[DaneTheGeographer]

Thought I would post here, I don't know what the odds are but if anyone has any comments or helpful hints as to where this Bronco might wind up I would appreciate it. It was a tan and green Eddie Bauer that was stolen from AJ's Body shop in Austin Texas. The owner has footage of a thief checking a few cars then hopping in and driving away. It being a body shop, I feel it would be easy for him to send it to another one and have them replace the vin and plates and give it a new paint job or because we are so close to Mexico maybe put it on a truck and send it south. If anyone has any thoughts I would appreciate them, have filed police report and had a lock on the gas tank but it was pretty full and has probably 250-300 miles in the tank worth of gas.

I have owned this since my junior year of high school 11 years ago and was in the process of restoring it, putting all of my savings into it and just feel devastated. Not sure where to go from here. I never got to really take it out being from midland we don't have mountains but I was seriously looking forward to taking it around the country and hoped it would be the vehicle my kids would learn to drive. Anyway if anyone has any helpful tips I would appreciate them, shoot me an email or dm and I'll send my number.

Best,
Dane
[email protected]

 

[BroncMom]

Awe man... So sorry to hear that. I would be devastated... Personally I'd be putting pictures of it all over the internet with a bolo (putting pix up here would be a good start)... The faster the better... But honestly, in pa anyway, most stolen cars that are worth anything are out of the state within 24 hours or chopped...
I really hope you can get her back. Too bad you couldn't put LoJack in her before this...

 

[DaneTheGeographer]

I have one in my hands right now, was going to put it on once I got it back from the shop. Not sure what bolo is and any ideas as to where to post this would be much appreciated!

 

[slimpartywagon]

Bolo= Be On The Look Out. Post it all over CL, Facebook bronco specific groups, Matket place groups, Instagram, Twitter. Any where you can get the picture out thier to the public

 

[DriftwoodBronco]

Sorry to hear about the loss

Exactly why I will never take mine into Austin or San Antonio. Too many thieves, and too easy to steal these.

 

[paul rondelli]

Not sure this is a professional?

OBS F150's are plentiful and cheap ... why would you chop for parts? You could switch out a Rust Bucket 1995 Bronco .... with all your stolen parts .... but that is a lot of work to get a clean title. I see them selling on Market place with a "bill of sale" and no clean title ... but who in the hell would drop 10,000 on a sketchy purchase like that?

I think it was more of a crime of opportunity. Someone is trying to trade her for meth. My bet is she shows up in a month ... hopefully not too abused.

 

[GetBent4x4]

Post some pics of it; I have a lot of salvage connections in the northern area of the state and can keep an eye out. I have seen in self service yards people cutting out the windshields on super duties and gm vans and drilling out the vin plates. Which is dumb of them because the yards are going to brand those vin numbers as destroyed in the system. But I guess thieves are dumb.

1995 Bronco - auto parts - by owner - vehicle automotive sale

Come see it and make an offer, i just need it off my driveway.

austin.craigslist.org

I would go view that bronco just to see if yours is nearby. probably not related but you never know it's a beater 95 being sold same day with missing parts. If it turns out to not be related try keeping in contact with the owner to see who buys it.

random guesses

ကြည့်ရှုရန် လော့ဂ်အင်ဝင်ပါ သို့မဟုတ် အကောင့်ဖွင့်ပါ

Facebook ပေါ်တွင် ပို့စ်များ၊ ဓာတ်ပုံများနှင့် အခြားအရာများစွာတို့ကို ကြည့်ပါ။

www.facebook.com

 

[Rob_64-365]

As bad as this is, and yes devastating is a good word to use in this situation, I hope you had it fully insured, with an agreed value policy to protect your investment. No doubt that emotions are running high, but I would strongly advise against speculating & accusing anyone, just let the police & insurance handle it. Hopefully it is found unharmed & if not, replaced with another Bronco that you & your family can enjoy & make new memories with.

 

[BroncMom]

I have one in my hands right now, was going to put it on once I got it back from the shop. Not sure what bolo is and any ideas as to where to post this would be much appreciated!

