Bill L Seifert

Well it's been about 3 weeks, so I am ready to talk about it. Before Thanksgiving I took my race car to Knoxville to have a power loss evaluated by an expert on 944's. He couldn't solve the problem that day, so I told him we would get it on the next Monday. Because it was about a 4 hour trip, and a friend was going to pick the car up, I decided to leave the trailer there. The owner of the shop said I was welcome to leave it but he couldn't be responsible for it, as he had just moved to the neighborhood, and wasn't all that familiar with the area. I left it anyway, and the next week while I was in Florida, the friend that was going to pick up the race car called and said the trailer had been stolen.

Like an idiot, I had no separate insurance on the trailer, so all I am going to get is $500 from my home owners insurance. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the $500, I probably don't even deserve that. I bought the trailer almost exactly a year ago, brand new. A 16' flatbed, with dovetail, and 5' ramps, and it cost $1,811.

The police were nice, and professional, and filed a report for my insurance company. Now for the funny part. The cops asked where the VIN was stamped, so if they found it, it could be returned to me. I called the mfgr, and they informed me that it was on a metalic sticker under the tounge, glued to the trailer. My words were, WHAT? Why in the heck didn't you at least stamp it somewhere. He said very few mfgr's stamp the VIN, they are mostly on stickers, no matter what brand.

Now ain't that great. If the police find it. (A remote chance at best, I guess an officer could be walking to the closest donut shop, and trip over it.) All the thief has to is remove the sticker and I can't prove it's mine, so they will have to auction it. I am not putting the police down because they don't look for my trailer, I am sure there are probably other crimes in a county that big that have priority.

Anyway, be sure and insure your trailer. My agent told me it would cost $50 a year to insure it, and it would be fully covered, less deductable, of course.

The police were very professional, and genuinely tried to help. It wasn't the shop's fault, either, he was probably more upset than I was, but he had warned me, and probably the only reason they didn't steal his trailer, was because mine was blocking the thief's way. Mine was locked, which probably slowed them 20 or 30 seconds, his was not. It's sorta like the two guys being chased by a bear, you don't have to outrun the bear, just the other guy. Your trailer is safe if there is another trailer blocking yours in, they can only steal one at a time. I should have known better, there were 25 trailers stolen in my county in Sept, why would I think that Knox County would be safer, it is the third largest county in the state.

The trailer I had now costs almost $2,000, so now it is going to cost me $1,500 to get a new trailer, all because I was too stupid to insure it. I've owned 3 trailers since I started racing, and have never insured one, but I will insure them from now on

Bill Seifert

1987 944S Race Car.

Crazy Canuck

most don't stamp.

only brand that we carry, and we sell a few hundred trailers a year, that does etch their frames with teh serial number is Pace American.

John H

FWIW, just be aware that the trailer coverage covers the trailer not what's in it or on it.

Chaos

Thanks Bill. Sorry about your loss

Jasko

Bill,

Sorry to hear about the trailer. The rotten thing about it is that you really can't do much to prevent it from happening.

Friends here have had 2 trailers stolen recently. One with car, one without. Both were locked tight. Probably only slowed the thieves a bit. Both were open trailers and are more or less non traceable. Alot of frustration without much satisfaction.

Prompted me to talk with USAA about my trailer. I was suprised to find out how cheap it was to insure my trailer for theft ($70 a year for $5000 enclosed trailer). Also made sure that the car was fully covered against theft. I guess thats a reason to keep the street car coverage on the race car even if I would never use collision coverage for race damages.

Sure doesn't prevent theft, but makes it a bit easier to swallow.

Dave

ltc

Trailer theft is also common in the karting community.
The larger websites actually have forums dedicated to trailer theft, prevention and reporting, just to alert the community what to look for.

Wreck Me Otter

According to my agent (CSAA), the contents are covered...

TR6

What is the best method of locking a trailer? I know a hitch lock won't even slow down a thief. How about something through the wheels?

John H

I should have been more clear. What I meant was "a car in or on the trailer is not covered". Again, my concern was more for an accident where I cut somebody off or something and damaged the trailer and car inside. I was told by my agent the car would not be covered.

Crazy Canuck

We sell lots of trailers a second or third time around.

Theft prevention ideas:
- don't be stupid and park it without locks or some security
- lock which covers the undersite of couple (ie. Fulton GorillaGuard)
- boot on wheel
- high grade chain through rim (if possible) and around frame, axle or through other rim & lock
- Lojack or equivalent tracking system
- install a detachable tongue and detach

Bill L Seifert

My agent told me that a race car would not be covered. There is a good company for race car insurance. It is Parrish, located, I think, in Nashville. They have resonable rates, and tell me that the car is covered for most hazzards until it reaches the hot pits, then it is not covered, as it is not on the track, but when you return to the regular pits, it is covered again. So if someone steals it saturday night while you are at a motel, it is covered. I'm going to look into them.

Also, glad to hear that Pace etches the VIN, that was the kind of enclosed trailer I had, it was a good one.

TR6, yeah, I had a hitch lock on, and there were no pieces of it at the scene, so they either took it with them, or they used a wrecker to take the trailer. Also, after the rash of thefts in my home county, I started taking the right side wheels off. A smart thief could carry a couple of wheels, but most crooks take the path of least resistance, and with the wheels off, even a wrecker would have a hard time taking it. I'll bet a boobytrap bomb would work, but I would probably blow myself up.

Bill

Crazy Canuck

Pace started doing it about a year and a half ago in response to thefts.

You have to look real hard for it, and in the right place, but it's there. I saw them doing it on the production line.

chrisp

I was told that when in motion or hitched to the tow vehicle the trailer and it's contents are covered by the tow vehicle's insurance. In storage or when disconnected, the trailer needs it's own insurance.

I pay $45/year to cover my open deck aluminum trailer.

LVDell

Sorry to hear about your theft. At least your really out only about $1K.

As a data point.......
I pay $24 with ZERO deductible every 6 months with USAA for my Pace Enclosed trailer that is valued a little under $10K. Contents are covered and car since I have insurance on the car. One reason I have a GT3 Street over Cup is for this very thing. When in the paddock (or anywhere) I always have several layers of protection....tongue lock, padlocks on ramp, lock on door, key-locked pin on tongue release, etc.

paradisenb

Sorry Bill. Trailer theft is very common. I learn this the hard way. My 18' open aluminum was stolen from behind my shop. Double locked at the tongue. Police took report but offered little comform regarding prospects of it being found. The dectective said they tend to turn up a year later. Who knows? I had no insurance and am out my favorite $5,500.00.
I'm shopping for a replacement and a better way to store and protect it. Not easy because they are so easy to take and resell.

I'd like to get my hands on anyone who bought a hot one. Take out my frustrations.