I'll start this by saying MY car was not stolen, but my friend Becca's 2020 Hyundai Elantra was stolen last weekend.
She's already looked at joining the class action suit about the cars being easy to steal with a USB cord. She's already talked with the police and they're looking for the vehicle.
What's the next step? Buy a new car? Wait in the hopes that hers is returned? She unfortunately didn't have comprehensive, so insurance has told her to pound sand.
What would be a cheap reliable car for a 28 year old woman who puts about 45,000 miles on a vehicle every year? She doesn't do any maintenance herself, and she lives too far away for me or Miles to check on the car for her, so it needs to be something she can have maintained by a shop for not too much money.
calteg
SuperDork
9/21/23 11:56 a.m.
How long has it been missing? That would determine my next steps
In reply to calteg :
It was stolen on Saturday night, and she reported it first thing on Sunday morning. So it's been missing for less than a week.
45,000 miles per year?? That's a TON of driving. Is it for work? Does she get a mileage reimbursement or anything?
No money (because nearly new car stolen) plus tons and tons of miles means 2nd-gen Prius. She should go to that dude in Tampa who refurbishes them.
45 thousand miles per year!?!
I'd be looking for a Prius.
My solution involves violence.
And I'm not a cop, but I'm pretty sure the odds of finding it are basically zero after a week. It's probably totaled and dumped in the woods somewhere.
Does it have any sort of GPS or monitoring or anything that can help track it down?
No GPS monitoring or anything, but whoever stole her car drove another stolen car to her apartment parking lot, left it there and took her car. The cops are hoping the same thing will happen when they get tired of her car, but it's not looking too likely.
She's located in TX and her family is located in NY, and she drives there pretty often. No clue how she's put that many miles on the car but it's certainly impressive.
Oof, that really sucks. Without comprehensive, there is likely nothing else that can be done. If they find the car, it will probably be totaled, requiring lots of repair and a salvage title. So I would say your friend should be looking a replacement no matter what happens. I agree with getting a Prius.
Obviously too late now, but I would never consider owning a car that new and expensive without full coverage. If you can't afford the insurance, you can't afford the car. It has to be factored into cost of ownership.
Katie, are you sure she didn't have comprehensive? Lenders typically require it on any car purchases with a loan.
Apparently she didn't have comprehensive, but the lender had it and her payments were more expensive because of it.
Ah. This is a good opportunity to learn that any asset securing a loan needs to be insured, and if you don't go get your own insurance, lenders will typically purchase it for you--at a higher premium and often without naming you alongside themselves as an insured.
TL;Dr: It's expensive to not have money, and the system is geared to keep people poor.
Margie
Katie Wilson said:
Apparently she didn't have comprehensive, but the lender had it and her payments were more expensive because of it.
So will that insurance pay off the loan?
Look, I'm just here for the Prius content. Did she go get one yet?
jharry3 said:
Katie Wilson said:
Apparently she didn't have comprehensive, but the lender had it and her payments were more expensive because of it.
So will that insurance pay off the loan?
That is definitely the key question. Otherwise, she's out the car, but still owes whatever the balance on the loan was, plus has to shell out for a new vehicle.
I'd like to know whether her car had the anti-theft software update done. We got the recall service on our van performed last week.
calteg
SuperDork
9/21/23 3:40 p.m.
In reply to Katie Wilson :
Yeah, it's likely gone for good, they might find the chassis in a field somewhere in a few months. I'd be looking for the nicest early 2000's Corolla I can find on CL
Katie Wilson said:
Apparently she didn't have comprehensive, but the lender had it and her payments were more expensive because of it.
The first thing she needs to do is contact the lender (or the insurance company if she has that info) and determine what the insurance process is, how long it's going to take and if there's going to be any balance on her loan after the insurance payout. That'll help determine her next steps.
My turn was stolen and after nothing for 2 weeks, my insurance considered it a total lost. Then the real battle begins; fighting your insurance about the value of your truck. My insurance tried to give me $8k for a very nice condition fully loaded 4x4 diesel F250 with maintenance records from brand new that wasn't even 10 years old lol. Went back and forth for months before they gave in to me sending them ads and comps of identical trucks from all over.
docwyte
PowerDork
9/22/23 9:46 a.m.
Comprehensive really doesn't cost all that much, I'm shocked she didn't have it on such a new car. Any reason why not?
docwyte said:
Comprehensive really doesn't cost all that much, I'm shocked she didn't have it on such a new car. Any reason why not?
This was my first thought.
I've never heard of lenders purchasing the insurance for the vehicle vs it being the responsibility of the borrower. But of course, insurance laws vary widely state-by-state.
I cannot believe anyone doesn't have the proper coverage on a new and loaned car.
z31maniac said:
docwyte said:
Comprehensive really doesn't cost all that much, I'm shocked she didn't have it on such a new car. Any reason why not?
This was my first thought.
I've never heard of lenders purchasing the insurance for the vehicle vs it being the responsibility of the borrower. But of course, insurance laws vary widely state-by-state.
Many loan contracts have that in them, if YOU don't have the insurance they will buy it and charge you for it. That being said, if they did buy it, it will pay the value of the vehicle, and that will go towards the balance of the loan, they can not double dip.
I just wanted to hop on here and give an update- the car has been found! Becca is picking it up today, and while it has some damage to the steering column and ignition it sounds like it's in one piece.
I've already talked with her about adding comprehensive to her policy, I think in light of recent events she'll see why it's necessary.
