4 ms·

My car was stolen a year ago. If it wasn’t for the iPhone app tracker I had I never would have gotten it back. Police didn’t have any way to track it.

apazzolini 2y ago
If someone steals my car, I hope it's never recovered so I can get the insurance payout. Who knows how the thief drove it (e.g. put it in neutral and floored it for 10 minutes) and what unseen damage lurks.
- steelframe 2y ago
  If someone with a penchant for committing grand theft were left unsupervised in my car for any amount of time, I too would vastly prefer for it to be totaled at that point. Fortunately my car has a manual transmission, so chances are any idiot kid who tries to hop in my car and steal it will give up a few seconds after they realize that they have no idea how to operate it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtYLNFBeCr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtYLNFBeCr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S9putayloM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S9putayloM
- moneywoes 2y ago
  dont you have to pay A huge deductible?
  - bombcar 2y ago
    Depends on what your insurance policy says. For many people, even though insurance is just supposed to "make you whole" they end up with a better result after a payout, even with a $500 deductible or whatever. Often actual theft is deductible-free.
  - overstay8930 2y ago
    The deductible for a comprehensive claim is usually a lot lower, mine is only 100 USD while my collision deductible is 1k USD. Of course if you live somewhere with lots of crime this isn’t the case.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - beaeglebeachedd 2y ago
      Still if it's like my car,took 3 months to pay out. Meanwhile you're SOL renting or busing, then you get the honor of repaying tax, title, and registration to the tune of like 10%. Getting your car totaled really sucks .
TheDudeMan 2y ago
I suspect that you mean "Police told me they didn't have any way to track it." Maybe they had a way but no motivation.
- sidewndr46 2y ago
  This is more accurate. Police do not exist in the US to help you recover lost property
oldpersonintx 2y ago
[dead]
patmcc 2y ago
Bullshit (what the cops told you, to be clear, not what you're saying. I'm sure they did tell you they don't have a way to track it). The cops could absolutely track it. License plate readers are built into most cop cars and parking enforcement vehicles, they could call the carmaker, they could view cctv from the area, whatever. If it was something they actually cared about - like one of their cars, or a cop killer, or their promotion was riding on it - they'd track it down. It's just not worth the time for them to do it, probably because there's too many car thefts and not enough time given to them to look into them.
- hiatus 2y ago
  > The cops could absolutely track it. License plate readers are built into most cop cars and parking enforcement vehicles, they could call the carmaker, they could view cctv from the area, whatever. Maybe where you live that's true. Try going somewhere in upstate NY, or deep in West Virginia. The tracking technology is unevenly distributed.
  - bombcar 2y ago
    And it depends on why it was stolen. Joy ride? It'll turn up. Destined for a chop shop? Even if they do track it all they'd see is it leaving the city, never to be seen again.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- shadowgovt 2y ago
  And because there's too much friction to do so, since much of the data they'd need to sift to execute on your described scenario would involve multiple distinct warrants for multiple distinct data sources. ... now, if the data were, say, aggregated somewhere with low friction to police access...
hi-v-rocknroll 2y ago
I hid 4 AirTags and 2 Tile Pros in my vehicle. GFL finding them. The difference is that here, the police refuse to help if it's not a life-threatening emergency. I had the position of some AirPod Pros with an AirTag attached, and I watched it commute to a house. The police here refused to do anything about it. Another time, they refused to do anything about a stream of idiot tourists driving the wrong way on a one-way street right in front of them who couldn't get to anywhere, causing gridlock. If you ever want your stolen property back here, you must get a weapon and collect it yourself.

apazzolini 2y ago

If someone steals my car, I hope it's never recovered so I can get the insurance payout. Who knows how the thief drove it (e.g. put it in neutral and floored it for 10 minutes) and what unseen damage lurks.

steelframe 2y ago
If someone with a penchant for committing grand theft were left unsupervised in my car for any amount of time, I too would vastly prefer for it to be totaled at that point. Fortunately my car has a manual transmission, so chances are any idiot kid who tries to hop in my car and steal it will give up a few seconds after they realize that they have no idea how to operate it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtYLNFBeCr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtYLNFBeCr0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S9putayloM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S9putayloM
moneywoes 2y ago
dont you have to pay A huge deductible?
- bombcar 2y ago
  Depends on what your insurance policy says. For many people, even though insurance is just supposed to "make you whole" they end up with a better result after a payout, even with a $500 deductible or whatever. Often actual theft is deductible-free.
- overstay8930 2y ago
  The deductible for a comprehensive claim is usually a lot lower, mine is only 100 USD while my collision deductible is 1k USD. Of course if you live somewhere with lots of crime this isn’t the case.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - beaeglebeachedd 2y ago
    Still if it's like my car,took 3 months to pay out. Meanwhile you're SOL renting or busing, then you get the honor of repaying tax, title, and registration to the tune of like 10%. Getting your car totaled really sucks .

TheDudeMan 2y ago

I suspect that you mean "Police told me they didn't have any way to track it." Maybe they had a way but no motivation.

sidewndr46 2y ago
This is more accurate. Police do not exist in the US to help you recover lost property

oldpersonintx 2y ago

[dead]

patmcc 2y ago

Bullshit (what the cops told you, to be clear, not what you're saying. I'm sure they did tell you they don't have a way to track it). The cops could absolutely track it. License plate readers are built into most cop cars and parking enforcement vehicles, they could call the carmaker, they could view cctv from the area, whatever. If it was something they actually cared about - like one of their cars, or a cop killer, or their promotion was riding on it - they'd track it down. It's just not worth the time for them to do it, probably because there's too many car thefts and not enough time given to them to look into them.

hiatus 2y ago
> The cops could absolutely track it. License plate readers are built into most cop cars and parking enforcement vehicles, they could call the carmaker, they could view cctv from the area, whatever. Maybe where you live that's true. Try going somewhere in upstate NY, or deep in West Virginia. The tracking technology is unevenly distributed.
- bombcar 2y ago
  And it depends on why it was stolen. Joy ride? It'll turn up. Destined for a chop shop? Even if they do track it all they'd see is it leaving the city, never to be seen again.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
shadowgovt 2y ago
And because there's too much friction to do so, since much of the data they'd need to sift to execute on your described scenario would involve multiple distinct warrants for multiple distinct data sources. ... now, if the data were, say, aggregated somewhere with low friction to police access...

hi-v-rocknroll 2y ago

I hid 4 AirTags and 2 Tile Pros in my vehicle. GFL finding them. The difference is that here, the police refuse to help if it's not a life-threatening emergency. I had the position of some AirPod Pros with an AirTag attached, and I watched it commute to a house. The police here refused to do anything about it. Another time, they refused to do anything about a stream of idiot tourists driving the wrong way on a one-way street right in front of them who couldn't get to anywhere, causing gridlock. If you ever want your stolen property back here, you must get a weapon and collect it yourself.