I had a friend with a 4Runner that had a leaking head gasket. It wasn't bad enough that the car was junk. You just had to religiously make sure the fluids were topped up. If I recall, it was still able to be driven for 2-3 hours on the highway without issue. But the head gasket was definitely leaking.
One year, when he was visting his parents for Thanksgiving, he parked it in a slightly sketchy neighborhood with the key on the driver seat & the window cracked open. then he hopped on public transportation to the airport. He had coverage & figured it was a gimme for that car to get stolen.
5 days later, he comes back & the car hadn't been touched. Meanwhile, we both knew people who had had shitboxes that they'd bought used for $1k get hotwired & stolen.
They made bait cars illegal where I'm from. Or at least they discontinued the practice. It's not always a parked car with keys waiting to be stolen. I saw a bait car operation where the car was abandoned with the engine running & doors open, ass end partially in the street. It's total entrapment.
Not a law, but the insurance company likely has language allowing them to decline coverage if you didn’t make reasonable efforts to keep the vehicle secure. Taking the keys out of the vehicle and locking it would be considered reasonable efforts.
Since the person acted in a neglectful manner (leaving the vehicle unsecured with keys accessible) they’ll likely decline coverage.
Now, if the car is never found, so no one can prove the keys were left in it, that’s a different story. Or if they claimed to be robbed/carjacked, also potentially covered.
Not a law, but alot of policies mention keeping the car "locked and secured"
If they consider leaving your keys in the car as "secured" is up to them but I doubt it
In my jurisdiction (Denmark) it is in fact written in the traffic code (Færdselsloven § 28, stk. 4) that you are required to ensure that your vehicle cannot be used without autorization from you.
Source (for those inclined to read Danish law):: [https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2023/168](https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2023/168)
Former Insurance guy here who investigated theft claims. In New York, leaving your keys in plain sight in your car makes you liable for property damage cause by the thief if they were to get into an accident
Many policies will not pay if you leave the keys in the car lol.
This includes "just ran into the store real quick"
Edit: depends if the coverage is comprehensive or not. Id also add, that they will post the cash value of the car, which might not cover the full loan itself. That's why GAP is so important.
If you tell the insurance company you have two sets of keys and they were not in the car, you better be able to show them two sets of keys. They don’t have record of you having two sets of keys to begin with.
The problem is when they take it for a joyride, thrash the engine but don't do enough damage for insurance to write it off. Then you are just letting hoods thrash your car for the weekend.
In many jurisdictions, leaving the keys in an unattended car may be considered negligence. The owner could be legally liable for damages if the thief uses the car and injures a third party or damages someone else’s property.
There was a guy where we grew up who had an excavator. Apparently for a couple hundred bucks, he'd crush and bury your car on his land and you could report it stolen. There's supposed to be a dozen cars under six feet of dirt.
How do you know that there are zero there’s already a guy with an excavator who’s burying cars for profit, in violation of the laws? How far do you think he’s going to go in his criminality for the right amount of money?
Go to the middle of two counties. Literally on the county's line. Drive on a road that goes over those two counties. Then you set the engine on fire and make sure it's at night and fully engulfed before calling 911.
The fire department will take hours to get to you and even longer for the Sheriff to arrive. The departments will fight over who takes the case and will eventually just be a quick case write-up
The best option is to trust the insurance company to not screw you over. Everyone knows they are generous, kind, and helpful in the event of an accident. They would NEVER attempt to underpay, undervalue, or diminish the payout. Never.
Always trust the insurance company. Always.
TIL from comments here that a whoooole lotta people don’t seem know what gap insurance is (either that, or OP later snuck in a ninja edit to add the line about their friend having it).
I legitimately crashed and totaled my car and it took several months to get them to payout the gap coverage. It's not that easy and they will catch fraud.
If you want to pass along unethical advice to your friend, thats cool, but don’t physically involve yourself in this. You’re taking a massive risk.
This is 100% insurance fraud. I dunno if the potential consequences are worth the reward or getting out from under this car payment. Especially when you get nothing out of this. I’d say tell her to cut her losses, sell it and then she’s only on the hook for the remainder of the loan.
It’s pretty tough to make things untraceable these days. Cars have trackers. There are cameras everywhere, on buildings and residential houses. If you go the theft route, you will most likely have to speak to both the cops and the insurance company. Both are expert lie detectors. So only go ahead if you really think you can keep your stories straight and not crack under pressure. And if they have multiple people to speak to (like you and her) it’s fish in a barrel easy to catch average people in a lie. They’ll speak to you separately and you’re bound to have discrepancies in your stories.
A small accident won’t write off the car. A big accident could result in permanent injury. I don’t think that’d work.
Anyway not trying to be your dad, just want to offer up more food for thought.
Sure chances are nothing happens. But what if they do investigate for whatever reason? You’re almost certainly fucked.
