It happened to us, our minivan was stolen out of the driveway and from the looks of it, by some young kids that wanted a joyride. Admittedly, the job was made much easier since a family member left it running, with a key in the ignition and vehicle unlocked.
My wife and I always use the remote start, but said family member gave my wife a ride to the airport and later on that day wanted to use the van and left it running.

Fortunately there was only about 50 miles left on the gas tank and police recovered the vehicle the next day, abandoned and with some damage, pictured below. I have not seen the van in person, but my wife tells me the tire looks like it was slashed, the insurance adjuster concurs. The damage also looks like it was done on purpose. I guess the punks that stole it, could not leave it alone after they were done with it. There is more damage to the rear and side, but I don't have the pictures.

The van is in the shop right now, I had it towed to my dealer and the body shop manager seems to know what he is ding.
However, advice on dealing with this situation, or things to watch out for will be greatly appreciated.

Yikes. Wonder how bad they beat on it.

Not sure what advice you want....Insurance is going to pay, so get it fixed and dont leave it running with no one inside.

Yeah, only advice would be to make whoever left it running pay the deductible.

That's a fun police report to fill out.

Doors unlocked? Yes.

Key in the ignition? Yes.

Sorry to hear the bad news. I don’t know what the local laws are like there concerning this sort of thing, but they put a law on the books in Texas some time back to shield insurance companies from having to pay out for claims where the vehicle was stolen while the engine was running or even if just the keys were inside it. It is called Driver-Assisted Theft in their jargon, and basically means they are off the hook when the thief didn’t have to hot-wire it.

Hope your situation had a happy ending!

can you lock a modern car and leave it running with no one in it??

My Jeep allows me to. Hop out, close door, push button on handle. I can even take the fob with me.

Outrageous. I'd be poring over that vehicle for any signs of hidden damage; who knows if those punks were doing neutral drops and other such mistreatment.

Time to find some sugar in the engine oil...

Make sure the dealer checks the suspension really good and the underbody in-case it's been hopping curbs.

No-that tire was damaged at the same time the rest of the passenger side fender was damaged. Assuming there is no suspension damage It's relatively minor.


Yep-it needs a "up close" inspection by a front end specialist and most likely a wheel alignment.

While everyone feels "violated" when their vehicle is stolen-if the insurance companies replaced every stolen vehicle (after it was found) "just because" insurance rates would be worse than they already are.

Clearly, but if it were me I would be trading it after it was fixed.

Not looking for a replacement, but I will see how it is fixed. Selling it might be on the table.
I will also be asking back for my deductible from the individual that carelessly left it running, but I have a feeling it will turn into sour grapes mighty quick.

my parents escape will only allow the remote start to work if you hit the lock button twice and then the start button to ensure the doors are locked when the vehicle is started

as it doesn't have a physical key and just the fob you'd need to have the fob on you are in the car with you in order to drive away with it even if it was running and unlocked

If the insurance finds out it was left running, well, I will leave it at that.

In the gangland days around here the initiation rite for youngsters was to steal a car. 12 year olds in fact. Where I worked back in those days, we had six vehicles taken in one day. Chrysler minivans were easy targets.