No, the moral of the story is that people need to vote different.

 

Thanks one and all. Honestly, I'm still in denial about it. Here's what happened:

This entire episode takes,I'd say,20 seconds.

So, it's Sunday, a little after 6PM. This is on Hill Street at 9th street, if you know Downtown LA. My GF's car is parked on the street and we're near my building, and she needs something from her car. I pull over at the intersection, put on the flashers. But I'm in a travel lane, so when the light turns green, I cross the intersection. There's red curb, so I pull over and wait for her.

After a minute or so, no sign of her. (It ends up she saw me pull through the intersection but did not see me pull over, and assumed I went to park the car since we were right near my building) I get out of the car to get a better view -- yes, with the engine running -- and walk back to the trunk.

I am never more than five feet from my car.

I am at the passenger-side rear corner of the car. I get a sixth sense, and turn back-- there's a large, I assume homeless dude walking toward my car-- I realize he's not simply jaywalking but approaching my car. I take a step toward the passenger door. Our eyes meet.

At this point, I assume he's looking to maybe take something from the car, and he's going to see me -- I'm a step or two from the car-- and just sorta saunter away, but suddenly he SPRINTS the two or three steps to the car and opens the door, jumps in.

I'm shouting "no no no no no...." I open the passenger door and say "just get out of the car, man, and it's all good, no problem. He is fumbling with the shift knob and at that second I climb into the passenger seat, he removes what looks like a beat-up tactical knife and shouts **** YOU **** YOU!, and at that moment I get out of the car-- he floors it (he figured out the shift knob) and takes off so fast the passenger door shuts on its own.

I call 911, give the information, and am told to "wait at the scene for an officer to arrive."

This takes about 40 minutes.

And, yes, 9 out of ten times I would have the key fob in my pocket. This is, of course, the one time I did not. And did I mention I had spent 80 bucks to fill the car with gas just hours previously?

The cops and I agree-- this was a crime of opportunity, and if the guys smart he's either gonna trash the car or simply park it somewhere, at which point nothing will happen until it gets parking tickets. Which may take a while.

My GF's new laptop was the only thing of value in the car.

 

That and the fuel and key fob. Glad you are okay. Car gone forever? Or recovered?

 

The thinking is that the car is "unlikely" to be recovered soon. If at all. Remember that just counting the not-good parts of LA (south central, adams,cypress park, etc) are about the size of the state of Rhode Island, and are underpatrolled.

 

Wow, that is depressing me about our city and so many others.

The good news is the cars are replaceable but you and your girlfriend are not, so in the grand scheme of things it's not the worst thing in the world.

 

Scary story, but thanks for sharing, a good cautionary tale for those of us in major cities. I hope things work out in your favor, whether it be through recovery or insurance pay out....If it were me, I'd be getting a bunch of comparables together to show your insurance company what you think a fair replacement value is.

 

I once had a car broken into and someone told me, 'Its plastic and glass....not blood and bones.' Kind of put it in perspective. Agree on gathering your comps as its not looking good. Insurance will fight it because they know used car values are going up every day. Stand your ground. Oh, street people are creatures of habit...he probably lives in the neighborhood and will return after the car has served its purpose.

 

Or sold it and living the good life…..

 

Glad you are safe. As others said, the car and computer are just stuff and will be replaced. Hopefully insurance will cooperate without too much aggravation.

 

Yes, but it beats the Hell out of the car shutting down in the middle of the road just because the sensor is acting up or the battery is low. Those are common issues on these cars, happened to me a few times, I couldn't imagine the car shutting down at 90mph coming down the curving mountain passes in heavy traffic.

 

...and more to come.....

So I get a letter the other day that was dated DECEMBER 6. The car has been sitting in a tow lot down by LAX since DECEMBER 6.
The carjacker did indeed go street-crazy with the car, got in an accident, fled the scene. CHP came, had the at-that-point driverless car towed.
This occured SIX HOURS after the car was reported stolen. No call from anyone.
So now the car has racked up $1,600 in storage fees. Apparently, if I'd received the letter much later the car would already have been sold?
Anyway. Apparently, the A-hole thief figured out how to work the top.
Here's the damage.
First place, recommended by my jag dealer, said no to the job. They'd gotten an XK in recently and apparently parts availability is a real issue. Not just supply-chain, like "not made anymore."
In addition to the pics, the right front wheel is more or less torn off of the car. Surprisingly, no body damage there, just looks like the control arm and rack and pinion are damaged.





So now it's going to another Jaguar certified shop.
Let the fun begin. I'm sure they're just gonna total it.

 

Sadly that's totaled. I've seen cars with 1/10th of that damage get totaled. Bet the insurance estimate is written up at 60 grand or something

 

I wish! I'm guessing sixteen grand:

 

KBB is trash these days, make sure insurance company is using comps. But I mean 60k for the repair estimate. I saw a Maserati sideswiped by a forklift, moderate damage to the rear quarterpanel. Estimate was something like 48k. I had a front bumper cracked by huge slope in some road construction. Insurance paid nearly 11k for a new one.

 

A-hole indeed. Steal a car, play demolition derby, and leave it for the owner to pick up the pieces.
Need to round up this trash and give them a one way ride to the middle of an ocean.

 

That's sad to see, sorry man. Insurance probably will total it, but you might be surprised.....my wife's 96 Firebird got bumped by a semi-truck which put similar damage into the rear quarter and bumper, I figured it was totaled (I would've bought it back and fixed it as my wife is sentimental about the car) especially since a 96 Firebird has almost no market value, but they fixed it. Was the top down the entire time it was in the tow-yard?Outside? If so, that's probably a bunch more damage.

 

U P D A T E (part 2)....

So the first (and best) Jag body shop wouldn't take it, as they were not confident they could source parts.
The second Jag body shop said given the nature of the damage... $25-35K, at least (once again, all that aluminum). He said "I know you love it, but it's gone."
So now I'm waitin on the amount from the insurance company...

 

...or to meet Rip and get dropped off at the Train Station...

 

Yep, Yellowstone has become my favourite show lately!

 

So sorry to hear that.

Please let us know what they offer you whenever that happens.