A few weeks back, my father’s Toyota Corolla got stolen. Thankfully it wasn’t the strong-arm variety. The car was parked at his work when it got borrowed without permission. A vagrant waltz in through an open door and took, amongst other things, my father’s jacket. In it was unfortunately the car keys. I’m sure my father has learned his lesson of leaving any key unattended and away from him.
First order of business upon learning your car’s been stolen is to call the non-emergency police line to file a report. Then it’s a call to the insurance company so that whatever dangerous stunts the thief may pull, you’re not liable for. Then I guess you just wait to hear back from the police? Surely after a certain period (weeks?) the insurance would deem the car irretrievable, and cut you a check for the present value of the car.
That is, if the car is comprehensively insured.
Having to buy a replacement vehicle would not be the ideal outcome for us, because the car market right now remains insane. Due to the chip shortage, new and used car prices are super inflated. Even if the insurance check is large enough to cover the inflation, finding a car to buy is a challenge in it of itself. Car shopping these days is not fun at all, even if you’ve got the money. There just aren’t that many on the dealer lots to go around.
Lucky for my dad, police found the Corolla abandoned on a street some hours after the report was filed. It was then towed to an impound lot. It took about two weeks for the case to close, then we were able to go retrieve the car. No charge of any impound fees, which is nice and unexpected. The only expense out of this ordeal will be getting a new second key and recoding both at a Toyota dealership.
Blind leading the blind.