Damien Lewis

Hi Guys,

I know this is a long shot...and I know it's a bit ridiculous, but going through some old paperwork brought me to a file I stored away long ago. Back in April of 2004 my 1996 Porsche Turbo was stolen from a parking lot in Studio City, CA.

To make matters worse...a few years later, in a different parking structure, my 1998 993 C2S was stolen. I'll post that vin a little later on the 993 forum.

Anyhow, back to my woeful tale, below is my VIN # - posted in the slight chance that someone may lead me back to my car. I know it's a bit ridiculous, but it's worth a shot. Being that it's been almost a decade since my car was stolen, I'm sure it's long gone...but hey, if someone does a Google search anytime soon, perhaps this post will come up and something may come of it. I'm happy to pay a finders fee to anyone who can assist me in recovering my car.

Thanks for your help in advance, I truly appreciate it.

VIN: WPOAC2993TS375155

Damien

Damien Lewis

I just googled my VIN and found an old post a friend of mine posted on 6-Speed online from 2004. Bryan was a member of that board at the time and was nice enough to help me back then with the recovery efforts (that never materialized)...

Texas993

That's too bad.

But when you took the payout from the insurance company, you had to sign the title over to them. So why are you trying to claim it now? I don't believe that you have any ownership rights anymore.

dbf73

worth pursuing if it was a car you really liked and could work a deal with the insurance company. The car is either long gone overseas or parted out or it hasn't been touched. Many moons ago, one of the first 911 turbos locally was stolen from the dealer. It was found in a garage several years later with just the few miles it took to drive from the dealer to the garage and otherwise in perfect condition.

OverBoosted28

Yeah but this car was taken from L.A. It's probably painted gold and driven around by some dope dealer in Mexico

Damien Lewis

The car wasn't insured at the time (it was not being driven). It was one of those lessons I learned the hard way...I paid off the loan and received the title (which, when cleaning out a file cabinet this past weekend and rediscovering the title, made me decide to post).

dbf73 - your comment was/is my motivation for posting..perhaps somewhere one day someone will stumble across a "garage find" and it in fact might just be my car!

wisky

I just ran the carfax to check if there was any activity. If I had to guess, the car is probably long gone in another country. Best of luck with the search.

02/12/2002 56,105 Connecticut
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Manchester, CT
Title #026624914 Title issued or updated
New owner reported
04/26/2002 56,802 Santa Monica Audi
Santa Monica, CA
310-393-9922
santamonicaaudi.com Vehicle serviced
01/22/2003 Porsche Cars North America Manufacturer Voluntary Service Action issued
#W301 VOLUNTARY SERVICE ACTION - ENGINE WIRING
HARNESS

budge96

Wow really sorry for your loss and if I don't say so myself your bad luck! Two high end vehicles with
nearly failsafe security systems vanish into thin air uhm what are the odds?
Just a stupid question which may deserve a like kind answer, the CARFAX shows no evidence of the
theft ? I imagine because the vehicle wasn't insured it's not posted by the insurance companies...
Of course the theft was reported , Police records don't interact with DMV ? Possibly only upon
recovery? I would have to make a WAG that this car was towed by an unscrupulous tow co and who
knows what they did with it. Bert

doublecabmel

I hate threads like this! Hate as in it turns my stomach and I start thinking about the bad things I would do to the person/people who would ever try to harm any of my air cooled pieces of heaven....

Damien Lewis

Thanks guys for all of the support and understanding. It makes me nervous to let my current 993 out of my sight. As the market for these cars escalates, I'm sure we'll unfortunately see more and more 993's being stolen....To make matters worse, each time another one of our cars are stolen and shipped off to a country who does not have the same standards when inspecting inbound vehicles or VIN plates; it makes the legitimate cars even more pricey. At some point, people won't want to drive these cars for fear of having them stolen as they're becoming more and more scarce.

It was just a couple of years ago that $80,000 could get you a clean, low mileage, unmolested 993 Turbo. Nowadays, that's 993 low mileage C2S money. Low mileage Turbos are getting above $100k - if you can find one! I'm sure there are a few guys currently looking for the "right" car with $100k in hand and have yet to find one due to the scarcity of 993's. What does that mean for the rest of us? It means we need to take whatever steps are necessary to insure our cars remain in our possession. GPS tracking systems, locked private garages and making sure they're parked within sight when driven. Getting an insurance check for a stolen car hardly ever replaces the feeling you get on an early Sunday morning, creeping out of the garage so as to not wake the neighbors and hitting the open highway or curvy mountain roads in your 993...taking in the scenery and the throaty exhaust note while working through the gears and feeling the torque push you in and out of corners....

It's a shame to have to impose restrictions on how we drive or park our cars...but, I guess it's all part of the experience of 993 ownership. Funny thing is, if we drove Ferrari's or Lamborghini's, then I guess all we'd have to worry about would be people putting their fingerprints on our cars (which is not to say that Ferrari's and Lamborghini's aren't a target of thieves, but I'd bet our cars are more so)...but the fact that we drive highly desirable and collectible vehicles with a world-wide interest in them doesn't allow us the freedom to park and forget about our cars for a couple of hours.

I suppose that's why a community like Rennlist is so enjoyable and such a great resource for all lovers of Porsche. It unites us in a way that transcends race, religion, region and economics. When someone needs some help, has a question or just wants to experience the embrace of fellow Porsche enthusiasts, all they have to do is log on here. People love these cars for more than just their sultry lines and engineering benefits...they gravitate towards the community, support and experiences. It's evident in the replies I've received on this thread...people giving advice and consoling me on the loss of my 993. Wow. I'm humbled and blown away.

Thanks again guys...perhaps one day I'll be reunited with this car, until then, I'll continue to enjoy my current 993 and keep my eye on another Turbo to perhaps purchase.

Sincerely,

Damien

OverBoosted28

When you report your car as stolen and sign the CHP-180 (CA) form, the car is immediately entered into the system as stolen. It will not be purged or removed until the car is located and removed from the system as recovered. You would be amazed at the reports from DMV where someone is in there trying to register a vehicle that is in the system as stolen. With this car not being recovered it would be safe to say it was dismantled and parted out or (like I said earlier) south of the border. With Long Beach close the possiblity of it being shipped to China is also plausible.