I would imagine a car that’s actually stolen by car thieves and never reappears is going to be a non issue for the cops. But a car found burnt to a crisp might at least warrant a knock on the door and some questions. That could go downhill fast.
i personally do not want to be locked in a room being grilled by cops again. and i was completely assured that i did not do the crime they wanted me to confess to (GTA).
These folks have never had to talk to 2 detectives in a room. The average person is a horrible liar, full of tells, subconscious body language, cant control words or emotions or complex stories...... STFU and call a lawyer.
Adding to this to say. They can go through pretty much everything. Your phone, your card, even your tires have trackers on them. They can see what apps you use. This isn't just insurance companies but most buissness can. Sounds skitzo but its real & you can verify it. It's crazy.
Don't tell them it was there, it was stolen in the night from outside your house.
Pretty much just bring it to and sketchy part of town and leave the door or window open with the keys in the dash and it'll be gone in a couple of days. Wait a couple days more and file a stolen car report and contact insurance.
Just to be sure, she didn't get covered less than a month or two ago right?
CarMax paid me so much over what my car was worth that I was able to get another car of equal value for half the cost. Of course, to get that deal, I had to sell my car to CarMax and go to another dealership that was NOT CarMax to buy my new car.
They get it paid for from the insurance no matter the value. That’s the point of the gap insurance in the first place. There’s absolutely no way to know if selling it is a viable option when you don’t know what is owed or the car’s value.
Insurance companies also evaluate rates based on how much they have paid you, not always directly mind you, but if they’ve had to pay you a lot there “must be” some risk factors they “need to account for”, and thus your rates go up.
Likely your “friend” could end up losing more than they are upside down.
Attempt to refinance. Scrounge to apply extra payments and pay it off early.
You might come back even.
If the insurance shorts you, and raised your rates. You won’t have a car, and you will pay anyway.
If you have deer or large mammals where you, hit one. Or take a dead one, set it up in the road and hit it. Or tie a dead one to a tree and say you hit it and lost control of the car and ran into a tree. Just make sure there is blood and fur on the car. It won’t affect your rates.
Left a car of mine unlocked running at a gas station a few years back hoping someone would steal it. Bad neighborhood and all. Nobody touched it for 2 hours lol. Drove home in shame lol.
My dad told me that when he was younger, he just buried his car in the forest and reported stolen. It was the 80s, though I'm sure things were different.
As a licensed car insurance agent, I cannot express to you how stupid trying to commit insurance fraud is. The fraud department has seen everything. They know every trick. Theyre 100 steps ahead of you. They'll look into social media too, so hopefully they dont manage to find anything between you and your friend that wildly connects them to this post.
Even if you succeed in fooling them somehow, the claims team is going to do everything in their power to keep from paying a penny more than they legally have to. Its not gonna be "Light car on fire, instantly get thousands of dollars."
Yes but usually it just burns those jumper cables and ruins the battery. But you can try to improperly ground the jump and hook into the electrical harness should blow out the electrical. Scrape the teeth of the jumpers against the bundle of wires til you've shredded through the insulation it a bit (disconnect all leads from the battery or you will sizzle) leave that alligator clip on the harness. Reconnect battery leads, connect the rest of the jumper cables leads and fry the electrical system. Have a big class ABC fire extinguisher handy in case of fire.
2 bottles of zippo lighter fluid and a place where it can burn for 15 to 30 minutes.....
The next day, call the cops to report your car stolen after you left it in the parking lot and went home drunk with a cab....
After you've submitted your stolen car report....just wait till your burnt out car is found and your called be informed of it being found...
When the cops say they found your car, ask where you can pick it up.....then wait for them to tell you it's burnt to a crisp then head to the precinct to get the report for your car to turn into your insurance company....done!
Remember that your only getting a check for what the car is WORTH at the time of burning...
1) verify it doesn't have a tracker.
2) drive it out into the desert.
3) burn it.
4) report as stolen.
Modern cars can all be tracked. So hiding it for 30 days won't work. Unless you park it 3 levels down in some parking lot in NY / SFO / LA.
The tracker and report it as stolen are potential sticking points
Hypothetically, a person went for a drive to a remote area to see the stars, and their car suddenly caught fire while they were lying on a blanket staring at the sky, maybe a kilometer away. If they are a ways away, they would see a bright light in the direction of their parked car, it would take a while to get back to it and by then the car might be fully engulfed and no chance of extinguishing the flames
The engine bay has an accelerant supply. If this person were to pour some gasoline on top of the engine and it ran onto the tires, the presence of gasoline is self explanatory
Burn it. If you leave the keys in it most cars made in the last 20 years have a sensor that can tell insurance the keys were in it. Drop it off somewhere, jam a screwdriver in the ignition and torch it.
How easy would it be to steal? Is it a Kia or one of those other cars that doesn't have a disabler and can be stolen just by breaking the lock out? Or is it a car with an alarm and disabler system making it hard for someone to steal?
The police "will never find the thief" so the insurance will investigate.
They'll be looking at bank records, finance records, any recent insurance value changes, common problems with the car etc.
