Lousy way to get welcomed to a new neighborhood. Brand-new West Seattleite Rebecca hopes you’ll be on the lookout for her car:
My husband and I moved to West Seattle two days ago and our car was stolen last night from in front of our house in Highland Park! It is a green, 4-door Honda CRV, license plate 780-WYL. The year is 2000.
Just a week and a half ago, two vehicles reported here as stolen were found, so here’s hoping the same for Rebecca.
Check out the city’s data on property crimes…http://www.cityrating.com/crime-statistics/washington/seattle.html#.UH27Z8Xhp6g
I just moved from Portland 3 weeks ago to this area. I hope your car is found. I will keep a look out for it.
My neighbors motorcycle was taken by also but thankfully it was found within blocks of where it was taken.
Holy Crap! that was fast, I bet it turns up a few blocks away, sorry to hear you had an ” unwelcome” to the neighborhood.
I feel your pain. My silver Vespa was stolen between Friday night and Saturday morning. Have only been living here sense March but I will push on.
Live near by and park a Honda outside. So I want to know what makes some a target…so I won’t become one. Was it locked? Is there sreet/porch lighting near by?
On top of the car being a Honda, no car alarm, nor a club will make a car a target. A club and a car alarm have kept my Hondas safe from theft for 9 years in this burb.
West Seattle is a great community. I had my 1998 Honda CRV stolen a few weeks ago and recovered it 8 days later no damage. Some stats from Seattle Police Dept: 97 % of cars stolen in Seattle are recovered. Of those recovered 80 % have minimal or no damage. So chances are VERY good that your car will be safely returned. My car was recovered 17 blocks from my house.
My car was broken into 2 days after I moved to West Seattle. The theives took everything-even a box of kleenex and the old snow boots my mom handed down to me when she got new ones. They didn’t damage my car, but who wants old snow boots and kleenex? Drug addicts, I’m guessing. Sadly, I’m not unconvinced it wasn’t people in that building (I’ve since moved away from Avalon Way).
Sorry to hear about your car…WS has its “warts” but it’s also a nice place to live. Try (next time) to make it hard on any potential thieves…alsrms, steering wheel clubs, etc. Hondas are very “popular” it seems…most likely for parts. Hopefully you had insurance!
Be prepared and protect your automobile by using a deterrent. Always activate your car alarm and use a Club on the steering wheel (especially on Hondas and Toyotas).
I have a Honda civic too but I have a noticeable alarm and a club that I always use and haven’t had a problem yet. People keep telling me my club is tacky, but if it stops people from stealing my car I don’t care.
Rebecca — the same thing happened to me when I moved to West Seattle four years ago, except two weeks after I moved in. I echo Karen — my car was recovered 4 months later, 1.5 miles from my house, with little taken and no damage. But I had already settled with the insurance company. The only reason it was found was because someone finally reported it as abandoned. My advice, as tedious as it sounds, is to just take 10 extra minutes a day to wander around via bike or friends car to check for your car parked on the side of the street. You will be the only one looking for it. Good luck!
Oh behalf of the 99% of us that don’t totally suck by stealing cars in West Seattle, welcome to the neighborhood.
I’m with EJ… West Seattle isn’t all hood rats and car thieves. Hope your car is found and in good condition. Sorry this has happened to you as you entered our community.
My car was stolen on New Years morning 2 yrs ago. Was go 6 days. Everything was still there, except for a Pemco bag that was in my truck that had a 1/4 full bottle of brake fluid, 1/2 bottle of transmission fluid, a 1/2 bottle of oil treatment, a brand new funnel and an dirty grease rag. They took the jumper cables out and left them, but too the list above… ??????
Police found a supposed stolden vehicle on 16th and Henderson. They say it happened today. Big fat lie, that vehicle has been here for two days. Maybe reported today. I thought it was funny when I seen a few people rummaging through it yesterday.
