I’m not sure where to post this but figured this would be as good as anyplace on the site. Back on Sept 25th my GT350R was at a local Ford Dealer awaiting some transmission work to be completed. Well, that never happened as the car was stolen out of the dealers garage. The dealership had no cameras, no alarm, no locks on the garage door my car was driven out of, no nothing! The dealer did not know that there had been a break-in until the first employee arrived for work.
Well….The car was found abandoned less than 24hrs later wrecked. Bad news is the front left quarter was badly damaged as was the oil cooler, which was ruptured and 10 qts of oil were puked out all over the windshield and side of the car. The assbags that stole the car kept driving until the car quit. The fu*ks that stole the car went as far as to add dark tint to the windshield so they could not be identified by an intersection camera. There was also assorted drug paraphernalia scattered throughout the car. Crack pipes etc.
Sorry for the ramble but just last week the car was deemed a total loss. Engine was totally shot! I’m heartbroken but I guess it’s what I expected and kinda deep down was hoping for, as the car would never be the same had insurance tried to repair it. And no way was I going to accept anything but a new engine. Sad day. But the good news is I will be posting lots of brand new and used GT350R parts. Including a full set of GT350R Carbon Fiber Wheels with PS2’s. Luckily they were in my basement.

Anyway, I loved my car and had years of pleasure on track and just driving. Not sure what’s next, but I’ll be on track again!

I am sure there will be plenty of parts folks will be interested in and you definitely want it totaled because if it came back intact (even looking perfect ) , a Carfax narrative that it was stolen would have caused a diminished value on the car anyway.

Bill Pemberton said:

I am sure there will be plenty of parts folks will be interested in and you definitely wanted I totaled because if it came back intact (even looking perfect ) , a Carfax native it was being stolen would have caused a diminished value on the car anyway.

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Yep! I seriously could not even look at the car! Such a waste! The crack pipes and drug stuff did it for me.

Wow!!! Do you have no recourse with the dealership? This seems like a huge civil liability case.

That absolutely sucks. It's my nightmare every time I have to leave my car at the dealership, even for just an oil change... I have zero trust in them, their employees, or anything they do, especially after one of them reset the oil life on my car's computer without doing the oil change, which also cost me the warranty on my engine when it went boom 2 years ago...

Really sorry for you, but like you said, it's almost better to just have it declared totalled and move on, than getting back into a car that was stolen and vandalized

In a case like yours I would not want the car back. Once wrecked like that they just don’t seem quite right. Good luck on the hunt for your next ride.

I can't stand taking anything to the dealer even if its warranty work. Just don't trust anyone with my vehicles. Sorry this happened to you, and hope you come out on the good side of it all. Your car will probably be listed on Copart.com soon for auction, might be a good buy for someone. We bought our Mach 1 from copart with similar sounding damage and it turned out well. Haven't found any crackpipes!

This so tough to read. Even if the insurance company replaces the vehicle, there is still loads of loss which can't be accounted and reimbursed. On the other hand, the money dealerships charge and the horror stories! It's sad, the OE's need to crack down on them because they have every excuse imaginable for a legitimately upset customer, and SAE certified doesn't mean diddly squat anymore.

SAE certified has never meant much.

My mother had a vehicle stolen many years ago. We got it back, wasn't a total but was never the same. I'm so irritated, frustrated and upset for you. I would not have been able to keep my stuff together with the dealership. I hate thieves. You do everything right all your life trying to be a good person and garbage like that comes in and just craps over everything. I'm glad it was a total. On a brighter side. Who knows maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I know you knew the car inside and out. Maybe something weird was going to happen with it that you didn't expect and prevented a crash while you were driving . If the dealership is that incompetent the work might have ended up shoddy. Hopefully everything turns out for the better for you in the end. Good luck buddy!

PatrickStapler said:

Wow!!! Do you have no recourse with the dealership? This seems like a huge civil liability case.

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My lawsuit is being prepared!

