Not a good day...

[Jolt]

Actually, the day was fine until I got back to the train station after class, got to my car and found it had been broken into!! The passenger side window was smashed and my GPS (which was hidden in the center arm rest compartment) was stolen; the windshield mounting system was up and that's how they figured out to look for it. (Those mounting systems are not designed to be taken down every time you leave the car, or I would have--once that thing is up it's really hard to remove). I called the police and they said they had gotten a number of calls about cars being broken into in that lot today, and told me to call another department in the morning that they were referring people to for the report. So now I have to call my insurance company tomorrow morning and report this too, before I go to this healthcare job fair. Then I was talking to my friend and told her what happened, and realized that because I had "home" programmed into the GPS now the thief knows where I live!! Now THAT is scary. My friend said I should call the police back, so I did, and they are sending someone over to the house to take a report. I'm waiting for them now; hopefully it won't be too long.

[tzvia]

Oh man, I hate those people. I had my full kit stolen from my truck, along with other things and it burned me up bad so I know how you feel. And WOW, having HOME programmed in- I never thought that it might get stolen and they now know where you live- I am going to reprogram mine to a major cross street address near the home, like a gas station or 7-11 store at the corner, so it will take me to an area I know if I am using it from an unfamiliar location. When my mother's car was broken into, they went for the airbags and made a mess of her dash, had it all apart... The smash and run types just want the quick grab and a GPS is a good haul I guess.

I have a mount attached to my dash, but it's in real solid and I'm not keen to remove it so will have to cover it up somehow.

[Mr. Bloom]

Wow! Unintended consequences of having something useful! Frankly, I wouldn't have thought that a GPS would be a target if it involved breaking the glass. Did the parking lot have video surveillance?

[Blueberry]

Wow! Unintended consequences of having something useful! Frankly, I wouldn't have thought that a GPS would be a target if it involved breaking the glass. Did the parking lot have video surveillance?

They're a major target around here too. I don't have one - and that's part of the reason. Cars get broken into all the time for them, sadly:mad::mad::(

CA

[OakLeaf]

I'm sorry that happened to you. :(

[Crankin]

That's terrible, Jolt. Even though the GPS in my husband's
car is built in, he has our address in there with a fake house number. I hope the police are nice to you!
Come to think of it, the last time we had anything stolen, it was in Worcester. Someone stole the ASU trailer hitch cap off of our SUV when we were at an AMC dinner. I hope those people are happy they stole Sparky and his Sun Devil nature does something bad to them.

[sfa]

Oh no!!! I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this. My car was broken into once (for a first aid kit! I hope the idiot needed it after breaking my window) and it was such a pain dealing with the police reports and insurance and everything.

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying that this guy now has your home address. It sounds like he was stealing multiple things from multiple victims and has more than likely already sold the stuff off.

Sarah

[Jolt]

Well, the officer came last night and got the report, and when I mentioned my concern about the thief now having my home address he said that really isn't an issue--they have never had somebody use that information to target a home and he said all the thieves care about is getting things to sell, usually for drug money (ugh) and the GPS units are the current popular target. So that was a relief. To whoever asked if the lot had video surveillance, unfortunately it doesn't. I'm getting ready to call the insurance company now so I can get my busted window fixed before the snow comes tomorrow, then I have a job fair to go to.

[Jolt]

OK, so I called the insurance company and there is no deductible for glass (excellent!), and they said I could use any shop so I called the Toyota dealer and asked for their recommendation. The glass guy will come to the house this afternoon and fix the window, and the insurance company will take care of the billing. Unfortunately they don't cover things stolen out of the car so I will be responsible for that part, but can't complain too much since I won't have to pay anything for fixing the window. Now it's time to get ready for that job fair...

[derailed]

I'm so sorry this has happened to you!
It's really scary. I'm glad it was just "stuff", and that you weren't hurt!

[Tuckervill]

Doesn't your homeowner's insurance cover theft of your property?

It may not be as much as your deductible, but still.

I can't remember if it was our auto or homeowner's that covered when my husband's truck was broken into and absolutely everything for a 2 week vacation was stolen (but not the bikes!).

This is one reason I want to replace my stock stereo with a unit in the dash before I get a GPS.

Karen

[OakLeaf]

Stuff stolen out of the car would go under your auto insurance. So the glass plus the GPS might be enough to get over the deductible, depending what it is, but maybe not enough to claim. :(

[ASammy1]

Where I used to live, items stolen from a car fell under Homeowner's/Renter's Insurance... Just a thought.

[Crankin]

The glass won't count as part of the deductible. In MA, glass replacement is free (as long as you have a certain minimum of coverage).

[ny biker]

This type of theft has been happening around here for a while now. Police advise that you remove the mounting device and also clean off the ring that the suction cup leaves on the glass -- thieves see the ring and that's enough for them to break into the car.

After stealing the gps, I think they usually reset them to clear out all the data, so it can't be traced back to its owner. Then they then sell them.

A friction dashboard mount is a good alternative, because it stays put while you're driving but is easy to remove from the car when you're not in it.

[Jolt]

I am glad the window was able to be fixed yesterday since we're getting snow today!! And yes, the glass replacement was free which is great. When I replace the GPS I am definitely getting a friction mount to use instead of the windshield mount so I can stash all the evidence when leaving the car. Then, hopefully, it won't happen again. And I will also try not to park in the back corner of that train station lot--usually I park on the side next to the (busy) street but on Monday I just took the first spot I saw which was tucked back in the corner giving the jerk more cover for his rotten activities. Where I usually park, there would be a lot more chance of somebody seeing that sort of thing so it's probably less likely to happen.