Stolen Car Recovered With 11,000 More Miles -- and Lyft Stickers (sfgate.com) 119
The San Francisco Bay Area has more car thefts than any region in America, according to SFGate.com. A National Insurance Crime Bureau report found that between 2012 and 2014, there were an average of 30,000 car thefts a year just in the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and Hayward. But one theft took a strange turn. An anonymous reader quotes their report: Cierra and Josh Barton purchased a new Honda HR-V at the beginning of summer. It was stolen while parked in front of their Livermore apartment complex at the end of August. Four months later, Hayward police called the Bartons to say they had recovered the vehicle... What they found, to their surprise, was a car in relatively good shape -- a few dents, a rattling hood. But in the back and front windows were Lyft stickers, Cierra Barton said.
The odometer had spiked from 2,000 miles to more than 13,000. And in the back seat, Cierra said she found a pillow, a jacket and a stuffed animal. "It wasn't burned out, it wasn't gutted, but it appeared to be have been used as a Lyft," she said. That, Cierra added, was even worse than she imagined. "Not only did someone steal our car, they made money off it!"
Lyft says that "Given the information provided, we are unable to match this vehicle to any Lyft accounts in the area," adding they "stand ready to assist law enforcement in any investigation."
The odometer had spiked from 2,000 miles to more than 13,000. And in the back seat, Cierra said she found a pillow, a jacket and a stuffed animal. "It wasn't burned out, it wasn't gutted, but it appeared to be have been used as a Lyft," she said. That, Cierra added, was even worse than she imagined. "Not only did someone steal our car, they made money off it!"
Lyft says that "Given the information provided, we are unable to match this vehicle to any Lyft accounts in the area," adding they "stand ready to assist law enforcement in any investigation."
the unprofitable gig economy (Score:5, Funny)
Lyft driving is profitable only if you steal cars.
Just like Bitcoin mining is profitable only if you steal electricity.
Captcha: coinage
What they didn't know (Score:5, Funny)
It was a self driving car, and it got bored...
whaat? (Score:3, Insightful)
"Not only did someone steal our car, they made money off it!"
Is it not usually understood that is why they are stealing your car? For some sort of profit. Oh sure the occasional joy ride here and there but most of the time chopped into little pieces or sold of in another country. Using it for a taxi is a new twist.
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There have been cases of long term valet parking services using the cars as rentals, taxis or joyrides too... People have received speeding or parking tickets when they were out of the country.
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Stick shift.
Thief Schmief (Score:1)
It was a sophisticated PR smear by Uber. They are trying to hurt Lyft with a thousand cuts.
captcha: keenness
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Multinational tax dodging venture companies are ten a penny, no matter how catchy their names.
Local companies all have CC processing, GPS location of cars, ordering on the app and all that novelty stuff that keeps the kids using Oobah.
Plus, local companies didn't keep a hack of 57,000,000 people's accounts quiet for over a year by paying a silly sum of $100,000 and an NDA for the pleasure of false security LOLOLOLOL
Jus' sayin
Worse than imagined? (Score:1)
"It wasn't burned out, it wasn't gutted, but it appeared to be have been used as a Lyft," she said. That, Cierra added, was even worse than she imagined. "Not only did someone steal our car, they made money off it!"
What the heck did she imagine people steal cars for? And burning it out and/or gutting it would have been better than using it to transport people? Because Americans prefer vandals to the poor?
What is wrong with you people?
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Poor people take the bus. Or walk.
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If they burned it out she'd probably get a new car from the insurance, but with it only having been used she only gets a tiny bit, but it actually had a lot of heavy use put on it.
Also, sometimes cars are stolen and driven around a few weeks, and then sold for parts. What doesn't have value might get burned. Or if they don't have a way to sell the parts, and just wanted to drive it around, they might burn it to destroy evidence.
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Burning it out means her insurance will supply her a replacement car or cash...
Returning it with added mileage and damage means she gets back a lower value vehicle than she had before.
My theory (Score:5, Interesting)
Under these circumstances, would the guy have to steal the same model, make and color? Then we can narrow down the suspects list.
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I wouldn't be surprised if this story ends up being like Fight Club: the guy had a psychotic break, stole his own car, and started driving for Lyft at night. They should start by examining him for cuts and bruises. :)
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Could actually be worse then that. She could actually have the thief's car, one of the more interesting problems we're seeing up here in Canada is VIN swapping. Where car thieves take a VIN off a vehicle marked as totaled/non-recoverable then put it onto a car that's been stolen. It wouldn't surprise me if the dashboard VIN doesn't match the engine/sub-frame VIN's. Those are really the only ones you can trust.