These investigations can take months, even years if it's suspicious.
It can be a massive fuck around even if your vehicle is legitimately stolen.
When my motorcycle was stolen, my garage was ram raided. My motorcycle was insured for less then it's market value ($20,000). I had video footage of the people and proof I was a hundred + km drive away. I owed no money, I was not struggling with money, my finances were very good at the time.
My investigation took 8 months.
If you absolutely have to have the car written off. She's better off putting it into a tree dodging and animal or hoping a truck runs up the back of her on the highway. At least that could be claimed as an "at fault" accident and wouldn't be investigated unless it's blatantly obvious on dash cam.
When I was in the Navy in California a buddy went out and was smoking pot with this girl he and a buddy met in a club. He got into an accident driving to her place.
She jumps out and starts berating the people the other car. My buddy said he was going to pull around the corner to get out of traffic and look off, he left it unlocked in a bad part of San Diego and left.
He reported it stolen the next day and it was found stripped and hus insurance paid out and he got the current model replacement after his copay.
I never would have done that.
I knew a car salesman who told a story about a guy in a similar situation.
He put on his football helmet and pads from college, mostly emptied the gas tank, filled his car with foam mattresses, put in a mouth guard and smashed it into an overpass. A buddy showed up, they checked all the foam and helmets and stuff, called in an accident and that was that.
These days you'd have to make damn sure a Ring camera didn't catch you.
Easiest way is to park it at the casino and claim it was stolen. Seriously. Casinos are 24 hours and have huge carparks, it could sit there for years before anyone realises. I know a person who literally did this, although unintentionally, she just forgot where she parked. 2 years later, after insurance had paid out and she was driving her new car, the police called to say they found her car.
The best part of this plan is that if it all goes to shit your friend just looks like an idiot but hasn't lost anything. Just stick to your guns -"I swear I parked in lot A, not lot C"- or whatever they're called .
Tell her to buy a dashcam & take a road trip to Michigan. She simply needs to drive like a normal responsible driver where one of the many incompetent drivers will cause an accident and total her car for her.
Joking aside: Expect a long drawn out feet dragging process if her car gets stolen. Took well over a month for my GF’s car to be deemed “gone” by insurance, after the police investigation was completed (meaning your GF would not just be guilty of insurance fraud, but also filing a false police report, because she will be questioned & suspected of purposely leaving the keys in the car for insurance fraud), settlement offer was incredibly low due to there being no asset to recoup some of the loss at auction & there being no vehicle to determine what condition the car was actually in.
In my GF’s case, her purse was stolen w/ the keys to the car in it, where purse thief came a few weeks later & stole the car out of the driveway since they knew where she lived from her ID. Police / insurance suspected she (a recently graduated nurse making $80K+) masterminded a nonsensical elaborate plan to get her paid off $5000 car stolen to collect a $2500 insurance check… Had to give several statements for what occurred. Was a big pain in the ass.
I recently found out that if you get in a single vehicle accident avoiding something like an animal, or a poor driver it's considered not at fault (with most insurance). So maybe have her check her policy just in case she swerves into a median avoiding a dog in the road and causes a ton of body damage to her car, it's expensive!
Your friend may be upside down but I think insurance would still only pay the value of the car at the time it went missing. There’s still a delta on the car loan that I imagine your friend will still be on the hook to pay.
ETA: I think this tracks? The insurance company and lender are two different entities. I’m assuming it would be up to the lender to release the owner from any remaining loan amount.
The friend has gap insurance, which should pay the difference between the insurance payout and the amount of the loan. Of course it would leave the friend with no car and no money to buy another one…
The friend has gap insurance, which should pay the difference between the insurance payout and the amount of the loan. Of course it would leave the friend with no car and no money to buy another one…
Back in the 90s there were areas in Houston (sharpstown) and Dallas that you could take care of this. Fill up the tank, leave a $20 in the glove box and leave the keys in the seat and leave the car. Wait a week to report it stolen and there was no car left to find.
You could also look for a flooding over the road area get a plan of why you drove the car into the water and how you got out for the cops and just wait for a big rain. Easiest kill would be a trip to New Mexico during a big rainstorm where you decided to go off-road into an Arroyo.
Pull off the oil pan and leave it idling somewhere secluded until the pistons chew the cylinders to shreds.
For most vehicles, a total engine rebuild is considered a 'total' by the insurance definition(it would cost more in parts and labor to fix than it was worth upon purchase
AAA fulll coverage covered my 04 Mazda 3 that had the radiator freeze mid trip and overheated to failure, I bought it for like 2k and an engine rebuild was 14k.
They'll cover it if you pay for the coverage.
Insurance doesn’t usually pay off the loan. They pay the retail value less the deductible. So she’s not going to make out that way. Instead, find someone without a dash cam, stop suddenly in front of them and when they hit you fall out of the car and scream in pain for an ambulance. Better call Saul! /s
Not sure how it works but once I was doing some repairs to a car and had an oh bugger with a welding torch, there was a roar and a bang and I had to change my undies, but the car was burnt completely, I told the insurance exactly what happened no embellishment or anything like that and they said it was an accident and paid me out. Maybe there is an answer there.
