TexasCHLforum.com

Admins, if this is the wrong forum location my apologies. I could not decide between this and off topic.

Last friday night my truck was stolen from a Holiday Inn parking lot in Austin... Truck, tools, all my riding gear, ramps, tie downs...all gone.
And by only the nearest of lucky breaks,,... NO guns stolen. I had both my EDC, BUG and rifle with me. The rifle would have normally stayed concealed in a locked quick access container in the truck.. But for some reason i decided to take it out and into the hotel with me that night. had it not been for that out of character decision I would have lost a rifle this weekend.

But Id made me think.... What? and how often is that "What" left in the truck (car, van, ect) and are you prepared to deal with the loss?
My auto insurance is very good,,,I'll get a fair settlement for that loss. They will also cover most if not all of the personal property, abit at market value,,not replacement cost.
Early estimates so far are teaching a motorcycle riding class in Austin this weekend cost me $32,000 in hard cash, never mind the time it will take to replace it all, the lack of capability i suffer during the replacement time.

So think hard....what's in your vehicle when you lock it up and walk away.. not just weapons and other valuables but PII, spare keys, garage door openers

My sympathies on your loss. I had a car stolen back in 91. Never found so much as a lug nut. I am very careful about what I leave in my vehicle since then, and never leave any firearms in it if it is out of sight. With that being said I did a mental inventory of what I would lose if any of my vehicles should go missing right now, and realized there is a lot I would hate to have to replace especially out of my pocket. Thanks for the thought provoking post. My family will be removing things that are not really necessary.

I hope they find your truck, and manage to find the low life's that took it.

Hopefully they find your truck and if anything had serial numbers hopefully you know those for recovery

I never leave anything important in vehicle overnight if I can avoid it, there have been a rash of breakins in my area. First just people who left the car unlocked then they moved up to smashing the glass, after all that I made sure not to even have papers with my name or address in there

Man, I'm sorry about the truck! I purchased an alarm system for my 4Runner right after I bought it. I know that it won't stop a determined thief with a flatbed tow truck and a winch from stealing my vehicle, but it will stop the opportunist. Even if they break in and jump start the car without somehow setting off the alarm, as soon as they step on the break pedal or the gas without the key in the ignition, the system will kill the motor.

But even with the alarm system, I don't leave anything in the car at night that I can't live without, or don't want someone to steal. When traveling by car, the guns come inside with me.

I hope the police find your truck and get it back. This happened to my youngest brother a long time ago. Thieves stole his truck and tools from the parking lot of a local Pasadena hardware store while he was in the store. The did find his truck eventually, a couple of months later, abandoned in front of a vacant lot in Los Angeles. By then, the insurance company had already paid him for the loss.

I am considering leaving my sbr+ supressor in my car. If it gets stolen that will suck, but now the thief will qualify for having an unregistered sbr and get another 10 years

Nothing of value. Umbrella, knife, armorall, rags, koozie, occasionally $10 or $15 in cash.

Sorry to hear about your truck. Glad to hear you did not loose any guns. I always take my .30 carbine into my my room ( in a guitar case) and I always pull the fuse/relay to the fuel pump when I stay overnight at a hotel. Call me paranoid if you want, but if someone is going to steal my truck, it's not going to start for them and they are not getting my carbine.

Really sorry about your truck and property. Had our Chevy suburban stolen in '96 at a friends christmas party. We went into their
apt, did the greeting thing & 25-30 min later went to bring in all the presents. It was gone, long story short a MAJOR hassle and
expensive. Since then nothing of value stays in our vehicles.

Hope you get your stuff back, so you don't have to go through the hassle of replacing it & lost money. Im glad you posted your experience, I have way too many tools & such in tool box. I cant work anymore, so don't need em in truck. I would rather give em to one of my buddies, rather some low life stealing them

Don't leave your garage door opener in your vehicle either.

You probably have your insurance paper in there (or possibly other documents) that tell the criminal where you live. With the garage door opener, he might as well have keys to your house.

I considered this scenario many many years ago. I don't leave much of anything of any value in my vehicles. Not even sunglasses any more. I have a few cheap tools (wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers), jumper cables, 12v compressor, and that's about it. Garage door opener also comes in every time, not just the end of the day. However, that's when I'm at home.

When out and about, if I run into some place that doesn't allow my sidearm, I do have to leave that if it is someplace that I must enter.

I have a console vault in my truck. That would make it more difficult to get the gun in a smash and grab, but not if the truck is stolen.

MechAg94 wrote:I have a console vault in my truck. That would make it more difficult to get the gun in a smash and grab, but not if the truck is stolen.

I have the same type deal for my truck rifle...no one is going to bust a window and walk away with it, it will take effort. Stealing the whole truck was not in my planning considerations.
Is now.

Almost 10 years ago I had my truck stolen - also at a hotel - in my case I was at a charity dinner.

The "stuff " in my truck from my RX sunglasses to tools was a huge pain to remember and replace and insurance doesnt cover most of it
FOr years I would find myself looking for a specifc work tool or do dad and remember - yep that was also in the truck.

thats the reason I invested in lojack for my next vehicle. Not necessarily so I would get the truck back since that would be up to the ins company. But to be able to TRY to catch the thief red handed and preferably before he throws away all my personal items

I ended up catching the thief selling my truck parts on Craigslist and the police arrested him. But since he wasnt found DRIVING the truck he was only charged with possession of stolen property and in Dallas they dont press charges or put anyone in jail ...

Sorry for your loss. I, like most others, don't leave anything in my vehicle over night. I do have a GPS in the car but it's not worth stealing. Other than that everything is easily replaceable.