In the unfortunate event of a stolen car, knowing the right steps to track a stolen car increase the chances of recovering your vehicle swiftly and minimizing losses.
The easiest way to find the stolen car back is through VIN's number. At the same time, if you want to find a stolen car without a tracker, you can check the car security camera's video or contact the insurance company. This comprehensive guide will provide you with top 10 effective ways on how to find your stolen car.
How to Check If a Car is Stolen
Before you go looking for your stolen car, make sure your car is actually stolen. The first thing is to check if your lost car is indeed stolen before you have ants in your pants.
Follow the below tips to do a stolen car check：
- Check the parking lot carefully. Public parking lots would be one of best places to start looking for a stolen vehicle. Maybe you just forget the exact place of your car. You can download a “Find Stolen Car” app to your iPhone or Android smartphone to find your car, if you don’t remember where you’ve parked your car. You can check more apps.
- Check with towing companies before reporting your car is stolen.
- Track location by VIN number. The VIN check contains all history report, including accidents and service records. You can check if a car is stolen by license plate and VIN.
If your car is indeed stolen, don’t waste any time and take immediate actions!
How to Find a Stolen Car: 10 Effective Ways
In such cases, you may ask "how can I find my stolen car". Don't worry! We’ve included every possible way on how to track a stolen car and how to find your lost car with step-by-step guides.
1. File a “Car Stolen” Report to the Police
If your car is stolen, especially with your child or baby, dog inside, call the police at once. When you file a police report, make sure you can provide enough information about your missing car, typically including:
- The license plate (the police may help you find your stolen car with it)
- The VIN
- Your identification
- Your car’s brand, model & color
- The location where you last saw your car
- The tracking device (if you have), such as LoJack or OnStar
Keep a copy of the file since you’ll need it for the insurance claim.The more details you provide, the higher chances that the police can help you retrieve your missing car.
Note: If your car is stolen and impounded by the police (the police may impound your stolen car when checking for the traffic violations), you should take your ID card, driving license and other document that can prove the car belongs to you. You can get your stolen car back fast.
2. Track Stolen Car with VIN Number
When your car is stolen, you can locate your stolen vehicle with the VIN number. A vehicle identification number (VIN) is a unique code used by vehicle industry to identify individual motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, etc. You can track a stolen car online with the vehicle identification number.
VIN not only helps you check the lost car but also plays an important role on stolen car search. You can follow these steps on how to locate a stolen car by VIN.
- Go to AutoCheck, and purchase a vehicle history report. The cost of the report will be between $30 and $40.
- Enter your vehicle identification number and credit card details on the vehicle history report search screen. You will see a chronological history of the places where your car was registered, titled and serviced. The last known registration or service should be the most recent location of your stolen vehicle. Thus you can narrow down the search range when your car is stolen, and get your car back fast.
- Contact the Police. They will help you trace down your stolen vehicle with the information you provide.
3. Use GPS Device to Track Your Stolen Car
If you’ve installed a GPS tracking system, like OnStar, LoJack, etc. to your vehicle, the company of the tracker can help you determine the location of your stolen car, and even shut it down.
No matter where your car got stolen, such as the dealership, driveway, garage, valet parking, or a mechanic shop, you can trace your stolen vehicle with the GPS quickly.
4. Check Security Camera Footage to Find Your Stolen Car
When your car is stolen, you should check security camera footage immediately. In this situation, a 4K security camera is highly recommended. Video recordings from 4K security cameras with great clarity are one of the best ways to find your stolen car and vehicle. You can choose from these cameras:
- Check the security camera footage of your garage & your home. By checking the video recordings, you can see the car thief’s clear images, and his general escape route. With these evidences, the likelihood of finding your stolen car will significantly increase.
- Check your community’s security camera footage (if permitted). If your car is stolen in your community, such as the public driveway, security camera systems will record the trace of your stolen car. A stolen Chevrolet Silverado car owner got his car back by checking a primary school’s security camera systems.
You can watch the video below to see how the Reolink Duo Floodlight PoE stops a car theft. (If you don't already have a security camera for your car and home, you might want to consider installing one).
5. Contact Your Insurance Company
Also contact your insurance company when your car gets stolen. If your car is stolen while running comprehensive insurance, you can get the “car stolen” insurance payout from the insurance company.
If you recover your stolen car after getting the insurance claim, call your insurance company. Please note that the recovered car now belongs to the insurance company. If you want, you can buy the recovered car back from the company staff.
6. Inform Your Leasing Company If Your Rented Car Is Stolen
If your stolen car is rented, contact the leasing company after you find the vehicle is missing. Inform them that you’ve already reported the stolen car to the police and ask for the car’s identification numbers and tag.