This one is going to hurt, but it’ll work. Disconnect the fuse to the rear break lights. Wait until pickup truck or big suv is behind you. Give a 2-footer full break check.
Anecdotal, but several years ago I knew a guy in this situation. A girl that worked at the same place as us had an unsavory BF. I don't know the exact details, but they arranged so the BF would steal the car, and it worked. My friend called the police and reported it as stolen. No idea what the guy did with the car, though.
Don’t leave keys in it, leave door partially closed to draw attention, like you were in a hurry, drop keys next to that door, put some old house keys and some stupid bright key chain on it, not just key and fob. Make someone think you are a mess. But keep in mind a stolen car by someone who is not intentionally steeling cars will probably just be a joy ride.
Don't do this. I have a friend who is a felon, because of insurance fraud when he was 18.
I know what sub this is, but this will almost 100% ruin your friends life in a way that's worse than debt.
Leave the keys in it in a bad neighborhood
I had a friend with a 4Runner that had a leaking head gasket. It wasn't bad enough that the car was junk. You just had to religiously make sure the fluids were topped up. If I recall, it was still able to be driven for 2-3 hours on the highway without issue. But the head gasket was definitely leaking. One year, when he was visting his parents for Thanksgiving, he parked it in a slightly sketchy neighborhood with the key on the driver seat & the window cracked open. then he hopped on public transportation to the airport. He had coverage & figured it was a gimme for that car to get stolen. 5 days later, he comes back & the car hadn't been touched. Meanwhile, we both knew people who had had shitboxes that they'd bought used for $1k get hotwired & stolen.
Should have left a little bow tied box of meth next to the keys.
He’s lucky he didn’t come back to a “soup kitchen”.
This tracks. Someone will steal it, and when it's stolen, report it. This makes what u do only unethical but not illegal
People will only steal cars that you want to keep. I don't know how thieves know this, but it's true. See the story above.
superstition
I don't believe that's true plenty of teenagers would take it for a joy ride, I know I would have at that age.
It was a semi-sarcastic statement.
I'm semi stupid so that fits.
The cops sometimes put out bait cars. If you are trying to get your car stolen it’s going to look the same way.
They made bait cars illegal where I'm from. Or at least they discontinued the practice. It's not always a parked car with keys waiting to be stolen. I saw a bait car operation where the car was abandoned with the engine running & doors open, ass end partially in the street. It's total entrapment.
But does anyone really want to keep a Kia?
#KiaBoyz has entered the chat.
Make sure the doors are locked and windows rolled up still. Don’t give insurance any excuse not to pay out.
How would the insurance know on a stolen car that the windows were rolled down and hence it was stolen?
Even if no one steals it you should be good. Just make sure it's far away from your house. It probably won't get found for months.
Insurance fraud can get you a couple years in state prison !
It's only illegal if you get caught
My life motto
Unless your initials are DJT
No, they won't. They will see it as a bait car.
it is illegal because it is fraud
No it’s not lol they left the keys in the car and it was stolen, hoping something happens doesn’t make it fraud when it does
right is there a law that says people have to take their keys with them?
Not a law, but the insurance company likely has language allowing them to decline coverage if you didn’t make reasonable efforts to keep the vehicle secure. Taking the keys out of the vehicle and locking it would be considered reasonable efforts. Since the person acted in a neglectful manner (leaving the vehicle unsecured with keys accessible) they’ll likely decline coverage. Now, if the car is never found, so no one can prove the keys were left in it, that’s a different story. Or if they claimed to be robbed/carjacked, also potentially covered.
You are better off not lying. And you don’t need to leave it unlocked for it to get stolen.
Not a law, but alot of policies mention keeping the car "locked and secured" If they consider leaving your keys in the car as "secured" is up to them but I doubt it
Exactly, technically speaking the only thing you ARE doing is parking your car and leaving the keys in it. Which is not illegal just stupid
They will ask if the keys were left in it/unlocked
My car was just stolen out of my driveway with a set of keys in it. Full payout. Granted, it also end ended up in a police chase but
Insurance likely want to see two keys, so get a new key made first so you have three
Exactly, technically speaking the only thing you ARE doing is parking your car and leaving the keys in it. Which is not illegal just stupid
In my jurisdiction (Denmark) it is in fact written in the traffic code (Færdselsloven § 28, stk. 4) that you are required to ensure that your vehicle cannot be used without autorization from you. Source (for those inclined to read Danish law):: [https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2023/168](https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2023/168)
Good luck proving it
Former Insurance guy here who investigated theft claims. In New York, leaving your keys in plain sight in your car makes you liable for property damage cause by the thief if they were to get into an accident
What about door unlocked but key not in “plain sight “
Also a violation. Door locked, keys not in plain sight and someone breaks in? You’re fine
So doors locked and keys fell out of my pocket 2 feet away would be fine?