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Just wow (Score:5, Funny)
And in the back seat, Cierra said she found a pillow, a jacket and a stuffed animal. "It wasn't burned out, it wasn't gutted, but it appeared to be have been used as a Lyft," she said.
Definitely the behavior and accoutrements of an irresponsible joyrider.
That, Cierra added, was even worse than she imagined. "Not only did someone steal our car, they made money off it!"
Those monsters! Probably some affluenza-infected trust fund kid who slept in the back of the car with their only item of comfort from their horrible parents ... ok, I'm losing the narrative here.
Seriously, someone who has to drive for Lyft to make money and sleep in the back of their car with a stuffed animal for comfort, and it's the *making money* part that's even worse than she imagined? I'm ready to put in for this thief's gofundme to buy their own HR-V (which runs around ~20k, apparently).
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You know, if someone actually drove for a company like Lyft in a stolen car for several months, this pretty much tells you how much you should trust companies like Uber and Lyft.
Great point, my mod-point quiver is empty, or" i'd up-mod this.
Retarded comment about making money (Score:2, Insightful)
"Not only did someone steal our car, they made money off it!"
What happens with stolen goods normally, for $200, Alex?
How much does Lyft know? (Score:1)
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Well, that information is what Lyft tells fares - since Lyfts and Ubers are not uniformly painted and distinctive (like taxis), you need to know what car the driver drives so you can catch your ride. Maybe even a photo, if it's a lesser known vehicle.
For a while, you had a pink thing on the front of your vehicle to help identify it, but I guess it's not used anymore.
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Only a complete idiot would register a stolen car's normal plates with a service like lyft... Chances are they will have swapped the plates from another car of the same model and color. A thief would also intentionally pick a common model of car.
corelate GPS logs (Score:2)
Its a modern car, it spie^^stores logs.
Wonder how the insurance claim on that will work (Score:2)
A stolen car recovered but damaged is easy. Insurance company figures out how much it would cost to repair the damage, and pays that.
A stolen car recovered which has only been depreciated by logging 11,000 miles? How do you calculate that? Depreciation is not fixed per mile. Depreciation from 2,000 to 13,000 miles is a lot more than depreciation from 42,000 to 53,000 miles, even though both are 11,000 miles worth o
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The insurance company probably already paid the claim after four months. In that case they'd typically allow the original owner to buy it back (unlikely since they probably bought some other car by now) and, failing that, the insurance company would now own the car with a salvage title. It'll likely go to auction and might end up at a low end used car lot or parted out. Not too different from the fate of your average stolen car after all.
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The insurance company likely settled long before the stolen car was recovered - I can't imagine leaving a car theft victim hanging for 4 months before settling. It's possible, but very, very unlikely - I suspect they pay for a loaner car for a week or two, then you get a check and sign over the car title to the insurance company. If you have a loan, the insurance company settles with the lender, and the lender gives you back whatever equity you have left.
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If they had a loan, let's hope they also had gap cover, because an almost new car was worth a lot less than they would have paid for it just a couple of months previously. And, unfortunately for them, all they would get from an insurer is enough to buy a replacement second-hand car.
They'd also be significant losers if they made a substantial down-payment. Gap insurance would pay of a loan for the full value of a new car, but if they'd put down 30% (perhaps as a result of a trade-in), their insurer would pay
In other news... (Score:2)
In other news, Law enforcement were asked how it's possible for a stolen car to drive 11,000 miles around town without being spotted. Number plate recognition vendors were contacted, but none responded to our requests.
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Number plate recognition can be defeated by this newfangled technology. [homedepot.com]
Makes it worse? Really? (Score:2)
"Not only did someone steal our car, they made money off it!"
Riiight. They should have stolen the car and donated it to a charity, that would have been better.
Imagine, being so selfish as to steal a car in hopes of turning a profit on the crime! Perhaps they should instead consider themselves as job creators, not crime victims. Personally I'm impressed the thief was that industrious, opting ot use the car rather than sell it to a chop shop.
and lyft is probably as crooked as uber (Score:2)
Car insurance (Score:1)
Re: Infuriating (Score:3)
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Don't ruin it for me, I'm four or five movies behind by now. Might want to watch them, some shitty day.
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Plot twist: the Lyft stickers are plants by Uber as part of a campaign to discredit Lyft.
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Or some other lesser known transport company.
People are usually ignoring vehicles that are tagged as taxis, cop cars, postal cars and other similar vehicles that can have random legitimate business in the neighborhood while keeping a watch on any car that's not considered normal.