Bolo=be on the look out in cop talk

 

[sweetgapeach6988]

Thought I would post here, I don't know what the odds are but if anyone has any comments or helpful hints as to where this Bronco might wind up I would appreciate it. It was a tan and green Eddie Bauer that was stolen from AJ's Body shop in Austin Texas. The owner has footage of a thief checking a few cars then hopping in and driving away. It being a body shop, I feel it would be easy for him to send it to another one and have them replace the vin and plates and give it a new paint job or because we are so close to Mexico maybe put it on a truck and send it south. If anyone has any thoughts I would appreciate them, have filed police report and had a lock on the gas tank but it was pretty full and has probably 250-300 miles in the tank worth of gas.

I have owned this since my junior year of high school 11 years ago and was in the process of restoring it, putting all of my savings into it and just feel devastated. Not sure where to go from here. I never got to really take it out being from midland we don't have mountains but I was seriously looking forward to taking it around the country and hoped it would be the vehicle my kids would learn to drive. Anyway if anyone has any helpful tips I would appreciate them, shoot me an email or dm and I'll send my number.

Best,
Dane
[email protected]

 

[miesk5]

Yo Dane and Mom,
VINCheck® by National Insurance Crime Bureau is a free service provided to the public to assist in determining if a"... vehicle has been reported as stolen, but not recovered, or has been reported as a salvage vehicle by cooperating NICB member insurance companies. To perform a search, a vehicle identification number (VIN) is required. A maximum of five searches can be conducted within a 24-hour period per IP address." @ VINCheck® | National Insurance Crime Bureau

 

[WheatState96]

It doesn’t help this situation but I’d recommend everyone stashing an Apple Airtag in your rig somewhere.

it isn’t GPS per se, but if it gets close to any iPhone it will show the location. You can disable the little speaker to help keep it concealed (see how the tech works, Apple's anti-stalking features). I’ve had mine in the garage and checked from work just for fun and it pinged it’s location from a lawn care employee randomly walking near the garage.

Not a perfect system by any means but for ~$30 it is an inexpensive LoJac and better than nothing.

 

[2ndHelping]

I bought, with monthly subscription, Spytec gps tracker. It's smaller than a pack of cigs, and updates every few minutes. I get texts & emails if it leaves the boundary I set up, and I can track it's movement either online or right on my phone. To me, worth every penny.

 

[DriftwoodBronco]

@DaneTheGeographer Bump. Any news on your Bronco?

 

[DaneTheGeographer]

@DaneTheGeographer Bump. Any news on your Bronco?

Thank you for inquiring, but no I have not seen hide nor hair of this beast. I have begun calling all the tow truck drivers in a 300 mile radius and will follow up by calling all the auto body shops in that same ring. If anyone fancy’s giving a hand I’ve made a list on google maps, I’m starting from the bottom and working my way up.

It seems Difficult to steel a vehicle and get it registered under a different vin but with older vehicles there’s got to be a lot that are missing, and maybe it’s possible? Otherwise it Will turn up once it was dumped and the tow company will report it to the municipality before it goes to auction. That will make it pop on the national registry. we really have a pretty decent system for accountability of lost and stolen vehicles, fingers crossed and lord willing it will come trotting back to the stables when it gets tired of running Wild.

 

[DriftwoodBronco]

@DaneTheGeographer Any luck recovering your Bronco? Worked anything out with your insurance?

 

[DaneTheGeographer]

Best they gave me is 15k for the 25k I put into an already 30k worth vehicle. Truly I'm impressed with my ability to squander money. At this point I'm going to sell my Honda civic I've been driving waiting to restore my bronco for the cheapest Maverick and buy real-estate. I can't invest in something that has wheels and can be stolen. Rather have my money stolen by the county than by pedro.

If anyone's interested I have the interior of a 95', back seat, all the trim, carpet, seals for the front doors, dynomat and dynapad you could want. If no bites I'll just toss it by October.

 

[DaneTheGeographer]

 

[CrazyBRONCOguy]

Sucks this happened.

I urge anyone who see's this thread to at the minimum get a Declared Value put on your insurance policy. Better yet an appraisal from a 3rd party to verify what you have and what its worth. ALL of these Bronco's are worth more then what "Book" value is on them today. Yes it will likely cost a bit more to insure, but think about worst case.

Not sure what the original poster had for insurance??

 

[tapate50]

I wouldn't hate getting those weathertechs from ya. They would fit a 94 perfect I'd think.