The rig I spent two years building was just stolen! Heartbroken

Mr.RoadWarrior

Mr.RoadWarrior

Rank IV
Member

Enthusiast III

943
Houston, Texas
First Name
Paul
Last Name
Rosner
Welcome to the new reality...where criminals do as they please with impunity.

My full-sized Silverado rig that I spent two years building was stolen yesterday...between insurance, police, OnStar, and others...just a frustrating experience of mostly (not all) people that don't care very much that society has an element of evil to it.

But I digress....

I am now balancing my priorities for my next rig:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built

All suggestions and recommendations considered

The King is dead, long live the King (whomever it shall be)
 
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Mr.RoadWarrior said:
Welcome to the new reality...where criminals do as they please with impunity.

My full-sized Silverado rig that I spent two years building was stolen yesterday...between insurance, police, OnStar, and others...just a frustrating experience of mostly (not all) people that don't care very much that society has an element of evil to it.

But I digress....

I am now balancing my priorities for my next rig:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built

All suggestions and recommendations considered

The King is dead, long live the King (whomever it shall be)
Click to expand...
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So elaborate on the ON-STAR angle. I have kept my subscription currant since 2003, Just for the reason you give, My understanding was your vehicle could be tracked as soon as you called it in, I read a story where they tracked a stolen vehicle in San Diego and 3 hours later found it in someones living room in Tijuana Mexico about to be parted out. That 19 year subscription was for insurance deductions and reasonably hoping for my trucks recovery in case of it being stolen and trashed.

Do you have any update as many of us have nightmares of this happening to us.
 
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Desert Runner said:
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So elaborate on the ON-STAR angle. I have kept my subscription currant since 2003, Just for the reason you give, My understanding was your vehicle could be tracked as soon as you called it in, I read a story where they tracked a stolen vehicle in San Diego and 3 hours later found it in someones living room in Tijuana Mexico about to be parted out. That 19 year subscription was for insurance deductions and reasonably hoping for my trucks recovery in case of it being stolen and trashed.

Do you have any update as many of us have nightmares of this happening to us.
Click to expand...

The vehicle must be in an open area. There is no history, so they can only give you a current point location at any one time. Once it's off (GPS pulled or battery disconnected), they have no idea where it is. If it's covered in a garage, can't see where it is either.

In my case, they drove for about 15 minutes, then stashed the vehicle somewhere. So once we found out it was stolen, too late - smart criminal. Luckily, we had left a cell phone in there and have a pretty good idea of where the truck is (within two blocks).

BUT...lots of vehicles are recovered this way. I must say they were very patient with me, but weren't very seamlessly integrated to the police process (which was ridiculously slow and inefficient too).

Since some vehicles are stolen to be used in robberies or joy-rides, I'm hoping that this is the case and when they dump mine, it will pop back up. I know, hope springs eternal, right? Hence my post looking for new vehicle recommendations.

My lessons learned:

1. Don't park far from the front door
2. Don't park facing out into the exit
3. My next vehicle will have a cleverly concealed kill switch

I had even parked beside a Maserati, which was untouched.
 
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i'm going to install 2 or 3 air tags in my rig and hide them all. Seems like a cheap insurance plan if nothing else.
Mr.RoadWarrior said:
Welcome to the new reality...where criminals do as they please with impunity.

My full-sized Silverado rig that I spent two years building was stolen yesterday...between insurance, police, OnStar, and others...just a frustrating experience of mostly (not all) people that don't care very much that society has an element of evil to it.

But I digress....

I am now balancing my priorities for my next rig:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built

All suggestions and recommendations considered

The King is dead, long live the King (whomever it shall be)
Click to expand...

Where was it stolen from?
 
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darkland said:
I'm going to get 2-3 air tags and hide them in my rig somewhere. Seems like a cheap plan. Not sure how reliable they are though.
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I have heard encouraging things about using 'air tags'! Fairly cheap they work, and are easy to hide. Either as a main deterrent or as a layered protection plan, options are needed in this day and age. I also have and use a steering wheel club, but not all the time, My dad used to do the hidden 'kill switch' method, it works. With the cost of vehicles, having these peace of mind options have become a necessity
 
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Mr.RoadWarrior said:
Welcome to the new reality...where criminals do as they please with impunity.
That is so sad. It really makes me angry that criminals get away with this!
It’s been a couple of months. Did you get it back?

My full-sized Silverado rig that I spent two years building was stolen yesterday...between insurance, police, OnStar, and others...just a frustrating experience of mostly (not all) people that don't care very much that society has an element of evil to it.

But I digress....

I am now balancing my priorities for my next rig:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built

All suggestions and recommendations considered

The King is dead, long live the King (whomever it shall be)
Click to expand...
 
Mr.RoadWarrior said:
The vehicle must be in an open area. There is no history, so they can only give you a current point location at any one time. Once it's off (GPS pulled or battery disconnected), they have no idea where it is. If it's covered in a garage, can't see where it is either.

In my case, they drove for about 15 minutes, then stashed the vehicle somewhere. So once we found out it was stolen, too late - smart criminal. Luckily, we had left a cell phone in there and have a pretty good idea of where the truck is (within two blocks).

