My younger brother flew out to Perth for a few weeks last Saturday and (obiously) left behind his car. Last night on my way to basketball (which we won, yay! 54-17) I stopped round at my parents place (he still lives with my olds) to dsconnect the battery for him so the battery wouldn't end up flat. Obviously the alarm no longer worked or the central locking either. No problem I thought. So I did that, went to basketball and taught the opposition a lesson and was feeling pretty good this morning. Then just before leaving for work my mum calls, sounding pretty upset. She said that someone broke into my bros car and stole his stereo and could I come around and hook up the battery so she could move it into the garage (they have a 2 car garage and 4 cars - go figure??). So I was thinking yeah they jimmied open one of the doors and took the face plate off the stereo, no biggie). So off I went, but I wasn't in any way prepared for the damage done to his car. Mum met me out the front in tears, I knew something more than the stereo face was missing. Basically it seemed that the scum tried to open the boot first - the barrel lock on the boot was stuffed and the badge was missing - but they couldn't get in, so they proceeded to smash the passenger side window. They have then riped off all the plastic surrounds - and I do mean all the plastic surrounds - around the stereo and taken the whole head unit. But that was just the start, they have then bent the back seat and stolen his amp and subs as well. I was feeling - and still am feeling - extremely pissed off at this. Whoever did it obviously knew exactly what they were doing and knew exactly what was in the car. Cause they knew he had an amp and subs in the back. One of mums neighbours noticed some suspicious people driving past yesterday and it seems whoever did it lives in the same street as my olds. If I ever get my hands on whoever did this, well you may see me driving down the freeway in a white bronco..... Anyone else had their car broken into and stuff stolen from them? Did you ever catch who did it? Also (keep in mind I'm in Australia) as far as insurance goes, does this fall under house (building/contents) or car insurance? (car was parked on the property in the driveway). Cause a friend also had his car broken into and stuff stolen and I seem to remember that the stuff stolen fell under house insurance cause it was parked in the property.
This happened to me about 5 months ago ~ they smashed the passenger window (it was tinted as well) - broke parts of the dash out - stole the stereo - speakers/sub - took about a decade span of my rare music most of which will be tough to get again. Very frustrating.
Frustrating. I know what you mean, the car and the posessions aren't even mine but I really feel for him. He's good kid and doesn't deserve this.
Somehow I just can't say I'm surprised, but I am amazed at how accurate that Aussie stereotype is. Woo! Alright Ned Kelly!
A few months ago I caught a guy trying to jack my stereo. he had taken off the face plate and was in the process of takingthe deck. But I, luckily showed up with some friends just in time to see him run away. I didn't think much of it at first, just some guy running, then as I neared my truck I noticed that my passenger side door was open and the face plate was on my bench! (I own a truck) I was lucky. I'm more careful on where I leave my truck now.
I have thought about getting a cd player and subs for my car as well, but the biggest reason why i chose not to, is because of theft. Driving around with your system blasting is fun, but it also opens you up for idiots who notice it, and want to take it.
I had a side window shot out by one of the little kids and a BB gun.. other than than nothing big.. I was about 350 to get a new one..
Chuck, I dont know if insurance companies do it the same way as over here....but when I had my car broken into and my stereo and tapes stolen at my parents house...it was covered under the homeowners policy. tough luck man...its unfortunate that folks are so lazy they cant be bothered to get stuff for themselves legally...and feel the need to take someone else's hard-earned stuff. but look at it this way...at least the insurance should help cover most of it.
This happened to me more than once although never at my current home. The homeowners or renters insurance I had always covered it.
With my older car, I left it at a friend's house to have some work done on it and the window was broken out with a rock and the CD player was stolen out of it.
R2k and Jeff are right. In the US homeowners covers the stuff stolen out of the car and your auto insurance will cover the damage to the car. New Years eve about 8 years ago my car was broken into and the theif stole about 100 CD's, my stereo, amp, sub, and some clothing. THankfully I had all the cd's in a carry case. I brought all the individual cd cases to the insurance company as proof of how many cd's were stolen. I also had a good friend that worked for a car audio store and he printed up a receipt for me for all the equipment. I ended up getting back the ammount I had lost. I never did get any of my stuff back, even though we had a pretty good idea who had done it.
It's a good idea to backup your CD's, keeping the masters at home and using the backups in the car. It's still a lot of work to replace the backups by re-burning, but at least you still have the originals. I've backed up all my Disney DVD's. If my kid ever scratches 'em, they can't be replaced (many of them are nor longer available). (Oh my! Look at that! A legitimate reason to make duplicates of your personal media!)
As long as it's attached to/assembled as part of the car, it goes under car insurance. I sure hope your brother has all his receipts! I had my car stolen once. My insurance agent basically said, "in about a week you'll get a call and your car will be found off 45 north. It'll be stripped. And they'll try to tell you how much monetary damage was caused. Tell 'em you don't want to have it all replaced and you just want a check to buy a new car. Trust me. It won't ever be the same again." That guy was spot on. About a week later the cops called and found my car up in the northern part of Houston just off 45. They took not just the seats, but the seat BELTS. Stereo. Everything out of the dashboard. Glove compartment. It was a frame and an engine.
My only experience so far was someone tried to break into the car by busting the driver's side lock. They busted it, but apparently didn't get in since my ignition was fine and nothing was stolen from inside. I was pissed at that. I can't imagine returning to find my car was completely trashed.
My car was stolen last week. They recovered it two days later. Very little damage -- just the steering column messed up. Cops said it happens all the time. That they recover about 80% relatively undamaged. Like a great big car sharing cooperative -- only without the owners consent. Another little world I knew nothing about.
Yeah, homeowners or renters insurance should take care of that sort of thing. Still pisses you off, though.
A few months ago a family member of mine parked her car on the street over night outside of another relatives house. Anyway the next day she went back to get her car and found some b@stard had poured something over the roof and tryed to burn it. Her car insurance paid for the damage.