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Nahh- they probably registered a different possibly identical car and then used this one to do the driving. The cops should probably look at other vehicles registered that are the same or similar as this model/color in the area. However it may not resolve the issue if the driver was smart and drove it in a different area and then ditched in another. This could seriously increase the number of people you have to investigate if there are lots of people with this mode/color car driving for Lyft. Of course you
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At 2k they should have been off their breakin oil. So not that bad.
3k is what the oil/quick lube companies recommend, car companies recommend from 5 to 10k. The 10k are using synthetic oil.
Re: Infuriating (Score:4, Interesting)
10k miles on a new car, and not a single oil change. What a way to ruin an engine during the critical break-in period (pun not intended) yeah, the car is forever fucked
If it had synthetic oil, then the car is probably ok. Some synthetic oil can take you 15k miles before needing a change.
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Changing the oil every 5 minutes seems to be a purely American thing. It'd only happen at an annual service in the UK for most cars.
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I only do mine annually because I drive 20k miles every year.
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So I never owned a car in the UK, but do the engines there have different service intervals? Is there some difference because of the typically smaller engines in the UK?
Our old Focus had a 5k service interval that required an oil change, but it had a 2.3l engine that wasn't available in the UK (where folk might balk at 23 miles to the US gallon).
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It's not that "big" engine cars are unknown here though. Although I've never been around anything bigger than 3.0 (a BMW 330ci back when the 30 meant 30) to find out.
My current car is an ecoboost Fiesta and that's 12,500 or annual.
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I have never changed the oil when recommended My Honda civic is driven 10 k miles per year, and all I do is top up the oil, when necessary. I do change the air filter annually. I use the standard grade of oil that one gets at Walmart
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10k miles on a new car, and not a single oil change. What a way to ruin an engine during the critical break-in period (pun not intended) yeah, the car is forever fucked
If it had synthetic oil, then the car is probably ok. Some synthetic oil can take you 15k miles before needing a change.
Even with conventional oil it's probably fine. Newer cars are much better at keeping oil in the right conditions so it doesn't break down. My wife's Ford has an algorithm that tells her when to change the oil. It goes over 10k miles between oil changes on a regular basis.
Sure, it was in the break in period. I believe Honda is one of the few manufacturers that still do that. However, any metal from the break in process is likely caught in the filter.
The diesel oil I work with usually needs to be cha
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10k miles on a new car, and not a single oil change. What a way to ruin an engine during the critical break-in period (pun not intended) yeah, the car is forever fucked
Actually, many car companies, one of them Honda, have a specially formulated "break-in" oil put in at the factory. Buyers are told to make sure to drive on this oil for its entire life (until they get down to like 3-5% "useful life" per their maintenance minder iirc). Honda's oil is a synthetic blend.
My 2004 Accord lists 10,000 miles as the normal oil change interval for maintenance per the owner's manual, even after break-in.
The idea cars need their oil changed every 3000 miles has not been valid in quite
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Re:Not surprised. (Score:5, Interesting)
I am not the least bit surprised that the liberal cesspit of SF has the highest car theft.
There are several reasons why the SF Bay Area is number 1:
1. Lots of nice cars.
2. Close enough to Mexico. In Tijuana there are no checks in the southbound direction. You can just drive across.
3. Strong police unions, and thus no way to motivate or replace the apathetic and inept police. By the time they type up the report, the car is in Mexico.
4. No political pressure to fix the problem. Local politics tend to fixate on other issues, such as whether the city's health care plan should cover sex change operations for transgender public employees,
Re:Not surprised. (Score:5, Informative)
You really need to take a good look at a map. Eight hours of driving south will only get you to LA, several hours north of the border. If you want to steal cars to sell in Mexico, do it in Beverly Hills, or Palm Springs.
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If you want to steal cars to sell in Mexico, do it in Beverly Hills, or Palm Springs.
The police in Beverly Hills and Palm Springs can actually be fired for their incompetence, and are far more politically accountable than in the Bay Area.
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Of course, if you're not planning to remain in the jurisdiction with the car, this might not be much of a problem.
It is a problem. If the police are competent, they will rapidly get the stolen car into the system, so that other police will know it is stolen if they pull over the driver for some other infraction ... which is common since car thieves tend to be stupid thrill seekers. You don't have to catch every thief every time, even a 10% arrest rate is enough to deter theft. That national rate is about 15%. The Bay Area is about half that.
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Depends on the car thief...
Those who get caught are generally the joyriders, the serious car thieves who are doing it for profit are far less likely to do anything that will get them pulled over.