Please keep an eye out for my black '86 Fiero GT stolen this morning (Nov 17th) from beside my house in Vancouver.

If you see it, please phone the police immediately.

I only had basic coverage on it. If it's not recovered, I don't get a cent from ICBC. I'm not too pleased at the moment...

[EDIT] Call off the hounds, I have the car. Explanation coming later in thread.

Frack that sucks A$$ royally.

I just sent this message out to both the club and chat lists.  Hopefully someone that is a driver sees the car and reports it in. 

"""

Details are at the below Link.  Please keep an eye out for it, if you see it, please call the Police.  The funny pin striping near the front turn signals is unique and no other Black Fastback GT has these.  So if you see, CALL DA POLICE.

"""

       I hate to say it, and I know you are already kicking yourself for it, but Fiero's are getting worth enough that Theft insurance is a major concern.   Even if you do get your car back, chances are the damage to the clutch/tires/suspension will at the least cost a fair bit, and thats hoping there is no body damage.

Keep everyone posted and give out a phone number.   That way if anyone see's it they can call you as soon as they call the police.

Yeah, I'm kicking myself for not having more coverage now. <sigh>

         Well at least you are getting familier with dropping engines and working on 4spds.  

     Get a call in to Chilliwack Pick-A-Part and ask if they have any steering columbs for Fiero's.   At the least you are going to need a new columb or parts of it, to replace the punched lock.   

I am sure there are a lot of guys in the club that will have assorted parts to help fix up the car.

Capt Fiero wrote: I am sure there are a lot of guys in the club that will have assorted parts to help fix up the car.

That's assuming my GT is recovered. Damn...

I have the car back.

I'll make a full report, but I've got a few phone calls to make first.

Well good to hear you found it.... Hopefully its in one piece still.

The car is fine, but I'm too rattled right now to type out details. I'll do so later. Thanks everyone.

What a fcuk of a morning.

Before anyone figures I jumped the gun or whatever, please read my entire post.

I live on a corner lot and I park my GT on the side street. I can see the car clearly from the kitchen window. Last night I came home and parked the GT in my usual spot and put the "club" on the steering wheel.

When I get up in the morning, I usually look outside to make sure the car hasn't been messed with. I'm pretty sure I looked early this morning, but I can't swear to it. It's just something that's done automatically. However, I do remember looking out later in the morning about 10 am and NOT seeing the car!

I immediately began to wonder if I had parked the car somewhere else. Was it in the driveway instead? I had to go look. No it wasn't there. What the fcuk!

Now here's where it gets... confusing.

Last Thursday the city had put up signs on my side on the side street indicating that street cleaning would be taking place. No dates were mentioned on the signs. All it said was that no parking was allowed between 7 am and 5 pm during the week. So on Thursday night I complied and parked the GT in my driveway.

On Friday the street cleaner made a run down the street and cleaned all the leaves up from along the curb.

From my experience living in Vancouver for 53 years, I've noticed it often takes several days for the city workers to remove the signs after the street has been cleaned. When the signs remained up over the weekend and all through Monday, I felt there was no problem parking in my usual spot on the side street on Monday evening. After all, the street sweeper had gone down my side of the street on Friday.

So this morning when I realized my car was GONE, the first thing I did was to phone the city to see if there was any chance that they had towed my car because of street cleaning. They told me to look "around the corner" and to check a two block radius around my property to see if my car had been given a "courtesy tow". What kind of a fcuking term is that... a "courtesy tow"??? I said what the hell, a two block radius is 16 freaking blocks to walk around looking for my car!!! I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but look at the "sample" map I've copied below. It's 16 blocks!

I protested that I didn't want to be wasting valuable time walking around and checking 16 city blocks if my car was actually stolen. I needed to be phoning the police sooner rather than later if that was indeed the situation. I said there must be some kind of a record kept of any cars that needed to be towed out of the way for street cleaning. They checked and they said that some cars had been towed the day before, but there was no record of any car being towed for street cleaning today. Great, the car must be stolen.

I phoned the non-emergency police number to report the car stolen. If you've ever phoned THAT number, you know how long it takes for anyone to answer! When I finally got someone, they double-checked with Buster's towing and reported that my car had NOT been towed. I was given a file number, and then I phoned ICBC. I was kind of shocked to find out that my basic insurance does NOT cover theft. If the car was gone for good, I was out whatever it's worth. That was certainly a slap in the face!