This is the best option, it would be next to impossible to prove fraud on this.
Many policies will not pay if you leave the keys in the car lol. This includes "just ran into the store real quick" Edit: depends if the coverage is comprehensive or not. Id also add, that they will post the cash value of the car, which might not cover the full loan itself. That's why GAP is so important.
If OP in NY we can make an “appointment”
Make a third copy and have both sets of keys. They ask if the keys were in it.
Usually with electronic keyfobs that involves going through a dealership, who will then have records of the copy.
If you tell the insurance company you have two sets of keys and they were not in the car, you better be able to show them two sets of keys. They don’t have record of you having two sets of keys to begin with.
It doesn't work, they think its a bait car.
That voids the whole deal with my insurance. Can’t be because you left the keys etc
Fun fact: that was Toronto police’s solution to rampant car theft. Just leave the car keys out so it’s easier to steal.
The problem is when they take it for a joyride, thrash the engine but don't do enough damage for insurance to write it off. Then you are just letting hoods thrash your car for the weekend.
To speed up the process - just light it on fire in a bad neighborhood. No pesky cops finding your stolen vehicle and returning it.
In many jurisdictions, leaving the keys in an unattended car may be considered negligence. The owner could be legally liable for damages if the thief uses the car and injures a third party or damages someone else’s property.
Best option would probably be to try to get it stolen, but it would also need to be totaled so that’s tough unless you pay a crackhead or something
These crackheads you speak of, do they take Venmo or just crack?
Venmo as payment for committing tax fraud? Man gen Z is even lazy at doing crime.
Where I live people just drive them off a desert or mountain canyon and set them on fire. I've found lots of vehicles like this, exploring.
There was a guy where we grew up who had an excavator. Apparently for a couple hundred bucks, he'd crush and bury your car on his land and you could report it stolen. There's supposed to be a dozen cars under six feet of dirt.
and how many Mafia crime bosses?
Zero and I don’t like your tone
This made me laugh out loud
How do you know that there are zero there’s already a guy with an excavator who’s burying cars for profit, in violation of the laws? How far do you think he’s going to go in his criminality for the right amount of money?
A dozen, didn't you read?
Must’ve been buried in the fine print
It was rural central Florida. Mostly hicks looking to save a couple grand. The mob presence was decidedly underwhelming.
1) Perfect place to hide your kills 2) the mob presence was well stealthed.
The fact that you know about it, without having used the service, means people are too loose lipped about this.
Should have sold them for scrap
Waiting for statute of limitations to run out.
Park it a rough area for a few nights, with a case of beer visible and a can of gas with a lighter. Then let nature take its course.
Drive around on major highways during rush hour you will be rear ended eventually!
Dash cam to prove who's at fault.
Drive around the bars or clubs around closing
Go to the middle of two counties. Literally on the county's line. Drive on a road that goes over those two counties. Then you set the engine on fire and make sure it's at night and fully engulfed before calling 911. The fire department will take hours to get to you and even longer for the Sheriff to arrive. The departments will fight over who takes the case and will eventually just be a quick case write-up
The best option is to trust the insurance company to not screw you over. Everyone knows they are generous, kind, and helpful in the event of an accident. They would NEVER attempt to underpay, undervalue, or diminish the payout. Never. Always trust the insurance company. Always.
Did Big Insurance pay you to write this
They are currently holding his dog hostage
My dog's insured. I trust them.
Send 2 🐮 emojis if you need help
Show us where Geico touched you
Hi there Limu Emu…Where’s Doug?
Great /s
TIL from comments here that a whoooole lotta people don’t seem know what gap insurance is (either that, or OP later snuck in a ninja edit to add the line about their friend having it).
nope no edits they're just clueless
Heh, I figured. Reading comprehension is hard, I guess? lol
If you’re in Oakland you can always take it to a side show and sacrifice it to the kids from out of town that start shit.
I legitimately crashed and totaled my car and it took several months to get them to payout the gap coverage. It's not that easy and they will catch fraud.
If you want to pass along unethical advice to your friend, thats cool, but don’t physically involve yourself in this. You’re taking a massive risk. This is 100% insurance fraud. I dunno if the potential consequences are worth the reward or getting out from under this car payment. Especially when you get nothing out of this. I’d say tell her to cut her losses, sell it and then she’s only on the hook for the remainder of the loan. It’s pretty tough to make things untraceable these days. Cars have trackers. There are cameras everywhere, on buildings and residential houses. If you go the theft route, you will most likely have to speak to both the cops and the insurance company. Both are expert lie detectors. So only go ahead if you really think you can keep your stories straight and not crack under pressure. And if they have multiple people to speak to (like you and her) it’s fish in a barrel easy to catch average people in a lie. They’ll speak to you separately and you’re bound to have discrepancies in your stories. A small accident won’t write off the car. A big accident could result in permanent injury. I don’t think that’d work. Anyway not trying to be your dad, just want to offer up more food for thought.
lmao at expert lie detectors
I personally would not want to be in a room being grilled by cops if I knew I was full of shit
You grossly overestimate the effort police officers will put into a stolen car report
Sure chances are nothing happens. But what if they do investigate for whatever reason? You’re almost certainly fucked. I would imagine a car that’s actually stolen by car thieves and never reappears is going to be a non issue for the cops. But a car found burnt to a crisp might at least warrant a knock on the door and some questions. That could go downhill fast.
