Truck stolen from dealership

[Splatter]

Has anyone ever had a vehicle stolen while it was at a dealer for service?

Im wondering if anyone has ever had this happen to them. Unfortunately it just happened to me and I have a lot of questions about recourse and who’s insurance should be footing the repairs (if found) or replacement (if not).

Here’s what happened.
I take my truck into a dealership for a new steering gear. The guy says that they will get my truck in asap, however with the volume of customers they are experiencing it might be a few days.
That works for me so I give it till the end of the day on the day it was supposed to be done. Having had no updates I was wondering if it would be another day or what, so I gave them a call. I was told that it would be a few more days so I say ok and wait again.
This time I call back, after hearing nothing in the meantime, the day before my truck was supposed to be finished. The excuse this time is that they thought they had the part but they don’t have the part so they ordered the part and the truck should be done on x day. Pretty frustrated at this point but what can ya do. So I wait again.

This time I call back the day before my truck is due. A Thursday. The person handling my account tells me that my truck is being worked on and should be done by Sunday (the tech was supposedly working extra just for me). I say ok and hang up wondering what will happen next. So far we are 9 days shy of a month in the garage for a job that calls for a few hours, just as an aside. The next morning I get a voicemail from the person handling my account saying please call me back. I do and the guy says, hi can I ask you a question, I say yes. He says, so did you pick up your truck around midnight on Wednesday? I say no and he tells me that someone took it off the lot.
It’s only in hindsight that I think about how my truck had been stolen for at least 48 hrs before I was notified and that it was already stolen when I last talked to the acct manager who told me, the truck was being worked as we speak.
At this point it’s just speaking to managers and police and insurance but I’ve definitely got a few questions.

Has anyone ever had this happen?

Does anyone know for certain if my insurance is the one to be covering this?

Is the dealership liable for anything at all?

Thanks.

 

[ReddingArcher]

I’m not sure I’ve never seen or heard of this happening but I’d definitely think it’s the responsibility of the dealership. What a crappy deal and I hope they take care of you for it.

 

[fngTony]

Might differ by state but in Colorado there would have to be some gross negligence on the dealership.

 

[Marbles]

Do you have full coverage? If you do, file a claim with your insurance and let them get money from the dealership if any is due.

I did similar when my wife was hit by a driver with Geico. Geico tried playing stupid games, so I told them to deal with my insurance and stopped talking to Geico.

If you have less than good insurance, that might not work so well.

 

[dieselchessy]

Report it to your insurance. They will go after who ever they think they can get to pay so they don’t have to.
I’d assume it’s the responsibility of the dealerships insurance since they had possession of your vehicle, but insurance companies will hash that out.

 

[Carlin59]

Similar situation, but much smaller scale: took my Xterra (main hunting vehicle) in for an oil change. Get a call late in the afternoon asking if they could keep it overnight (apparently they got behind that day). I live just up the road and work from home with other vehicles available , so no rush on my end and say, “no problem, keep it overnight”. Get a call the next morning, the catalytic converter had been chopped overnight (along with the O2 sensor and wiring). Best they could do was offer a discount on the labor for the install of new cat and sensor. $1k insurance deductible, my cost out of pocket was $950, go figure. Explanation I received was that since it was on their surface lot overnight (ten feet from their shop door), their insurance didn’t cover the repairs. Pretty frustrating, but since it didn’t make sense to make a claim, i just let it go as a tough learning lesson.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Was the dealership able to produce the set of keys you left them for the vehicle?

 

[long hunter]

Did you get a form from the dealer ship out lining the rights and responsibilities involved by you and the dealership regarding the repairs. If so, read the fine print, report it to the police as a stolen vehicle and also as stated contact your insurance company. Seems to me since the vehicle was under the dealerships care they are responsible, unless stated in such paperwork. If your insurance company is not the best, I would contact a lawyer. Might be a good ideal to do that anyway.

 

[DuckDogDr]

Something similar happened to a friend of mine.
Ultimately it wound up being a cop that stole the truck. Story was he had been undercover for a drug unit and got hooked on the disco dust . Would steal cars then offload at chop shops for his drug money. Detective on the case tried to sweep shit under the rug and gave my friend the run around for about 2-3 months..Friend never got the truck back

Hope you have better luck

 

[Desk Jockey]

Was the dealership able to produce the set of keys you left them for the vehicle?

Get a lawyer involved. Probably not to sue but to ask some questions like this. it seems like a different set of facts if something hot wired your car vs stealing the keys from the dealer and then your car. The later likely involves someone inside the dealership. Read the agreement you have with the dealership. Like an intake form or work order or something. Don’t sign anything they give you at this point. It may limit their liability. Assuming you have coverage, the best you can probably hope for is to get the dealership to cover what your insurance doesn’t.

At the very least, I would push them for a loaner on their dime until you get your wheels back.

 

[Rich M]

Get a lawyer involved.

At the very least, I would push them for a loaner on their dime until you get your wheels back.

Finally.

Call an attorney and let him/her call the dealership and your insurance.

If atty is not an option, then call insurance company and let them do it.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Talk to a local attorney. Laws of bailment involved. Notify your insurance company asap. Offer to settle with the dealership for a brand new fully paid F150, Ram, or Suburban plus $10,000 cash for incidentals.

Disclaimer: Not legal advice, just my damn opinion and half-ass attempt at humor. Best of luck and happy hunting, TheGrayRider.

 

[WMag338]

Damn what a disaster. Never had this happen. I hope they get it worked out. In my opinion, the dealer should cover the losses.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Talk to a local attorney. Laws of bailment involved. Notify your insurance company asap. Offer to settle with the dealership for a brand new fully paid F150, Ram, or Suburban plus $10,000 cash for incidentals.

Disclaimer: Not legal advice, just my damn opinion and half-ass attempt at humor. Best of luck and happy hunting, TheGrayRider.

That may not be a bad idea. They have more room to “deal” on product vs cash!

 

[jayhawk]

Let me make sure I understand this, someone broke into the lot (which wasn’t locked), got your keys (which weren’t secured), then drove off the lot at midnight? Call an attorney.

 

[GunsAreFun]

You need to call an attorney before having anymore discussions with your insurance company or the dealership otherwise one or both of them will try to screw you and leave your worse off than you started.

 

[thauglor]

Man what a shit show. The fact the guy lied to you saying it was being worked on while it was stolen would have me talking to a lawyer
Good luck

 

[Will_m]

Might differ by state but in Colorado there would have to be some gross negligence on the dealership.

I’m not familiar at all with Colorado. But as I understand it from a general standpoint the Bailee (the dealership) is under strict liability to deliver the goods, so it doesn’t matter if it was negligent or not.

Whatever the case, lawyer up sooner rather than later. They screwed up bad and it’s time to pop ‘em.

 

[rclouse79]

Sounds shady, good luck!

 

[Billy Goat]

I don't know how all this works, I can see dropping a vehicle off you sign a release of liability. More than likely they aren't responsible for theft.



What has me wondering is since you were calling and checking for updates, and they told you it was being worked on when it was infact not there, seems like negligence. That time period between when you had last spoken to them, and they contacted you about it being missing is when they might be negligent/liable. You were checking on the status of your vehicle, they lied to you about the status.

I'd read over anything they gave you when you dropped it off, probably best to contact a lawyer. I'd first leave my insurance out of it, just because even when it's not your fault, it's going to end up costing you. If not this time, shortly after a tree branch will fall on your vehicle and you will have 2 claims within a window that will raise your rates. But that's me.