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View Poll Results: Will I ever see my Jeep Wrangler again.....?
Be optimistic - The cops will find your Jeep and the thieves will have filled your gas tank 0 0%
Be pragmatic - Best case scenario is you get your Jeep back with only $1K - $2K in damages 2 22.22%
Be realistic - If you ever see your Jeep again it will be nothing but a stripped shell 3 33.33%
Face the facts - Your Jeep was probably headed to Mexico before your plane even landed in Seattle 4 44.44%
Voters: 9. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 09-08-2012, 06:13 AM   #16
57years
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Close the border!!!
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Old 09-08-2012, 06:40 AM   #17
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Good news I guess, can't replace it for 2500.00. Look close there may be something left in there that may help pay for the repairs........
Can you post pictures?
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Old 09-08-2012, 01:34 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mr4t60e View Post
That is great news! Hopefully the thieves who stole your Jeep were at least courteous enough to not destroy it in the time they had it.
I was hoping the same thing but it didn't end up that way. No surprise, I guess, but it would have been nice if I'd found that they just ran the Jeep until it ran out of gas.

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Originally Posted by mr4t60e View Post
Just curious about your experience self-insuring against theft and collision: (and this may not even be an appropriate question to ask, but I'm going to do it anyway) are you still ahead of the game as far as premiums saved versus losses incurred? I've been tempted to drop my coverage level down on my vehicles, but given that they are old and generally undesirable targets for theft, and the minimal amount I'm charged for the coverage, I have a hard time making that call myself.
That's a great question - I think I'll start a new thread and share my thoughts there. I know we have at least two of our members who have left automotive retail and switched to the insurance industry - it would be interesting to hear their input.
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Old 09-08-2012, 01:56 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve_biegler View Post
Hope all is well with your Jeep. Maybe no gas in an airport parking lot is a good idea?
It's funny you mention that because I was running on fumes as I was getting close to the airport and I decided I'd buy $10 in gas just to make sure I didn't run out. I didn't want to fill up because the pump price was too high - I guess in hindsight I should be happy the gas station had high prices or I might still be looking for my Jeep.
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Old 09-08-2012, 02:01 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by DealerEx View Post
WOW....I haven't seen a tow fee of $100 bucks in years...around here its $150 hook fee plus $5.00 per mile towed and anywhere from $25 to $75 per day for storage fee. And, it's ALOT higher in the metro areas. I had one stolen off lot about 15 years ago that was found a week later in a parking lot in Dallas...it had been towed by the city's contracted service and they'd had it 4 days when I was notified by certified mail. I drove to Dallas the next day and had to pay more than $800 to get it out of their storage lot...$350 tow fee, $35 mileage @ $7 p/mile, and 5 days storage @ $90 p/day.
Holy smokes, I bet the tow company owners in Texas must all be millionaires if they can charge those rates.

Concerning Arizona, I'm not sure but I think the prices are regulated by the counties. Concerning the tow company that had my Jeep, while the people were all very nice the facility and equipment would have made Sanford and Son look like a Five Star operation. Given his overhead, I think a tow company in Eloy, AZ can still make money on a $95 tow.
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Old 09-08-2012, 02:07 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by Txflyer View Post
Kind of a bittersweet ending. At least you've got something you can salvage, but not what you had a few days ago Sorry to hear this.
I see your point, but I'm still super-happy to have my Jeep back.

It's not just a money thing, I really like that Jeep and I've had some great times with it over the years. It's no exaggeration to assert that I've probably got 30K+ miles of driving that Jeep with my SeaDoo in tow checking out lakes in Northern California, Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

While it would have been nice to get the Jeep back without any damages, I'm just happy to have it back. My bet (even though I didn't vote in the poll) was the Jeep was headed to Mexico and would never be seen again.
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Old 09-08-2012, 02:15 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by steve_biegler View Post
Look close there may be something left in there that may help pay for the repairs........
I swear, with the luck I've had of late I'll get pulled over by some cop in a K9 unit and I'll get arrested for possession.

Quote:
Originally Posted by steve_biegler View Post
Can you post pictures?
The Jeep is still in Eloy and it won't be towed to my place until Monday. I initially thought I could drive it back to Phoenix but once I saw that the windshield was gone and one of the brake light covers was broken I figured it wasn't worth the risk.

The guy who runs the tow yard was very nice and agreed to tow it 95 miles for $250 and he'll deliver it sometime on Monday. It should work out OK for both of us since I was looking for a cheap tow and he needed to go to Phoenix on Monday anyways.

Once I get the Jeep back I'll post some photos.
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Old 09-08-2012, 02:30 PM   #23
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If there is any silver lining to this cloud, at least parts for your Jeep are plentiful and somewhat inexpensive used, or there are tons of aftermarket bits you can use to tart it up if that is your thing.
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Old 09-08-2012, 10:14 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
Holy smokes, I bet the tow company owners in Texas must all be millionaires if they can charge those rates.