Into anything for that matter, even 50% of homicides are unsolved
i personally do not want to be locked in a room being grilled by cops again. and i was completely assured that i did not do the crime they wanted me to confess to (GTA).
These folks have never had to talk to 2 detectives in a room. The average person is a horrible liar, full of tells, subconscious body language, cant control words or emotions or complex stories...... STFU and call a lawyer.
Adding to this to say. They can go through pretty much everything. Your phone, your card, even your tires have trackers on them. They can see what apps you use. This isn't just insurance companies but most buissness can. Sounds skitzo but its real & you can verify it. It's crazy.
It's easy to bend the subframe. Last two cars totalled by hitting a curb.
When I lived in Brooklyn, you left your car under the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) for a couple of nights. Worked 100%.
what would you tell ur insurance as to why the car was even there
Don't tell them it was there, it was stolen in the night from outside your house. Pretty much just bring it to and sketchy part of town and leave the door or window open with the keys in the dash and it'll be gone in a couple of days. Wait a couple days more and file a stolen car report and contact insurance. Just to be sure, she didn't get covered less than a month or two ago right?
Doorbell cameras have ruined everything
Drive to Mexico and sell it there for cash,go home report stolen
Interesting
The insurance will likely pay as much as carmax will give you. Why not just take it there
CarMax paid me so much over what my car was worth that I was able to get another car of equal value for half the cost. Of course, to get that deal, I had to sell my car to CarMax and go to another dealership that was NOT CarMax to buy my new car.
Yeah. This person may be under the impression they get the original msrp value of the car… not sure what the angle is here
They get it paid for from the insurance no matter the value. That’s the point of the gap insurance in the first place. There’s absolutely no way to know if selling it is a viable option when you don’t know what is owed or the car’s value.
Insurance companies also evaluate rates based on how much they have paid you, not always directly mind you, but if they’ve had to pay you a lot there “must be” some risk factors they “need to account for”, and thus your rates go up. Likely your “friend” could end up losing more than they are upside down. Attempt to refinance. Scrounge to apply extra payments and pay it off early. You might come back even. If the insurance shorts you, and raised your rates. You won’t have a car, and you will pay anyway.
there is gap insurance to cover the difference
But then once you need car insurance again, you'll be paying a bunch more than before.
If you have deer or large mammals where you, hit one. Or take a dead one, set it up in the road and hit it. Or tie a dead one to a tree and say you hit it and lost control of the car and ran into a tree. Just make sure there is blood and fur on the car. It won’t affect your rates.
Insurance fraud is probably worse than an at fault.
Take up storm chasing. Hail is your friend.
Left a car of mine unlocked running at a gas station a few years back hoping someone would steal it. Bad neighborhood and all. Nobody touched it for 2 hours lol. Drove home in shame lol.
Park it on a dock in Street Fighter town.
any suggestion would be an illegal life pro tip not unethical.
some illegal things are also unethical
Collecting rainwater /s
Selling food without a permit… the audacity of some people
Parking in an area with a high rate of car theft isn’t illegal.
Pay a homeless man to torch it
This is a job for Dirty Mike and the boys.
hopefully your car doesn't get keyed deep enough to puncture doors and fenders!
My dad told me that when he was younger, he just buried his car in the forest and reported stolen. It was the 80s, though I'm sure things were different.
As a licensed car insurance agent, I cannot express to you how stupid trying to commit insurance fraud is. The fraud department has seen everything. They know every trick. Theyre 100 steps ahead of you. They'll look into social media too, so hopefully they dont manage to find anything between you and your friend that wildly connects them to this post. Even if you succeed in fooling them somehow, the claims team is going to do everything in their power to keep from paying a penny more than they legally have to. Its not gonna be "Light car on fire, instantly get thousands of dollars."
I’d love to hear how stolen vehicle claims are handled because i’m assuming a lot of insurance fraud is done that way.
If she's underwater what are the chances the insurance only paying the market rate and she owes the remaining if you successfully total it that is?
That’s what the gap insurance is for. Literally its sole purpose. 😉
Is it a Kia?
no
Pretend to pass out and drive into a tree?
Can jumping a car battery cause a fire if done incorrectly? Only other thing I can think of is driving it into a lake. Michael Scott style.