Not uncommon, the riots in my home town was caused by some " crackies" borrowing a car from one of their non paying clients to deliver drugs. The car was technically " borrowed" not stolen so it was not reported as a stolen car, but rather a "missing" car. The windows were tinted immediately so the could not be IDd. A cop went to the front of the car to try and see in, the crackie tried running him over. While clinging to the windshield wipers the cop unloaded his Glock into the unarmed, fine young gentleman who had never done anything wrong and would've probably become either a brain surgeon, or possibly an astronaut. This led to about a week of rioting providing a significant amount of overtime for FD personnel.
Sad to hear your car met the same end, and you prolly won't want it back.
I am curious, did they leave the keys in it? or was it somehow hot wired?

According to CSI keys were left in the cars. I would have at agree with that assessment as when I arrived at the dealership there was no evidence of the lockbox that held the keys being broken into. I have a picture that shows the keys to the so-called lock box on top of the so-called lock box.

With all the proof you have of negligence your attorney should have a field day.

This is a good read.

"Yes. You should be able to pursue an action against the dealer, because when you left the car there at the dealership it was likely a "Bailment". A Bailment is a common type of business arrangement. In its simplest form, it is an arrangement between a person (a bailor) who owns or lawfully possesses goods and another person (a bailee) who is given possession of the goods for a specific purpose. Many business activities involve the transfer of possession of goods. For example, transactions that require goods to be left with repair services, such as motor vehicle--that's exactly what your case invovles. A bailment consists of three parts:

1. The delivery of the goods by the bailor to the bailee
2. Possession of the goods by the bailee for a specific purpose
3. A return of the goods to the bailor at a later time, or the delivery of the goods according
to the bailor’s directions.

Here, you left your car for the specific purpose of getting it repaired. The liability of a bailee for loss or damage to goods while they are in the bailee’s possession varies
from one type of bailment to another. There are many different general bailment relationships that the courts recognize, and the liability of the bailee differs for each.

The bailee (the dealer) must satisfy the court that the standard of care fixed for the
particular kind of bailment was maintained and that the loss or damage was not a result of
the bailee’s negligence. The reason for placing the onus on the bailee (the dealer) to show that he or she was not negligent is based upon the fact that only the bailee is likely to know the circumstances surrounding the damage to the goods. The bailor (YOU) during the bailment would not have any knowledge of how the loss or damage came about, and the courts have accordingly recognized this fact. If the bailee (dealer) is unable to offer any reasonable explanation for the loss, or if the bailee is unable to establish no negligence, then responsibility for the loss is likely to fall on the bailee. Bailees in most commercial bailments, are expected to maintain a relatively high standard of care, and for this reason, most of these bailees will attempt to limit their liability in the event of loss. The usual method used by bailees to limit their liability is to insert a clause that is known as an exemption clause in the bailment agreement. An exemption clause, if carefully drawn and brought to the attention of the bailor before the bailment is made, will generally bind the bailor to the terms of the limited liability (or no liability at all) as set out in the exemption clause. Recent cases, however, have tended to reduce the protection offered by exemption clauses. If the clause is so unreasonable that it amounts to a clear abuse of freedom of contract, the exemption may not be enforced. So, bottom-line, you should probably have a lawyer look at the language of any document you signed when you left the car to be repaired.

The good news is that most car repair shops carry a specific insurance policy called a Garage Keeper's Policy which they purchase to handle claims such as yours. You should retain an attorney as soon as possible and send the repair garage a demand letter and ask the garage to pass your claim letter along to their insurance company. Most of the time, if the repar garage had an insurance policy, then submitting a claim to the dealer's garage keeper's liability insurance carrier will lead to a resolution of the claim.

I would recommend that you retain an attorney to help you pursue the claim against the repair garage and their garage keeper's liability insurance company. Don't delay in seeing the attorney because there are statutes of limitation which can bar you from making a claim if you wait too long. Ask the attorney what the statute of limitations is for your particular state for this type of action."

Wow….Thank you for taking the time to put all of that out. I am working with an attorney presently. And planning on using much of those.

Badvoodoo said:

Wow….Thank you for taking the time to put all of that out. I am working with an attorney presently. And planning on using much of those.

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I can't take credit for the info. All I did was copy paste. I hope you can use .

Super lame man, hope to see you out there soon!