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Old 11-25-2015, 07:55 AM   #1
XDCX
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Default San Antonio Chevrolet Dealership loses almost $300K in brazen tire/wheel theft

While it's not uncommon to read about a dealership that's been hit by thieves stealing tires/wheels the scope of this theft caught my attention.

News reports indicate that Ancira-Winton Chevrolet had 180 tires/wheels stolen from 45 vehicles they had in inventory.

For a link to the report - click here

An interview with the store's GM revealed that the theft was captured on the store's video surveillance system. There were five thieves who arrived in a Penske-type truck. They came with pre-cut blocks of wood to speed up their operation and they were on property for five hours.

Adding to the amazement - the dealership has some form of on-site security that should have been patrolling the store.

Hopefully these thieves will be caught - I'm guessing it would take some degree of effort to sell the stolen tires/wheels given the quantity.
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Old 11-25-2015, 12:00 PM   #2
DealerEx
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I would bet that those tires and wheels were safely stored away in a warehouse somewhere in San Antonio within a few minutes after they left the property...just drive the truck in and take your time unloading then return the truck the next morning. Probably with a waiting buyer at a pre-set price that will send a different truck to that warehouse and load them up in a week or two. The on-site security person will be investigated and was probably involved, but be difficult to prove, but wind up fired for negligence.
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Old 11-27-2015, 09:13 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by DealerEx View Post
I would bet that those tires and wheels were safely stored away in a warehouse somewhere in San Antonio within a few minutes after they left the property...just drive the truck in and take your time unloading then return the truck the next morning. Probably with a waiting buyer at a pre-set price that will send a different truck to that warehouse and load them up in a week or two.
You make a great point - given the degree of planning that went into this theft it would make sense that the stolen goods were already pre-sold at an agreed price.

If someone tried to fence the stolen tires/wheels after the fact they'd face a high risk of getting caught or having someone turn them in for reward money.

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Originally Posted by DealerEx View Post
The on-site security person will be investigated and was probably involved, but be difficult to prove, but wind up fired for negligence.
I totally agree on all counts.

On occasion an insider gets caught but it seems like more times than not they just end up getting fired for being incompetent.
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Old 11-27-2015, 09:18 AM   #4
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Default $1,666 per tire/wheel.....?

I was thinking about this story on my drive to Laughlin and it dawned on me that the math doesn't seem to make sense.

What drew me to the story was the headline that $300,000 in property was stolen but when I reflected that there were only 180 tires/wheels stolen that seemed to be inflated. If the facts are as stated the average tire/wheel combo would have to be $1,666 per tire/wheel.

I know OEM wheels can be expensive but even at retail prices I have a hard time believing that the total losses for this theft could approach $300K.
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Old 11-27-2015, 11:28 AM   #5
steve_biegler
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It would be interesting to see if those vehicles had OEM wheels and tires installed as replacements.
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Old 11-29-2015, 08:28 AM   #6
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It would be interesting to see if those vehicles had OEM wheels and tires installed as replacements.
That's an interesting question.

I just assumed the tires/wheels were OEM but it's possible the dealership had already switched them out for aftermarket tires/wheels.

If the dealership didn't replace the OEM tires/wheels with aftermarket units I wonder how much demand there is for almost brand new OEM tires/wheels? It builds on DealerEx's comments that the stolen goods were likely pre-sold.
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Old 11-30-2015, 09:11 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
I was thinking about this story on my drive to Laughlin and it dawned on me that the math doesn't seem to make sense.

What drew me to the story was the headline that $300,000 in property was stolen but when I reflected that there were only 180 tires/wheels stolen that seemed to be inflated. If the facts are as stated the average tire/wheel combo would have to be $1,666 per tire/wheel.

I know OEM wheels can be expensive but even at retail prices I have a hard time believing that the total losses for this theft could approach $300K.
Some of the Camaro's could be that high, especially if they are Z28's or ZL1's. Plus the labor to get all these back off the ground is going to be a bear, if they didn't damage anything.

We lost a few sets of the nice aluminum wheels of a pair of duel-rear wheel and those wound up being ugly - about $6K per truck, mainly because they stole the spindle adapters on the front as well.

Last edited by tnpartsguy; 11-30-2015 at 09:14 AM. Reason: 1
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Old 12-01-2015, 09:50 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by tnpartsguy View Post
Some of the Camaro's could be that high, especially if they are Z28's or ZL1's. Plus the labor to get all these back off the ground is going to be a bear, if they didn't damage anything.

We lost a few sets of the nice aluminum wheels of a pair of duel-rear wheel and those wound up being ugly - about $6K per truck, mainly because they stole the spindle adapters on the front as well.
You make a good point about the labor expense and then all of the damage that likely needs to be repaired.

It's also interesting to learn that the price for Camaro tires/wheels could be that high if they were z28s of ZL1s.
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