Concerning Arizona, I'm not sure but I think the prices are regulated by the counties. Concerning the tow company that had my Jeep, while the people were all very nice the facility and equipment would have made Sanford and Son look like a Five Star operation. Given his overhead, I think a tow company in Eloy, AZ can still make money on a $95 tow.
It's regulated by the county also, but it varies widely. In the rural counties (where I live) its $150 hook fee plus $5 p/mile and storage varies by location. At the time of that stolen vehicle, there had just been a law pushed thru by several large towing companies in Texas that required all tow operators to have a permit to operate which specified what city and/or area they could operate in. Without applying for an area wide or state wide permit, you could not cross an incorporated city limits...in other words, you could not tow a vehicle farther than the next incorporated town without a special permit. It took a lot of paperwork and time to get it done. The 40 or 50 large tow companies that lobbyed for the new regulations were the only ones who had all the paperwork done up by their lawyers and ready to submit as soon as it passed. It took a couple of years to get the backlog straightened out and in the meantime, in the metro areas, the county contracts were awarded to those companies that could operate throughout the areas, because they were the only ones that could do the job. With no competition, they could pretty well set there own rates. The tow company I dealt with at that time had the towing contract for every police agency in the DFW metroplex. The vehicles were towed to a "secured storage facility" with solid metal walls to block vehicles from view. You went to the counter and gave them the notice you received and they would pull the vehicle up on the security cameras and allow you to identify it, then you had to pay the charges before you went out to the lot to drive it off or load it up. Now, most every county has numerous companies with area wide/statewide permits and they operate on a rotation system, where calls are assigned in a fixed rotation to the pool of tow companies. Sounds fair, but I've heard lots ofstories that there is still alot of favoritism shown certain companies in the larger cities due to under the table payments.
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Old 09-11-2012, 01:30 PM   #25
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Default Pictures of the carnage.....

Here are some pictures I took yesterday as my Jeep arrived from Eloy, AZ:













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Old 09-11-2012, 03:33 PM   #26
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Looks like the body is setting level so the suspension might be OK. Both side steps are still there so the heavy off road stuff might have been avoided. You might want to talk to a paintless dent guy on the hood, it amazing what they can do.
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Old 09-12-2012, 12:09 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by steve_biegler View Post
Looks like the body is setting level so the suspension might be OK. Both side steps are still there so the heavy off road stuff might have been avoided. You might want to talk to a paintless dent guy on the hood, it amazing what they can do.
I took the Jeep for a short drive last night and it actually seems to run pretty decent. No obvious powertrain, suspension or brake issues - even the AC still works. (With no windshield or rear windows it felt like I was riding my SeaDoo again with the wind rushing by...)

That said, they did beat the Hell out of the Wrangler. It looks like they put about 200 miles on it and there were cactus thorns embedded into the rubber bumpers on the front bumper and heavy scratches to the paint. It also appears they drove the vehicle for an extended time with the front windshield broken out because there's damage to the paint on the cowl and the top of the dashboard from the glass moving back and forth.

The other thing I determined is what I first thought was just random vandalism was really their effort to eliminate sources of light. All three brake lights on the rear were broken and the bulbs were removed and the same thing with the interior lights. They even broke the radio display and the instrument cluster in an effort to eliminate sources of light.

Concerning PDR on the hood, that's a good idea. There's part of me that wants to restore the Jeep so it looks like it did before it was stolen and then there's part of me that understands the Jeep will never be the same and just take the $500 - $1,000 hit on re-sale value if I ever decide to sell it.

On a final note, they broke into the Jeep by using a screwdriver in the passenger door lock and used the same technique for the ignition lock.
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Old 09-14-2012, 07:22 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
For some reason the majority of the windshield glass is missing – it’s not a huge deal since the Jeep needed a new windshield anyways. I was able to start the Jeep and the clutch still engages so that’s encouraging.
From some of the things you've mentioned and then looking at your pics... wonder if all the windows were broken out of the vehilce to help reduce the chance of reflecting the sun and giving away their location.

Wish the out-come would have been better for you!
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Old 09-15-2012, 12:53 PM   #29
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From some of the things you've mentioned and then looking at your pics... wonder if all the windows were broken out of the vehilce to help reduce the chance of reflecting the sun and giving away their location.
That's certainly a possibility.

I've had some locals speculate that the three windows were broken out by the thieves in an effort to deal with the excessive heat in the desert. During the time they had the Jeep it wouldn't be uncommon to have desert temperatures be in the high 90s or low 100s well past midnight. In those temperatures even with AC the Wrangler has a tough time keeping the cabin cool.

The other thing I recently determined is the thieves used the steel rod that's part of the Jeep's jack handle assembly to break out all of the glass - it also appears this was the tool they used to stab-out the "Part-Time" light that was illuminated on the IP cluster.

I don't think mine was the first Wrangler these guys ever stole.....

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Originally Posted by CL Pgh View Post
Wish the out-come would have been better for you!
I'm still in the very happy to have my Jeep back mode.

While I agree it would have been nice to get the Jeep back with no damage, the simple fact that I have it back is more than I ever thought would happen.
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Old 09-17-2012, 10:51 AM   #30
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Default Looking better but still not street legal....

I had a chance to spend some time this weekend and got the TJ cleaned up. It's still not street legal but it looks a lot better then it did when it first arrived from Eloy.

Here's a recent picture:



I need to get the glass replaced (rear quarter windows and windshield), three brake lights replaced and seat belts installed and then the Wrangler will be street legal again.

If I get a chance this afternoon I'm going to see about getting the brake lights and seat belts from a wrecking yard. If the wrecking yard doesn't work out I can always get the parts via Ebay.
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