The police found our car.
Hooray.
NOT.
I actually wish now that they had never found it, or at least they had waited until we officially mailed off the title to the insurance company and gotten our check. We were so close to having this headache resolved. Like, so close we could taste it. So close we had already planned how we were going to spend every dollar we received from the insurance company (all very wise expenditures, like paying off my car). Jared even flew home to North Carolina to pick up the title to his car (so we could sign it over to the insurance) and pick up my car so that we could eventually get home to North Carolina once we leave this wretched state.
But oh, the timing. Monday - the insurance company is ready to pay out. Just need to send them the title. Wednesday - Jared flies home to get said title. Thursday - Jared drives my Jeep back to Ohio, with said title in hand, ready to mail off. Friday - police find car and ruin everything.
Granted, this is exactly what we had been praying for - for the police to find our car. But the past few weeks have been so crazy, all I really want is for this to be over. But now that the car has been found, we have to deal with *picking the car up from the impound lot, **getting it repaired, and ***ordering new license plates from North Carolina (the plates were stolen).
*We drove the 2 hours to the impound lot today to see the car. We had to pay $55 just to retrieve our few personal belongings from the car. Seriously? I have to pay to get my own stuff out? We were not allowed to take the car, though, because it has no license plates. But it needs repairs anyway, so we got a tow truck to take it to the shop. As far as our belongings, they pretty much cleared us out. Seriously. They even took the emergency food (granola bars) Jared had hidden underneath the floorboard of his trunk. I had no hope for finding my phone or camera, but I was hoping to at least find my clothes or shoes or Jared's tools. But no, all gone. Even Jared's bike rack on top of the car was gone. Oh, but what did they leave for us? My Nalgene (filled with alcohol), our library books, and some cassette tapes. We felt pretty vindicated to find a $20 bill that we had hidden in the car. They may have stolen thousands from us, but we got our $20, suckers!
**Damage: We knew there would be a broken window because we saw broken glass where the car was stolen. Other than the window/door, there wasn't too much visible damage. The ignition is damaged - they obviously used a screwdriver or something to fiddle with the ignition to start the car. When we first tried to put the key in, it wouldn't fit. We finally got it in, but it will definitely need to be fixed. The antenna is also messed up, but that's minor. Mostly, the car was just trashed. It was filled with bottles, fast food wrappers, glasses...just trash in general. And the floorboards are soaked with alcohol. We were also disgusted to find that they actually used the ashtray as an ashtray. When Jared noticed that, he said, "don't they know what an ashtray is for? Storing coins!" All in all, not too bad. But I am not sitting in that vehicle until it has been sanitized.
***If any of you plan on having your car stolen, try to have it happen in the state where you live. Because having your car stolen out of state makes everything harder. Like trying to get new license plates. I called the NC DMV today and they said it will take 3-4 weeks for us to get new plates! We're only going to be in Ohio for 4.5 more weeks, so hopefully we get the plates in time to actually drive the car home. Because we are so not coming back.
The end...for now.
:)
Jen,
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that your insurance company won't give you the option of getting the insurance payout or taking your car back. If I were you, I would press the insurance co. to pay out on the policy; and they can keep your car.
-Josh
Wow... yeah, I would think the police finding your car would be a happy ending, but it definitely sounds like they put you in even more of a mess. Will the insurance company cover the repairs and cleaning on the car? It makes me absolutely sick that people think it's ok to take someone else's property and to trash it. I don't blame you one bit for hating Ohio... I hate Ohio too.
ReplyDeletePoor thing. Im glad I dont live in Ohio. Those theives are crazy, the ashtray is clearly for storing coins, duh.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever find out where they found the car? Was it illegally parked and then towed or towed because it was missing plates? Was it impounded at the police station or a private tow yard?
ReplyDeleteSarah - The only information they had was the address from where it was towed. But we have no idea why they towed it or where that address was. It was at the police impound lot.
ReplyDeleteJenn!! It's terrible!! I hate that you had to pay to collect your stuff. I sometimes wonder how this system is set up!! Cory had to pay almost $500 to get his stolen car out of the impound lot because they forgot to call and tell him that it had been found. I'm so irritated. I'm also going to call T-mobile and tell them how disappointed I am that they weren't better to you--not you specifically, but in hopes that when people get their phone stolen they could show a little compassion!!!
ReplyDelete