Queenie, absent the facts of the case, one thing is that it might not have been reported till today. You would be surprised how often we hear from people who say a crime happened two or three days ago and they don’t report it immediately – for various reasons. More things can be reported online than people realize – so that’s one way to go for those who are worried about police taking too long, having to wait to file a report, etc. – TR
Welcome to West Seattle, Rebecca. Despite your rough beginning, Highland Park is a great community as I’m sure you’ll discover the longer you remain here. I, too, regularly use a club on my steering wheel and my car has never been tampered with – it’s been a worthwhile investment.
Thank you so much, everyone! This means so much to my husband and I! We really appreciate the warm welcome to the neighborhood. Unfortunately this wasn’t even our car, it was a friend’s mom’s car we were borrowing while ours was in the shop :/ We literally had it no more than 6 hours before it was stolen. Fortunately she has insurance. The doors were locked but there was no car alarm or club. It was parked underneath a street light. Again, thank you for all your kind comments and encouragement (Karen, thank you for those stats!) I am so sorry to hear about similar experiences, but it sounds like it turned out well for most….hopefully us too.
One last comment. The Seattle Police officer who came to my house to file the report when my car was stolen said The CHOP shops ( stripping down cars for parts) are fortunately all gone. That;s why the recovery rate is so high.
Rebecca, I’m glad to hear your friend’s mother has insurance. Hopefully she will be taken care of. I’m slightly less optimistic about the car being recovered in good form.
The thing is, Honda Civics from 96-98 and 99-00 are considered the same generation. They’re identical in nearly every way except the 99-00 years have an upgraded front end, headlights, and tail lights. These items bolt on directly to the 96-98 year Civics, creating a demand for such parts and a black market. This trend is true for nearly all auto manufacturers. It just happens more frequently with more popular vehicles.
*General thoughts*
A cheap alarm is enough to deter most thieves. Even a dummy flashing LED light is better than nothing. An umkempt vehicle is a more exciting prospect to thieves; keep tidy–tidy is boring. If you CCW, please keep your piece on your person, otherwise it behooves you to get a decent alarm.
Rebecca and husband I’m sorry for a bummer ‘welcoming’.
We have one of the highest car theft rates in America.
Seattle’s a good city overall, in particular West Seattle (in my biased opinion) =) It will get better, and I wish you both a happier acclimitization!
Welcome to Highland Park, and really sorry to hear about your car. I’m new here too; I just moved here in June. Luckily, I haven’t had any break-ins or theft. Things seem pretty quiet around here for the most part, except for one really loud party in July, a few houses down.
Sorry to hijack the comments, but I was curious if any readers of this who also live here know much about the Highland Park Improvement Club. I was thinking about checking it out to meet some neighbors; is it worth looking into? (Or is the first rule the same as for Fight Club?) :)
Wow, I really appreciate all the tips everyone is sharing here to keep cars safe. Barton, I’m so afraid the car was taken for parts :/ Only time will tell. Catpie, I haven’t been to the Improvement Club’s meetings yet, but they meet every 4th Wednesday of the month for a potluck at 6:30 and a meeting at 7:00 on 12th and Holden. My neighbors, Billy and Carolyn, are the chairs. I’ll be there next Wednesday (10/24) to check it out!
Just one amendment there – It’s a bit confusing but the meeting next week, chaired by Billy and Carolyn, is the Highland Park ACTION COMMITTEE meeting – the community council that discusses issues, etc. They meet AT the Highland Park Improvement Club building, a wonderful 90-year-old building that has received lots of community TLC. I believe HPIC also has a board or some kind of meetings, focused on the building and activities headquartered there – movie nights, the monthly Corner Bar, community cleanups, the ultra-mega-cool Not So Silent Night New Year’s Eve parade, etc., someone please correct me if I’m misstating their mission. Anyway, there’s overlap between the organizations and they’re all great people.
Sorry, comment time is over.
| 26 COMMENTS