Also, remember to request an incident form from the rental company and review the contract terms about the liability insurance you have chosen. If you have bought full coverage from the car leasing company, you will be covered if the car is stolen, supposing that you were complying with the contract at the time of the theft.
7. Call Every Cab Company When Your Car Is Stolen
Cab drivers can help trace your stolen cars, trucks and vehicles. Whatever the situation is, calling all the cab companies in the area where your stolen car is left running or parking is definitely a good option to find your stolen car.
Taxi drivers seriously outnumber police, thus increasing the chances of finding your missing car. Besides, you should give enough reward, such as $100, to the taxi driver who finds your stolen car. The reward is an incentive to encourage more people to join your stolen vehicle search team, which increases the possibility of recovering your stolen car.
8. Check the City’s Transportation Website for Parking Violation When Your Car Was Stolen
You can track down your stolen car online via checking the parking violation. When your car was stolen, the car thief would park your car somewhere and then abandoned it. The car was ticketed and put into the parking violation database, which is available online apparently.
You can follow the below steps to do a “stolen car” lookup online:
- Log into your city’s transportation website.
- Use your license plate to check whether your vehicle is in the database.
- Check the area where the violation takes place.
- Contact the police. They will search for your missing car and then release it to you if they find it.
9. Check for Your Stolen Car’s Parts Being Sold Online When Your Car Has Been Stolen
You can find your stolen car online if the car thief sells your car on the Internet. If your car has been parted out, finding who is selling those parts could lead you to recover your wheeled baby. You can use an automated checking system, such as Craigslist checker, to track down your stolen car parts stolen from your apartment complex or any areas.
If you can identify parts from your stolen car, make sure that you contact the police before arranging any meeting with the seller. Car thieves are dangerous guys. Accompanied by the police, you can get your stolen car back more safely and smoothly.
10. Keep a Record of Your Belongings When Your Car Is Stolen
As noted above, if your car is stolen, the insurance company might compensate for your loss including your personal belongings left in the stolen vehicle based on your insurance policy.
So instead of immersing yourself in the sadness when you find your car is stolen, keep a record of your valuables in the stolen vehicle while your memory is fresh. Also, prepared the receipt of the items you’re going to include in the insurance claim to recover your loss.
Besides the above effective ways to look for your stolen car, you can get detailed answers below to the hottest “Car Is Stolen” questions, including stolen car insurance, chances of finding stolen vehicles, etc.
Can I Track a Stolen Car with Bluetooth?
Some vehicle owners may still wonder how to track a stolen car with bluetooth. The truth is, bluetooth technology is typically limited in range (usually up to 100 meters or about 328 feet) and is not suitable for tracking a stolen car over long distances. Bluetooth-based tracking solutions are usually designed for short-range applications like finding misplaced keys or locating nearby devices.
To track a stolen car, you would typically need a more robust and long-range tracking system, such as a GPS tracking device or a vehicle security system.
FAQs
Are Stolen Cars Covered by Insurance?
If you have comprehensive insurance for your car, you can get compensation from the insurance company. You need to purchase both collision and comprehensive coverage so that you can get compensation if your car is stolen, vandalized or damaged.
How Long Does It Take for the Insurance Company to Pay out on Your Stolen Car?
If you’ve had the comprehensive insurance for your car, you should file a “car stolen” insurance claim at once. The insurance company will investigate the case before paying out for your loss. Car insurance companies typically have a waiting period of 30 days, before they will pay a stolen car claim, as it gives time to see if the car would be recovered.
If your car is recovered but comes back damaged, the car insurance company will determine whether the car can be repaired or is a total loss. If your vehicle is considered as a total loss, you’ll get the actual cash value of your car from the company.
If your stolen car reappears after your insurance settlement, your insurance company will retain the ownership of the vehicle. The vehicle would be sold for salvage or at an auction. You can buy your stolen car back if the laws and the insurance company’s guidelines allow.
What Are the Percentage of Stolen Cars Are Covered?
According to Progressive Insurance’s report, the US average rate for car theft recovery is 46%, but the rate varies greatly among states. For example, the stolen car recovery rate in Washington was 71%, in Utah was 63%, but only 28% in Alabama.
All in all, the chance of finding a stolen car is quite high. So Keep optimistic if your car is stolen.
Conclusion
There is one thing you should know that no matter what kind of your car is, and wherever you live (unless you live in the North Pole), your car is at the risk of being stolen by rampant vehicle thieves. Don’t take it for granted that my car is safe in my yard, my car won’t get stolen because it is very cheap. Those car thieves will steal your car as long as he has the opportunity.
Learn how to track your car if stolen in this comprehensive guide! Share this post with your family and friends so that more people can read these effective ways to find stolen vehicles. Feel free to add your own suggestions below, and leave a comment if you have other ideas.