BUT...lots of vehicles are recovered this way. I must say they were very patient with me, but weren't very seamlessly integrated to the police process (which was ridiculously slow and inefficient too).

Since some vehicles are stolen to be used in robberies or joy-rides, I'm hoping that this is the case and when they dump mine, it will pop back up. I know, hope springs eternal, right? Hence my post looking for new vehicle recommendations.

My lessons learned:

1. Don't park far from the front door
2. Don't park facing out into the exit
3. My next vehicle will have a cleverly concealed kill switch

I had even parked beside a Maserati, which was untouched.
Click to expand...

Who the h3ll wants a Maserati anyway? Gm truck is infinitely more valuable for parts or transport to Mexico.
 
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Mr.RoadWarrior said:
Welcome to the new reality...where criminals do as they please with impunity.

My full-sized Silverado rig that I spent two years building was stolen yesterday...between insurance, police, OnStar, and others...just a frustrating experience of mostly (not all) people that don't care very much that society has an element of evil to it.

But I digress....

I am now balancing my priorities for my next rig:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built

All suggestions and recommendations considered

The King is dead, long live the King (whomever it shall be)
Click to expand...

I'd start with deciding what you did, and didn't like about the Silverado. I run a full size Silverado too and love it, but we all think about what they'd do differently next time. I can't imagine a more complete and comfortable overlanding rig with more range and capability (for the comfort it provides). That said, I love to day-dream about other setups, and will do a more minimalist/hardcore trail setup with my WJ. So that's where I'd start: how do you want to continue doing Overland travel and what did your Silverado do well, or poorly.

If I was starting from scratch I'd prob bet getting a new F350 Tremor with the 7.3L gas. Why a Ford not another Chevy? Well I solid axle swapped my Chevy, which was a lot of expense, time and work - with a Ford (or RAM) I could have just started solid/solid. Why the gasser? I don't love the emissions systems and added complexity of the newer diesels. One thing I'm not sure about is whether I'd do a regular cab 8' bed to be able to do the larger Grandby FWC, a Crew Cab 6.5' bed and Hawk like I have now, or Crew and 8'. I don't really feel like I need more space inside the FWC in terms of "living" since I try not to be inside of it other than sleeping, cooking or getting out of the rain. But I do feel like a bit more storage would be great. The Crew + 8' would give me the most storage, but I don't really want any longer of a rig.

Anyway, my point in mentioning ^this^ is just start thinking about what (if anything) you'd like to do different this time, and that will guide your towards the right rig... since you mentioned "Pre-Built" I vote Prospector XL for you with a FWC in the back. ;)

-TJ
 
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Sorry for the loss... I keep my onstar current also because things can happen... If I were to do it again I wouldmost likely get a diesl 2500/3500 solid front axle. I carry mini bikes in the bed most times so it still had to be a pickup truck.
 
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Mr.RoadWarrior said:
Welcome to the new reality...where criminals do as they please with impunity.

My full-sized Silverado rig that I spent two years building was stolen yesterday...between insurance, police, OnStar, and others...just a frustrating experience of mostly (not all) people that don't care very much that society has an element of evil to it.

But I digress....

I am now balancing my priorities for my next rig:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built

All suggestions and recommendations considered

The King is dead, long live the King (whomever it shall be)
Click to expand...


I don't see why Onstar can't find it.
 
hate that happened to you. makes you wish you could find who did it and stake them over an ant pile...

as far as finding a new vehicle, i have a tundra and really like it for the simple offroading i do. might be a good platform for you to start a build with.
good luck on whatever vehicle you decide
 
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Mr.RoadWarrior said:
Welcome to the new reality...where criminals do as they please with impunity.

My full-sized Silverado rig that I spent two years building was stolen yesterday...between insurance, police, OnStar, and others...just a frustrating experience of mostly (not all) people that don't care very much that society has an element of evil to it.

But I digress....

I am now balancing my priorities for my next rig:
1. It will be my daily driver
2. It will go to the desert, beach, Ozarks, and long-haul travel
3. Must fit three people for at least a long weekend
4. No rock crawling or long travel needed
5. Considering new and used, as well as pre-built

All suggestions and recommendations considered

The King is dead, long live the King (whomever it shall be)
Click to expand...

Any update?
 
Gone.....police say don't expect it back.

Airtags - yep - great idea.

Cutoff switch - definitely.

A friend has an anti-theft device on his truck, says that the maker has never had a truck stolen....I'm going to check it out, will post the name of it.
 
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RickR said:
I don't see why Onstar can't find it.
Click to expand...

First off, thieves know that a vehicle with OnStar needs to be taken offline ASAP. Cops said they drove it to a garage and pulled the plug on it quickly....experienced. Mine was driven for 15 minutes, then went dark. AND....Onstar doesn't keep prior history, only the latest position...which limits it's usefulness. On top of that, OnStar's policy is to monitor for 24 to 48 hours, then end the monitoring....that's a stupid policy as far as I'm concerned and I'll consider it in the decision-making process of getting my next vehicle and sat service. Doesn't help much if the service that is promoted simply gives up on you after one day.
 
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