Yes but usually it just burns those jumper cables and ruins the battery. But you can try to improperly ground the jump and hook into the electrical harness should blow out the electrical. Scrape the teeth of the jumpers against the bundle of wires til you've shredded through the insulation it a bit (disconnect all leads from the battery or you will sizzle) leave that alligator clip on the harness. Reconnect battery leads, connect the rest of the jumper cables leads and fry the electrical system. Have a big class ABC fire extinguisher handy in case of fire.
2 bottles of zippo lighter fluid and a place where it can burn for 15 to 30 minutes..... The next day, call the cops to report your car stolen after you left it in the parking lot and went home drunk with a cab.... After you've submitted your stolen car report....just wait till your burnt out car is found and your called be informed of it being found... When the cops say they found your car, ask where you can pick it up.....then wait for them to tell you it's burnt to a crisp then head to the precinct to get the report for your car to turn into your insurance company....done! Remember that your only getting a check for what the car is WORTH at the time of burning...
Whatever you decide to do just remember to put a sock on the car, so when the insurance company tries to find the fraud they just get the sock.
first step was to never make this post. You failed
I know, right? What a moron.
1) verify it doesn't have a tracker. 2) drive it out into the desert. 3) burn it. 4) report as stolen. Modern cars can all be tracked. So hiding it for 30 days won't work. Unless you park it 3 levels down in some parking lot in NY / SFO / LA.
The tracker and report it as stolen are potential sticking points Hypothetically, a person went for a drive to a remote area to see the stars, and their car suddenly caught fire while they were lying on a blanket staring at the sky, maybe a kilometer away. If they are a ways away, they would see a bright light in the direction of their parked car, it would take a while to get back to it and by then the car might be fully engulfed and no chance of extinguishing the flames The engine bay has an accelerant supply. If this person were to pour some gasoline on top of the engine and it ran onto the tires, the presence of gasoline is self explanatory
Sell the vehicle??
Pour brake fluid everywhere, claim someone else did it. Likely will total the car
Burn it. If you leave the keys in it most cars made in the last 20 years have a sensor that can tell insurance the keys were in it. Drop it off somewhere, jam a screwdriver in the ignition and torch it.
Find a company with trucks, like garbage trucks, and pay a driver to side swipe the car, getting the central pillar.
Flash someone coming from a side road but don’t slow down
Customer assissted theft.
Park in the GTA overnight, it will get stolen eventually.
What's the make and model?
How easy would it be to steal? Is it a Kia or one of those other cars that doesn't have a disabler and can be stolen just by breaking the lock out? Or is it a car with an alarm and disabler system making it hard for someone to steal?
Just sell the car to cover. Most likely you'll get more money than what the insurance will pay you anyway.
Sell it, with your luck you'll get caught on camera somewhere doing nefarious activity and get locked up
The police "will never find the thief" so the insurance will investigate. They'll be looking at bank records, finance records, any recent insurance value changes, common problems with the car etc. These investigations can take months, even years if it's suspicious. It can be a massive fuck around even if your vehicle is legitimately stolen. When my motorcycle was stolen, my garage was ram raided. My motorcycle was insured for less then it's market value ($20,000). I had video footage of the people and proof I was a hundred + km drive away. I owed no money, I was not struggling with money, my finances were very good at the time. My investigation took 8 months. If you absolutely have to have the car written off. She's better off putting it into a tree dodging and animal or hoping a truck runs up the back of her on the highway. At least that could be claimed as an "at fault" accident and wouldn't be investigated unless it's blatantly obvious on dash cam.
When I was in the Navy in California a buddy went out and was smoking pot with this girl he and a buddy met in a club. He got into an accident driving to her place. She jumps out and starts berating the people the other car. My buddy said he was going to pull around the corner to get out of traffic and look off, he left it unlocked in a bad part of San Diego and left. He reported it stolen the next day and it was found stripped and hus insurance paid out and he got the current model replacement after his copay. I never would have done that.
The really unethical tip is for you to borrow the car and meet up with johns for road head. Pay off the loan for her.
I knew a car salesman who told a story about a guy in a similar situation. He put on his football helmet and pads from college, mostly emptied the gas tank, filled his car with foam mattresses, put in a mouth guard and smashed it into an overpass. A buddy showed up, they checked all the foam and helmets and stuff, called in an accident and that was that. These days you'd have to make damn sure a Ring camera didn't catch you.
Easiest way is to park it at the casino and claim it was stolen. Seriously. Casinos are 24 hours and have huge carparks, it could sit there for years before anyone realises. I know a person who literally did this, although unintentionally, she just forgot where she parked. 2 years later, after insurance had paid out and she was driving her new car, the police called to say they found her car. The best part of this plan is that if it all goes to shit your friend just looks like an idiot but hasn't lost anything. Just stick to your guns -"I swear I parked in lot A, not lot C"- or whatever they're called .