One thing that I also had not mentioned earlier was that ALL my tools were in the trunk because I've been working on another Fiero at Clynt's place. By this point I was feeling rather awful.

It took a considerable length of time to phone the city, the police, and ICBC. I finally put on a jacket and went for a walk around the neighborhood. Keeping in mind I was told by the city and the police that my car was NOT towed, I didn't expect to find anything, but I needed to go for a walk nevertheless. I got about a quarter of the way through the 16 blocks, and what did I see... my GT parked on the opposite side of my block!

You know, I guess I felt relieved, but I didn't feel elated. I was so fcuking pissed off that I had been told by both the city and the police that my car had NOT been towed.

I then had to phone the police to cancel the stolen car report. I also phoned the city and I have filed an official complaint. I explained that when street cleaning signs go up and the street is then cleaned by a street sweeper, it's assumed the street cleaning has been done and it's just a matter of time before the signs are taken away. How many people realize that a SECOND cleaning might be done SEVERAL DAYS later???

And if a car needs to be given a fcuking "courtesy tow" to get it out of the way, why isn't there some kind of a fcuking record kept so that people aren't led to believe that their fcuking car has been stolen???!!!

What a freaking waste of time. Not only my own, but everyone else's as well that I had to contact today.

Sorry for my language, but it's been quite a fcuking day.

I tried to cover all bases when I thought the GT had been stolen. I even posted the following under "auto parts" on Craigslist.

(I've since pulled the ad from Craigslist.)

-------------------------------------------------------

1986 Pontiac Fiero GT stolen - $123 (Vancouver)

Date: 2009-11-17, 12:33PM PST
Reply to: XXXXXXX ^{[ http://www.craigslist.org/about/help/replying_to_posts - Errors when replying to ads? ]}

Please don't support thieves by buying the wheels, custom vented hood, or any parts from my black 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT stolen the morning of November 17th from outside my house in Vancouver.

The license plate number is XXX XXX 

If you see this car, please phone the police immediately.

If you have any info, you could also email me at mnofony@yahoo.com

Thanks.

PostingID: 1470416905

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Patrick wrote: From my experience living in Vancouver for 53 years... ...I was kind of shocked to find out that my basic insurance does NOT cover theft

uhh, yeah.

Buddy wrote: Patrick wrote: From my experience living in Vancouver for 53 years... ...I was kind of shocked to find out that my basic insurance does NOT cover theft uhh, yeah.

Buddy, it's been quite a day. Thanks for your compassion and concern.

Well thats good you got it back, without damage.  I think its only an extra $10 a month to have theft added to my insurance.  It a good piece of mind.

     We had a rash of Fiero thefts a few years ago, I think 5 were stolen and recovered, hopefully that rash is over.  However you did have me worried for a bit there.

       Again glad you have it back.

     Sometimes the city works just don't have a clue.  Its not the first time I have heard bad things from them.

P.S. are they going to try and charge you for the tow?

Capt Fiero wrote: ...are they going to try and charge you for the tow?

Well, I believe their definition of a "courtesy tow" is a short tow "around the corner" (or within a radius of two blocks) that the vehicle's owner isn't charged for.

Dave, thanks for the kind words and for your help earlier today posting on the mailing list etc when it appeared that the GT was indeed stolen. Much appreciated.

 So did we break down and get theft ins today?

Capt Fiero wrote: So did we break down and get theft ins today?

Heh heh... no, not yet. I was back up at Clynt's place today working on my other Fiero. 

Is "theft" insurance something that can be bought through a private company, or is this part of the ICBC monopoly?

Romeo wrote: Man, that had even me concerned.

Thanks Tristan. Yeah, when we see how much time and effort (and sometimes even money) that each other in the club spends on our Fieros, it is a little bit disconcerting to think that some low-life has run off with one of our "babys".

So even though it was a false alarm, this can at least still serve as a wake-up call for myself and other club members to be better protected.

