Hello from Texas - stolen trailer

[bobrob3100rd]

First post. Loving this forum?

The hub's and I have had two RV's before purchasing a Grand Design. We owned a fifth wheel when are children were babies. We then decided to the move to a motor home to make it easier to travel with little kids. Sold that when school sports took over our weekends for 4 years. Both are grown and gone and decided to purchase a bumper pull in January 2024 and start a new chapter in our camping lives.

We bought a 2022 3100RD Imagine. We shopped for weeks loading it with all the essentials and decorating. We have used it one time. A couple weeks ago we tried opening both slides to check out some rugs I purchased and one of our slides would not work. We scheduled and appt this past week and took it in to be serviced. We did buy and extended warranty, so they said we will check it out and get back to you tomorrow.

That was yesterday, I got the worst phone call ever. The GM called and asked if we came and picked up our RV. Well you can imagine my shock. " Of course not" I said. He says well we cannot locate it. Short story- they left a gate to their property unlocked and our unit is gone. After the shock and blood pressure came down. We had a million questions. They are hoping that it was accidentally picked up by a transport and taken somewhere. They sent out a group text to transports asking them to check their VIN #'s. But no one has responded as of today.

They made a police report and the officer called me to pass on the investigation number for my insurance company. He said he will be checking around the area to see if any of the business's around have camera footage. This establishment currently has none. They are claiming no responsibility for their negligence. But of course they feel awful that this happened.

We are extremely upset, but just wanted to put this out there to see if anyone has ever experienced anything like this. We still had paper plates as they are just now coming in the mail this next week. I plan to call tx tag to see if anything has popped up against my name and address. It just doesn't make sense to us. Why wouldn't a thief take a brand new unit and why ours?? They had a choice of a hundred different units. We are patiently waiting for some good news. If anyone has any suggestions please speak up, we keep thinking we should be doing more.

Our Insurance agent said this is becoming a thing with RV's. She said there is a blackmarket for stolen RV's. Not sure how we would even get to that kind of site. The officer also said that a another nearby RV sales lot has had three units stolen as well. We are trying to stay positive and praying something turns up soon.

 

[WhittleBurner]

Bummer you got your rig stolen, hang in there . Worst case is you end up with a 2025 model. Wish there were something to say that would help . Welcome to the forum!

 

[alias100]

This is terrible. I am not a lawyer, but I think you need to get one and/or make sure that your insurance company has some. Start making a list of all that you have purchased and the time you have put in. Good luck.

 

[Soundsailor]

Welcome to the forum, hope this all get's worked out for you.

 

[txloser]

That’s awful. What part of Texas? I’m in DFW area and wondering if this is a thing around here. I mean more so than normal. Best of luck. I feel for you.

 

[bobrob3100rd]

Thank you. We live in Austin, and yes our insurance agent said this is now a thing. When we buy a new one or get ours back it will definitely have a device to locate it. I made a huge post of Facebook, not sure it will help, but you never know. A friend recommend a locater online that has a 5-10 year battery life with no contract and you use an app to locate it yourself. We have a Texas flag spare tire cover and the Stock number is still on the front right side tongue CT2700041, Also has a paper tag that expired on March 26th. #4779D97 . I will be checking with Txtag today to see if anything has posted to my name and address. They say it's attached but who knows if that really happens. I'm collecting all my receipts for items. Amazon fortunately makes that pretty easy to do. Keep your eye's out for ours and your own. We were told that several dealers have had them stolen. Three from one across the freeway from where ours was. We are hoping that they got frustrated because without the slide out you cannot even walk through the living area, open drawers, doors or use the kitchen, unless they know something about RV"s and slides. Hoping it's sitting in a parking lot somewhere.

 

[bobrob3100rd]

Thank you. Really learning so much from this forum Appreciate the comments. Trying to keep it all in a positive perspective. It's just stuff that's all replaceable, but it kinda cuts deep lol.

 

[Conner58]

That sucks !
Had car trailer stolen out of my driveway, now everything has a lock and cameras 24-7

 

[Second Chance]

Thank you. We live in Austin, and yes our insurance agent said this is now a thing. When we buy a new one or get ours back it will definitely have a device to locate it. I made a huge post of Facebook, not sure it will help, but you never know. A friend recommend a locater online that has a 5-10 year battery life with no contract and you use an app to locate it yourself. We have a Texas flag spare tire cover and the Stock number is still on the front right side tongue CT2700041, Also has a paper tag that expired on March 26th. #4779D97 . I will be checking with Txtag today to see if anything has posted to my name and address. They say it's attached but who knows if that really happens. I'm collecting all my receipts for items. Amazon fortunately makes that pretty easy to do. Keep your eye's out for ours and your own. We were told that several dealers have had them stolen. Three from one across the freeway from where ours was. We are hoping that they got frustrated because without the slide out you cannot even walk through the living area, open drawers, doors or use the kitchen, unless they know something about RV"s and slides. Hoping it's sitting in a parking lot somewhere.

Thank you. Really learning so much from this forum Appreciate the comments. Trying to keep it all in a positive perspective. It's just stuff that's all replaceable, but it kinda cuts deep lol.

[MENTION=60559]bobrob3100rd[/MENTION] -

Here are a few forum tips:

1) If you use "Reply With Quote" (to the right of "Reply") as I have here, folks will know to whom you are responding and that person will get a notification.

2) You can also tag folks using the "@" symbol and their user name (as I have done yours) - they'll also get a notification that way.

3) Trusting that you will get a replacement RV, you can create a signature block with your RV and tow vehicle information (see mine below). That way you won't have to repeat that information whenever you post or ask a question - and others won't have to ask. You can create a signature by going to:

Forum Actions (on menu bar) -> Edit Profile -> Edit Signature (under My Settings on the left)

Note: you'll need to have a paid subscription to add an image to your signature.

Rob

 

[howie_35]

I agree with alias I’m not a big fan of lawyers, but in this case

Again, I’m not a big fan of lawyers but you definitely got a case. If I leave my car in an auto shop and it’s stolen they would be responsible for what is the difference?

 

[kb0zke]

I'll let the lawyers battle out the responsibility part. Theft of all sorts of recreational vehicles is up. Usually, though, it is high-end trailers that are stolen, such as Airstreams.

FWIW, a couple of years ago someone on airforums posted a link to a video of a "thief" "stealing" a locked trailer. He drove off with the trailer in less than a minute - with the hitch locking device still in place. He simply backed up to the trailer as if he was going to hitch up, and used chains to temporarily attach the trailer to the hitch. No, he wasn't properly hitched, but he did have the trailer attached to his truck. He used his truck's battery to raise the tongue jack just in case the trailer battery was disconnected, He even plugged in the electric cord to the truck. His connection wouldn't pass even a quick inspection, but all he had to do was get the trailer to somewhere that he could work on it.

There really isn't any way to stop a determined thief, but doing whatever you can to slow him down might encourage him to try a different trailer. That said, leaving a gate open doesn't slow a thief down much. Yes, stuff can be replaced. Still, it is an inconvenience at best. Sounds like you have a pretty good attitude, and that really helps. Good luck getting it back or replaced.