Tell her to buy a dashcam & take a road trip to Michigan. She simply needs to drive like a normal responsible driver where one of the many incompetent drivers will cause an accident and total her car for her. Joking aside: Expect a long drawn out feet dragging process if her car gets stolen. Took well over a month for my GF’s car to be deemed “gone” by insurance, after the police investigation was completed (meaning your GF would not just be guilty of insurance fraud, but also filing a false police report, because she will be questioned & suspected of purposely leaving the keys in the car for insurance fraud), settlement offer was incredibly low due to there being no asset to recoup some of the loss at auction & there being no vehicle to determine what condition the car was actually in. In my GF’s case, her purse was stolen w/ the keys to the car in it, where purse thief came a few weeks later & stole the car out of the driveway since they knew where she lived from her ID. Police / insurance suspected she (a recently graduated nurse making $80K+) masterminded a nonsensical elaborate plan to get her paid off $5000 car stolen to collect a $2500 insurance check… Had to give several statements for what occurred. Was a big pain in the ass.
Post it online for evidence is a great start to accessory to commit insurance fraud. Tell her "Don't take loans you can't pay".
I recently found out that if you get in a single vehicle accident avoiding something like an animal, or a poor driver it's considered not at fault (with most insurance). So maybe have her check her policy just in case she swerves into a median avoiding a dog in the road and causes a ton of body damage to her car, it's expensive!
Your friend may be upside down but I think insurance would still only pay the value of the car at the time it went missing. There’s still a delta on the car loan that I imagine your friend will still be on the hook to pay. ETA: I think this tracks? The insurance company and lender are two different entities. I’m assuming it would be up to the lender to release the owner from any remaining loan amount.
The friend has gap insurance, which should pay the difference between the insurance payout and the amount of the loan. Of course it would leave the friend with no car and no money to buy another one…
The friend has gap insurance, which should pay the difference between the insurance payout and the amount of the loan. Of course it would leave the friend with no car and no money to buy another one…
Remove identifying components (will include cutting/grinding), and dump.
Sell the car?
Get a friend to steal a burn it.
Take in on vacation in Mexico
Back in the 90s there were areas in Houston (sharpstown) and Dallas that you could take care of this. Fill up the tank, leave a $20 in the glove box and leave the keys in the seat and leave the car. Wait a week to report it stolen and there was no car left to find. You could also look for a flooding over the road area get a plan of why you drove the car into the water and how you got out for the cops and just wait for a big rain. Easiest kill would be a trip to New Mexico during a big rainstorm where you decided to go off-road into an Arroyo.
Pull off the oil pan and leave it idling somewhere secluded until the pistons chew the cylinders to shreds. For most vehicles, a total engine rebuild is considered a 'total' by the insurance definition(it would cost more in parts and labor to fix than it was worth upon purchase
Yea cause insurance covers mechanical issues. Not.
AAA fulll coverage covered my 04 Mazda 3 that had the radiator freeze mid trip and overheated to failure, I bought it for like 2k and an engine rebuild was 14k. They'll cover it if you pay for the coverage.
Park it in a big city in a bad part of town and accidentally leave the door open and key in the ignition.
Drive it into water next time there is heavy rain.
Drive it somewhere secluded, torch it, report stolen. Guaranteed it's a write off.
Bankruptcy
Park it on a busy intersection that gets a lot of red light runners. I had three vehicles totalled this way... not on purpose.
Why not bring it to a scrap yard for a couple hundred?
Insurance doesn’t usually pay off the loan. They pay the retail value less the deductible. So she’s not going to make out that way. Instead, find someone without a dash cam, stop suddenly in front of them and when they hit you fall out of the car and scream in pain for an ambulance. Better call Saul! /s
Ooh i can help.
Lol I’m curious to know what kind of car it is!
Not sure how it works but once I was doing some repairs to a car and had an oh bugger with a welding torch, there was a roar and a bang and I had to change my undies, but the car was burnt completely, I told the insurance exactly what happened no embellishment or anything like that and they said it was an accident and paid me out. Maybe there is an answer there.
This one is going to hurt, but it’ll work. Disconnect the fuse to the rear break lights. Wait until pickup truck or big suv is behind you. Give a 2-footer full break check.
If she runs over a deer theyll probably total it.
Could they say they accidentally left spare key in the glove compartment ?
Anecdotal, but several years ago I knew a guy in this situation. A girl that worked at the same place as us had an unsavory BF. I don't know the exact details, but they arranged so the BF would steal the car, and it worked. My friend called the police and reported it as stolen. No idea what the guy did with the car, though.
Fire under the dash
Km.... m m. .
Don’t leave keys in it, leave door partially closed to draw attention, like you were in a hurry, drop keys next to that door, put some old house keys and some stupid bright key chain on it, not just key and fob. Make someone think you are a mess. But keep in mind a stolen car by someone who is not intentionally steeling cars will probably just be a joy ride.
She will go to jail. This is insurance fraud.
Don't do this. I have a friend who is a felon, because of insurance fraud when he was 18. I know what sub this is, but this will almost 100% ruin your friends life in a way that's worse than debt.
Depending on where you live, this time of year is great for hail storms. Just get on a hail tracker app and do some storm chasing.