Patrick wrote: Capt Fiero wrote: So did we break down and get theft ins today? Heh heh... no, not yet. I was back up at Clynt's place today working on my other Fiero.  Is "theft" insurance something that can be bought through a private company, or is this part of the ICBC monopoly?

   I believe you can get it privately, however adding it to my policy and adding Autoplan Plus, (I think that was the name)  only came to an extra 10-15 bucks a month.  Its nut just theft, you also get coverage for vandalism, and a few other things. 

Roadfury wrote: There's a shock sensor too so if someone with a towtruck bumps your car too hard it'll either set it off and page you, or just page you

That might've come in handy for me yesterday.  

Capt Fiero wrote: Its not just theft, you also get coverage for vandalism, and a few other things.

I'll get a quote from a private insurance company as well for comparison purposes (of both the premiums and the deductibles), but I went to ICBC's site and found the following info on types of "theft" insurance.

http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/optional-vehicle/comprehensive - Comprehensive coverage

Comprehensive coverage protects your vehicle against a number of losses. As well as paying for repairs or a replacement windshield, it covers you if the vehicle is lost or damaged by any of the following:

The extra one I have is Roadside Plus, and was I think only 3 bucks more per month, but offers one hell of a piece of mind, plus a lot of savings in waivers of deductibles.

RoadSidePlus package

RoadSidePlus has eight important coverage options in one convenient, cost-effective package. Get Loss of Use, Vehicle Travel Protection, Rental Vehicle Coverage and more with RoadSidePlus.

You must have http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/optional-vehicle/collision#Variables._frag_ - Collision coverage  with a deductible of $1,000 or less to get RoadSidePlus.

Purchase RoadSidePlus directly from your http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/broker#Variables._frag_ - Autoplan broker .

What is included

• http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/roadsideplus/loss-use#Variables._frag_ - Loss of Use Coverage — Get a rental vehicle or reimbursement for replacement transportation when your vehicle is getting repaired or is a write-off in a claim.
• http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/roadsideplus/vehicle-travel#Variables._frag_ - Vehicle Travel Protection — Travel Protection coverage provides reimbursement for some of the expenses you may incur if involved in a motor vehicle crash or if the vehicle is stolen or vandalized while on a trip away from home.
• http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/roadsideplus/rental-vehicle#Variables._frag_ - Rental Vehicle Coverage — Feel unsure about the value of rental company insurance? You can be confident you are covered with this affordable package.
• http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/roadsideplus/family-travel#Variables._frag_ - Family World Wide Transportation — This coverage provides reimbursement for expenses incurred to bring your family members or members of their households to you if you have been involved in a vehicle crash.  For this coverage to apply, you or a member of your household must require immediate and ongoing medical life-support intervention in an intensive care unit of a hospital or registered medical care facility. Also, the vehicle crash must have occurred in Canada or the U.S. Family members must come within seven days of the crash.
• http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/roadsideplus/lock-rekey#Variables._frag_ - Lock Re-Keying — Don’t fret over stolen keys. Replace them and change the locks to stay secure.
• http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/roadsideplus/theft-deductible#Variables._frag_ - Theft Deductible Waiver — No need to pay the deductible if your vehicle is stolen. You are even covered if it was a failed attempt.
• http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/roadsideplus/destination-assist#Variables._frag_ - Destination Assistance — This coverage provides reimbursement for costs incurred to commence or complete a journey when your RoadSide Plus-insured vehicle is unavailable due to collision, theft or vandalism.
• http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/roadsideplus/emergency-roadside#Variables._frag_ - Emergency Roadside Expense Repayment — Get covered for expenses if your vehicle is disabled after a breakdown or other emergency.

Capt Fiero wrote: The extra one I have is Roadside Plus, and was I think only 3 bucks more per month... You must have http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/optional/optional-vehicle/collision#Variables._frag_ - Collision coverage  with a deductible of $1,000 or less to get RoadSidePlus.

Ah, that's the catch... collision coverage. I'd have to factor in what the collision coverage would cost as well. I haven't had collision coverage for at least 30 years!

 Well even thought I have not had an "at fault" accident in 17 years, I do drive like a maniac and one of these days I am know I am going to slide into something like a tree / ditch / other non movable object.    One of these days my driving habits are going to bite me in the arse and I'll be glad I have it.