My minivan appears to have been stolen

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Yes, folks ..the guinea pig test platform was missing this morning from in front of the house. I found out when my wife asked me where it was at around 10am. I didn't "panic" (didn't panic either way) because I thought that, perhaps, my older daughter may have used it since her Taurus battery was dead yesterday at the local college (she left her lights on) ..and it may have killed the battery.

..but then she arrived home in her Taurus ...
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I can't find my keys. There was the distinct possibility that they got left in the van. My wife and daughters life guard at an apartment complex and yesterday I relieved my wife @ 5pm (a lifeguard is not required - just a sensible standard thing) and she took the minivan home. Given the "no pockets" bathing suit situation and the multiple items that she was carrying into the house, I can see the keys not making the trip or being dropped.

I still have full coverage on this vehicle (it's not much) so, I'll get whatever the total value is on it after 30 days ..but I'm sure it won't cover my long block (about 10k on it) nor the many hundreds of $$ in my acquired heat exchangers and whatnot "rigging" that I have under the hood. This is a beater and the most trouble that we've ever had is someone rifling through cars looking for spare change or drugs ..or guns ..or whatever ..but little vandalism or car theft. The biggest theft in our community is bicycle theft ..where low lifes caught on the other side of town use them for alternative transportation to get back to the other side of the tracks. There are also organized bike theft rings that reconfigure them and sell them at flea markets and whatnot.

I hope that this wasn't a theft for parts. As you'll note in the "top ten" cars stolen ..the 94 Caravan appears to be on just about every list. I assume that this is a body part thing ..since I reason that all existing resources are in the field. I imagine that a 92 is in a like status
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Alas ..poor guinea pig..I knew it well.


Oddly, one of my first thoughts was "what will I use as a test platform?"
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My daughter's 3.0 Vulcan appears to be the next reasonable test subject. She actually suggested this without me saying anything in our anxiety relieving comical discussion before I went down to the police station.

Maybe they'll give Bruceblend® Gary's superduty 0w-10 a good healthy run in the process.
 
That is bad news.

Hopefully luck will be on your side, and it was just taken as a joyride, and will be recovered in a condition that you are willing to take back.
 
Aside from some damage/injury being inflicted on someone else, my fear is that it was stolen for parts and will be destroyed. Beyond that, if it gets cracked up, any damage will total it.

I too hope to get a call that it's just sitting somewhere abandoned. I wonder if my road service rider will apply to my recovery if towing is involved
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(no-I don't really care all that much about that fee).
 
Dang Gary. Sorry to heat that. I hope you get it back.

Last year someone tried to steal my son's 94 GC. They broke the right front window to get in, then punched out the ignition, but apparently CryCo booby trapped the steering
lock. It was locked up solid. had to have a tow truck come take it to the body shop for repairs. Earlier models, you could just jerk the lock with a slide hammer puller, then stick a big screwdriver in and crank it up.
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With the keys in it, it seems to me that it was too easy for someone to steal. My uncle started his car one day to let it warm up (winter), ran inside to finish getting ready for work, came out and it was gone. Called the police and they found it down the road aways. It was an '89 perlude that had seen better days, theif might have looked at the car and said "worthless" or it could have been a deadbeat moving himself down the road a bit quicker. Maybe a minivan is good for hauling stolen bicycles? A guy I worked with had a old chevy lumina, got stolen one night, cops found it in a field, somebody had just taken it out for a joyride. Car was bent up, looked like it had been airborne.
 
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A guy I worked with had a old chevy lumina, got stolen one night, cops found it in a field, somebody had just taken it out for a joyride. Car was bent up, looked like it had been airborne.




I had a flatbed truck stolen a few years ago - a couple of months later it was recovered in the middle of nowhere in the next county south. The thieves swapped out the good tires for junk, and the windshield was broken, but it was drivable.

At least until the head gasket blew at the county line on the return trip .
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Maybe Chrysler got wind of your experiment and are stealing your research to make their engines last forever with their new lifetime warranty.
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Sorry to hear that. No matter what the value, any theft leaves you feeling violated.
 
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Your van will be recovered 3 months from now. It will have a fresh Jiffy Lube sticker in the window.




Maybe the van's engine will, due to the thin oil, seize during a chase following a botched heist.
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All of my hard scrounged (ebay) hardware ...gone.. 2 Eaton Fuller heat exchangers ...one Hayden air:eek:il cooler ...a Permacool thermostat ...about $200 worth of fittings....
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Wah-wah-wah.....
 
Hopefully it doesn't end up on the news involved in a high speed police chase. Is it possible some teenagers took it for a joy ride ?
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Truly, genuinely sorry about the van. I can picture the folks that stole it popping the hood and going: "A throw rug? What kind of backwards hick cobbled this heap together?" No respect for the cobbled octopus heap. Then again, maybe they knew well enough to examine it first and they're improving/patenting your invention as we speak. Somehow I think not though. I really hope you get it back, in all seriousness.
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I really wouldn't be surprised to see it abandoned locally. Swap a plate ..run it til the tank is dry ..give away or sell some of the tools that were just laying around in the back (not a whole lot).

I was fully confident that it was such a beater that no one would ever EVER consider it for theft.

I've grown somewhat attached to the POS.

Well, for now, I don't have to plan to replace that short side axle that had a little runout at low speed.

Like that throw rug, Julian? I thought it added just that right touch of " 'billy rigged" look to it (yes, ethnics apparently have their own term for questionable waspy-engineering
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Just got off the phone with the insurance guy from State Farm. He took down the usual information. He said that they usually settle in two weeks. I know, by law (or so I was told), they have to settle in a month ..but State Farm appears to like to clear all of their details as quickly as possible. He figures the number at $2500 ..which doesn't cover my cost on my long block ..but I never kept coverage on it for any other reason than replacement vehicle money.

He said that once I settle (for their "offer"
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I'm guessing that there's wiggle/fight/claw/nag room on the figure) that even if it's recovered, I don't get the option of buying it for the residual. The guy's taking a vacation next week ..so that will extend it to 3 weeks ..which may up the likelihood of find it. They'll cover repairs up to a high % of the total figure.

He said older vans are either taken for parts ..or, with pickups included, are stolen specifically for transporting booty from burglaries. Naturally, State Farm's main concern is their liability for damages caused by the vehicle. Remedy always follows the money.
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Tough call. Time to scour the PA autotrader and see what similar vans sell for and use that to negotiate a value. Don't accept nothing until you have a number you are satisfied with.
Is it a PA or State Farm thing that they won't let you do a buy back?

Alex.
 
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