situation, since $1000 isn't much money, I think you should look at the less dollar centric "values" of the car.
Is the car dependable and likely to be dependable for as long as your son needs it? How difficult will it be to replace?? Personally, I think a $1000 car that starts every time and gets you where you need to go is worth a lot more than $1000 in cash. Cars like this can be difficult to replace for that amount of money too.

Take into account the "costs" of things like time to get a new car registered, licensed, insured, etc. vs. paying the fee and getting it back.

The impound thing could be a racket. What about that other racket that is supposed to cover rackets like this, insurance??

[telorti]

Be sure to ask them, "Hey man, are you gonna find these guys.....or, ya know, I mean,...ya got any promising, ah, ah, leads er?" Sorry, I just had to........

[bergbryce]

And what about the Creedence??

[twopass]

What I want to know, is who in the hell would steal a $1000 car??

Easy.

Some crack/meth/junkie who's gonna' do a b&e and just needs temp transportation to quick move the booty to a safe house/pawn shop/fence.

They like hatchbacks, my neighbours Civic got stolen twice from right in front of the house before he clued in and started putting a club on the wheel.

Some ********** did like $1000.00 damage to my $1000.00 car attempting to steal it. Cost me $400.00 in deductible etc.

[mchin]

And what about the Creedence??

"That rug really tied the room together."

[cesare]

We got the boys in the crime lab workin' in shifts.

[aqua toque]

What I want to know, is who in the hell would steal a $1000 car??

Maybe the barge abducted and probed it.

[chamonix]

. . . and it turns up 2 weeks later, and is now in an impound lot. They want him to pay $500 to get it out. It's worth about $1,000 and would need a few hundred $ to get the ignition fixed. Or he can sign it over to them and forgo the impound fee.


Sounds like a racket to me- any creative solutions?

Go to the impound lot, then call "911" and tell the Police you have found your stolen car. Get the Police to show up at the lot, then ask the guy holding your car to show the title docuemnt. Tell the Police it's your car, and here is the Title and registration in your name...and you want your car back...

Worth a try?

[jones]

Well, you guys beat me to most of the good lines, except perhaps, "did they leave it lodged against an abutment?" And then you say, "Oh geez, lodged where?"

All seriousness aside, what a pain in the ass. Stories like this just make me more and more cynical about how we do business in Murica. Every day the racket gets louder and louder...

[chamonix]

My daugher's mountain bike gets stolen off her car in Seattle, she makes a report, the bike has a registration for the University of Utah, so a few weeks later she gets a call from the Seattle PD, the bike was identified by a pawn shop. We call the pawn shop and they tell us that it's $500 to get it out of pawn. The bike is worth maybe $600 IF it's still in good shape.

It's a racket, they know it, and that's all there is to that!...

NB, your daughter shouldn't have to pay to get the bike back from the Pawn shop. It was stolen property! Have her go down there with the Stolen bike Police Report, and the wrestling team, or some burly friends. Don't let on anything initially; ask to see the bike, take a picture of it, then call the police and say you have found your stolen bike, but this guy (pawn shop owner) wants you to buy it back from him. See what happens then..

good luck!