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Automotive Discussions Car People talking about the Car Business – This is the place where it happens |
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03-29-2014, 07:24 PM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 41
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Had a car stolen off the lot today
Wichita is plagued with a very large family of gypsies, Romanian decent. I have had a few encounters over the years, but they were always small time crooks in my mind. Stealing silverware out of restaurants, swapping price tags on clothing, test driving new cars and stealing the full size spare, etc. I thought them more of a public nuisance, until now. They own the scrap metal recycling center and a small car lot. Through the car business, I encounter some of their family often.
I was slammed at work, juggling 4 customers at once and was there all by myself for the second Saturday in a row. I share the location with another dealer, who was taking his second Saturday off in a row, and I give my assistant Fridays and Saturdays off so I can have somewhat of a life and take most of Sunday off. I was right in the middle of a conversation with a customer outside by a car when the man interrupted us by rudely stepping in between and getting too close to me for comfort. He asked to look at the car. I excused myself from the other couple who needed to have a private chat anyway, and he walked with me while I got the keys. He asked if I knew who his family was (Marx) and I played dumb a bit, stating no. He reminded me about the car lot. I didn't recognize him. He said they were looking for this particular car for someone, and wanted to know what my bottom dollar was. I handed him the keys and said look it over but we are firm on the price, and I needed to finish with the other customers. I've done this many many times when I'm busy so the customer isn't sitting around tapping their feet or waiting inside the office while I'm outside and can't see them. Never did I think someone would have the balls to steal a car like this. I was busy juggling as the other 2 test drives arrived simultaneously along with the BMW folks, so I did not see him drive off. He didn't have permission or a dealer plate, and I didn't get his license. This has happened to me a few times, but given this family's notorious background I was worried. An hour goes by and I think, OH $hit!, 2 hours and I call the police. I file a stolen car report. Family is well known by dispatch and the police. They cause trouble daily, and police didn't act like this was much out of character. Before the officer stopped by the lot, he stopped by a few known addresses they congregate, but no luck. He didn't act like this was very unusual, said they will drive them on out of state temporary tags or out of state tags they have and eventually dump them somewhere. Hopefully in our case it will be sooner rather than later. Would have been a fantastic day without this. |
03-31-2014, 10:49 AM | #2 |
Administrator
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
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Sorry to hear about the car theft - I HATE thieves.
I had my Jeep Wrangler stolen about a year ago and while I was fortunate to get my TJ back it sustained about $2,000 in damages/depreciation. Here's a link to the thread on that saga - click here Concerning your situation, I can't fully understand the mindset of the person who stole your car. Was he just out for a joy ride or is he going to strip the car for parts? To the extent he made no effort to conceal his identity, is he not worried about getting caught by the police or is there an element of intimidation where he didn't think you'd contact the police? |
04-01-2014, 01:33 PM | #3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 595
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This is never a good situation... thankfully it has been 3+ years since this has happened to me. Any resolution to this sticky situation yet?
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