Glad to hear you're getting it back, hopefully in not too bad a condition.

I had someone attempt to steal an old 57 ****** station wagon, but when they tried to steal it they let it roll over a small tree and got stuck, then hauled butt. Figured it was one of the construction workers that was building a house next door to us. One of them asked if it was for sale, told him no. A few days later they tried to steal it. So luckily thanks to a small tree we still have it.

 

Happy to hear you got it back. If anything is broke, you have an excellent excuse to upgrade!

 

I have been reading along with this thread and I, like everyone else, am glad you are getting your car back! I hope there is not too much damage and I would be very interested hearing the how's and why's of the whole story.

I have been thinking about putting a cut off switch on my coil lead. It won't stop someone with a trailer, but it might stop a joyrider.... but if someone is dumb enough to take /my/ car, I figure they will have it wrapped around something in a block or two

 

I'm definitely going to do some sort of cutoff switch. As it is now the car is so hard to start that nobody is going to be able to drive off with it without making a bunch of noise anyhow

 

Glad this story seems to be ending well, the idea of someone stealing my C3 is sickening.

I use one of these:



and intend to order one of these:

 

Craziness! Had your buddy's truck already been written off by the insurance?

That is amazing that they actually found it!

 

The steering wheel clubs don't work. They just use bolt cutters and cut the steering wheel.

My local car club was having a rash of LSx cars getting stolen. One guy had a camera pointed at his car and we got to see the whole process.

Took them 5 seconds to remove the club and the car was gone in 30 seconds.

 

Wow, 30 seconds to get in and go?

Is there a youtube link for the video? That would be really interesting to see.

 

Man actually it hadnt. It was a low mileage 7.3 f250 and wasn't his daily driver so he said he held out hope they would find it. He never accepted the check from the insurance company since they were lowballing him on price since its hard to find a low mileage 7.3 and when you do theyre expensive. But when they found it he got it back but had a bunch of stuff to go through since the Vin got changed and then they issued a salvage title for it. It was a mess I think he ended up getting the truck back and a little bit of money after what they charged him to buy it back.

Man on a vette a kill switch might not be to bad but most vehicle thefts a wrecker hooks up to it and drags it off. On a truck they just slide underneath and take the driveshaft loose and tow it and then worry about getting it started. That would be more difficult on a c3 though.

 

Finally got my eyes on it. It's definitely salvageable but took a real beating. I probably perceive the sum of the damage to be much more than it is because it was in such better condition before all of this.

I have some questions and am extremely grateful for any insight you guys can provide.

1. The carpet is soaked big time, what should I do? How much to replace the interior carpet (ballpark parts & labor)?
2. Weather stripping looks like it's been through WW2 (seriously, what the hell, it was gone less than 48hrs). Ballpark cost to fix (parts & labor)?
3. Front end took a beating. Can the bumper be fixed or does it require a replacement? The lower end, with the black rubber - that's completely ruined. Any ideas on costs for those things (parts & labor)?
4. Steering wheel is broken, horn cap is gone, etc... parts & labor?
5. It's safe to assume the undercarriage has made contact with the road pretty hard and often. What do I need to look at to assess that damage in a timely fashion? What are the worst case scenarios? I have no clue what might result from that.
6. Lots of interior components are messed up. Missing wood on the door locks, the panels that cover the battery & jack have been blown to smithereens (what the hell, man), the leather that encases the shifter is all messed up (although it wasn't in pristine condition to begin with). Parts and labor?
7. Gauges don't seem to work anymore at all. Speakers are gone (of course). Radio has been jacked with. AC blows but doesn't seem to blow out of the front. Parts/labor?
8. Maybe it's my imagination but when the car runs I swear I smell an extra heavy dose of gas. Like there's a leak or something. I don't remember smelling gas when I turned the car over, not like that...
9. What else should I be looking for, particularly mechanically?

That's the major stuff. Aside from that, if I decide to get all the new problems fixed I might want to do some other stuff myself. What's the cost on improving the ride in general? Bushings, springs, etc... and I wouldn't mind getting just a bit more out of the exhaust sound without getting too obnoxious. Also, insulating the cabin so it's not so hot would also be nice - any ideas there?

Fall is right down the road and it looks like the Vette will be in the shop all season... or sold as-is. Sucks, man.

Once again - any help with cost estimates and also referrals to local shops that might be able to help are much appreciated.

 

Oh man, that is terrible! If you end up repairing it, I'm sure some of the forum members could spare some parts. I know I have some spare parts I could send over to help out.

 

Since you pay for insurance contact Hagerty and asked them who they do business with in your area and have the car towed there. If you have AAA it won't be much or even a private tow can't be that expensive. Perhaps Hagerty will even pay for it to get there.

The body shop will work up an estimate and then you decide what to do. If Hagerty totals it then take the agreed value check and search for another or work out a deal to keep the car, get the check, and pay for the rest of the up grades yourself.

I am assuming you want your insurance to pay and not do this on your own. Wait and see what they say then make a decision. Good luck but doing all this worry now might be for naught.

Sorry this happened.

 

Agree, drop it off at a repair shop and let them and your insurance figure it out.

If the cost is too high they will total. Otherwise they will cut a check to get it repaired based off what the shop said it would cost.

Then you can work with the shop to add money for upgrades.

 

What the hell??? I couldn't do that kind of damage if I tried. That sucks man.

 

Thanks for the advice. An adjuster is supposed to take a look tomorrow. I Was just wondering what these things might cost to make sure I get fair value. Didn't think about having it sent to a shop. Would have preferred that actually, it's no fun having to stare it in the face in this condition.

 

I've got both of those for my C3. They won't stop a determined thief, but they will slow down a joy rider.

 

Hi Ziggy, glad you got your car back, sorry to hear what condition it is in. There are a couple of places you might take your car to have it looked at in Houston, I might recommend a place that specializes in corvettes or rebuilding/restoring old cars and hot rods. Corvette World may be a good place to start or Franks Corvette shop. Kemah Classic Automotive does a lot of work on classic and hot rods, you can check out all three of these and a few more in the Houston area online. I know people that have used Corvette World and Kemah Classics and Franks did some work on my car. Good shotp, extremely knowledgable guy.
I also feel like you have a good chance of getting some help from our club, its kind of what we do, help each other on our cars. Really good bunch of guys that have a lot of smarts on C3s. See what the shop says as well as your insurance company. You can check us out anytime. Join the forum and ask as many questions as you like. All the members are aware of your situation as we have been discussing different ideas for protecting our cars over the last day or so. It's what we do, usually meet once a month for lunch and work on our cars. No dues, no officers and full membership participation. Here is the site, anyone can join and be engaged in our forum:
http://www.houstonc3club.org
Any of the CF members are more than welcome to check us out as well. MrM

 

Ziggy sorry for what has happened to you and your car. With luck you can come to an arrangement that is satisfactory to you.

I really hate thieves. I feel really bad for you. Hopefully there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

Best of luck. Heartbreaking.

 

I wouldn't want it back after that. I'd work with Hagerty to try and get them to total it and find another.

 

Local law enforcement will not do any investigation into auto theft. It's a huge problem with the lowest priority. Feel fortunate you got it back.