I think I just caught my car almost being stolen

[LizzieC]

So I was having brunch with a girlfriend at a place I hadn''t been before. Parking was kinda tricky and I ended up parking like a block away on a side street in an area that has nightclubs and stuff (so not activity during the day, pedestrian or otherwise). I was walking back to my car solo after brunch, when I see this guy standing on the corner where I have to turn right to get to my car. Now I''m aware of the fact that this guy is standing very randomly on this corner and that that''s kinda suspicious since there''s no one else around on this block, but I wasn''t freaked out enough to turn around and wait until he left or anything like that. In retrospect was probably really dumb. I was freaked out enough to be thinking well, I have coffee in my hand and I could throw it in his face or something like that. As I approached I could see him kinda saying something to someone I couldn''t see (who was around the corner on the same street as my car), but I didn''t really make too much of it. If anything that made me less nervous b/c it seemed like he might have had an actual reason to be there. Anyway, I walk past him and turn the corner to my car and this other guy is standing right next to my car. He looks at me and is like "Is this your car?" and I say "yeah" and just keep walking towards my car. He says "looks good... so do you" and I get in my car and lock the doors. In my mirror I see them walking off fast. I drove off and could see them still walking fast in the opposite direction. Now my car is 7 years old... and it''s nothing special. Definitely not a car you''d "check out" just because it "looks good". Who steals a car at 11:30 in the morning! Broad daylight!

Ugh, I feel all icky and sick. I''m a very small gal and these were two really huge guys.

 

[Mara]

yikes lizzie, i''m glad to hear that you are okay and they didn''t try anything. but you do have kickboxing bootcamp skills even if you do weigh like all of 2 lbs! hehee. and yes the coffee thrown in the face thing could have been quite effective. really random. do you have a car like a toyota or acura? people always want to steal their rims and tires and stuff, i remember reading that a few of those types of cars are on the most stolen car or elements stolen from a car list. i guess because so many people have them, they can turn them around and sell them very quickly. in any case, as a woman, being aware of your surroundings is really important.

 

[decodelighted]

YIKES!!

Sounds like your confidence kinda threw them off their game ... thank goodness you''re okay!

Sometimes slightly older cars (especially popular brands/models that last forever .. i.e. Honda Accord ... Toyota Corolla) are highly desirable on the BLACK MARKET for parts etc. The most stolen cars out there aren''t BMWs or Hummers ... they''re regular old mainstream popular models!


My LAST car ... I would have been relieved if it was stolen. If I''d have come upon that scene I would ahve backed away and kept my fingers crossed!!! (HEE ... a real lemon that would have been worth way more for the insurence $$ that what I got for trading it in -- UGH).

 

[Fran Fine]

Ok, whoa! I''m so glad you''re ok, but that was quite frightening reading that - the complete normalcy of your actions. It scares me because you were nervous at first, then not so much when you saw the other guy. Which is where they get us - when our guards are down. But there was a part of your subconscious that was "on" because you immediately locked the doors upon entering the car. Your story has taught me that we have to assume the worst in situations when we''re alone with men. Unfortunate, but true. I''m so glad nothing happened to you.

 

[kcoursolle]

That is a very creepy story, they were definitely planning something shady. I''m glad you are ok, take care.

 

[LizzieC]

Thanks for the sympathy gals! I''ve been told that when I give off a "don''t [bleep] with me vibe" when I don''t want to be approached, so that probably helped me out here. I think that''s something I''ve cultivated from being a small gal. But today was the first time I felt like I might have made the wrong decision about proceeding as usual because I don''t want to get bullied away from doing what I would normally do.

Maybe this will just remind me not to be overconfident.

I don''t drive one of those super popular models of cars that get stolen a lot, so I don''t know if they were after rims/tires. Who knows?

 

[Mara]

yeah lizzie ... i don''t know that i would have advised continuing to approach your car with the guys hanging out by it... but i think i probably would have done the same thing without even thinking about it, like getting to your car is mentally safe.

but i do agree that when you give off that kind of ''dont mess with me vibe'' that people tend to leave you alone. greg has often said that i can look so mean when i want to that no one would dare mess with me. i don''t know if he''s actually right, but i like the thought of that helping me at some point if i ever need it in the future.

 

[lumpkin]

I''m so glad you are okay!

My sister''s car was stolen twice and broken into once from an underground parking lot down town where she works. It has happened over the course of about 15 years. They steal the car so they can use it in robberies. It happened twice to her Blazer and once to another car -- don''t remember the model, but it was a GM. Twice they succeeded and she still got her car back, once they had broken her window and stolen stuff out of her car, but didn''t actually get the car.

It is soooooo scary out there!

 

[Stone Hunter]

Glad that you''re OK. Good thought about the coffee in the face!

Yeah you probably should be more careful next time. BUT it''s hard to think in those situations. You did fine.

 

[FireGoddess]

That''s definitely creepy. And it''s true - a lot of older cars are targeted for theft because of reselling the parts. Glad you got out of that okay...with your car!

 

[sparkly_stars]

i work for a large company, which in means, large parking. we have security guards who walk around the parking lot, and its right in the middle of downtown.
but about a month or so ago. within a span of TWO WEEKS. TWO cars were stolen and two bikes were taken.
then about a month after, I heard from the guard that another vehicle was taken.

One of the cars was parked next to mine! I walked out of work, and while heading to my door, a lady was talking with two other girls and says "the glass your walking on is from my car. *no car next to mine* ... someone stole my caR"!

what did she drive? a very old dodge van.
the other car stolen was some other old vehicle (a shadow or something)
The shadow was never found, and he got a claim from insurance. but both those cars were veery "useless" .
why did they take them? because older cars are MUCH easier to break into and take then anything else.
chances are they wont have alarms either (the van next to my car was stolen with the window SMASHED!)


just goes to show, insurance IS important.

 

[Sparkster]

When it comes down to it, it''s just a car and they can be replaced but you can''t! I''m glad nothing happened to you.

 

[LizzieC]

I was thinking, I don''t know if my car can even really be stolen, because it has that whole ignition key with the microchip thing where it''s not supposed to start without the actual key in the ignition.... not that I know if that really works. Of course it could be broken into and have parts stolen and all that.

DH is such a guy... when I told him my story he was like, "aw, you could have gotten a new car!"

I was like, "that is not the proper reaction sweetie!"

 

[Fran Fine]

Date: 11/5/2006 9:59:08 PM
Author: LizzieC
I was thinking, I don''t know if my car can even really be stolen, because it has that whole ignition key with the microchip thing where it''s not supposed to start without the actual key in the ignition.... not that I know if that really works. Of course it could be broken into and have parts stolen and all that.


DH is such a guy... when I told him my story he was like, ''aw, you could have gotten a new car!''

I was like, ''that is not the proper reaction sweetie!''

LOL - of course he was worried about you. But as a guy, he already processed that you were safe. So he''s moved on to the other issue, namely that you''d need a new car if that one HAD been stolen, and you''d have gotten one. Pretty funny!