Anyone ever had their car stolen?

I woke up this morning, went out to the car and it was gone. Someone stole it and it looks like it was my fault as I am a dumbass who left my proximity key in the car. Fortunately the police found it a short drive away and there is minimal damage, front end body work where it looks like the cretin ran into something and it is now badly in need alignement.

Before I call my insurance company tonight I am wondering if the board has any obvious advice based on personal experience. Any dos or don'ts in terms of actions when starting the insurance process?

Thanks

Ic

 

Had a car stolen in 2002 or so.

Take pictures of everything and be sure to check everything. The thugs that stole my car screwed up my seatbealt on the passanger side and I never noticed for a few weeks after I got it back.

 

I had my license plate stolen once. It was found on the back of a stolen car. I came out the winner of that one.

 

I once had a Ryder rental truck stolen (before I got it loaded with all my stuff, fortunately). Went to the police station to report it. Woman in line in front of me was there to report her Budget rental truck stolen.

Truck had about 40 miles on it when I picked it up.

 

Go to the dealer of the car that you had. Convince them that you will buy one of their cars as soon as you get your insurance money. Get them to print out what it would cost to replace your car and use that as a general idea as to what you should expect from your insurance company.

When my car was stolen the first offer I got from the insurance company was $3K. I wound up getting $9K after I produced a quote from the dealer saying it would cost $10,500 to replace it. It took me about three weeks to get my price so be prepared to be patient.

 

It would have been a shame if you had things like a laptop and ipod in the trunk that were stolen that you had to replace. Maybe a camera too.

 

I always leave my golf clubs in my trunk.

 

Actually that's not a good idea for the clubs. It can weaken the epoxy holding the heads on the shaft leading to misaligned clubs and breakage.