Dating Tips for New Car Drivers (or When Hottie Lifts Your Hotrod)
I don’t remember hearing about these kinds of things when I was a kid, though I’m sure they happened. It’s just a fact of life that the older you get, the more the world starts to sound like a bad place with an overstock of crappy people in it. This happened recently to a young woman my sister works with. She’d just gotten a brand new Mazda, and then, surreptitiously, a hot 23-year old stumbled into the picture.
Just like that. What luck.
Now if you are a good person, and you’ve yet to run into anyone you’d consider a user, or a taker - male or female - you might not know what is coming next. Those of us who’ve had this pleasure can already hear the question coming out of this fool’s mouth … “Could I borrow your car for awhile?”
Listen up, New Car Driver. Don’t hand over those keys! Or you’ll wind up like Little Miss Bee’s Knees. No boyfriend. No car. No friends or family have seen him, and obviously, they don’t want you calling anymore because it’s not their problem.
Of course it’s not their problem! Their brother/cousin/BFF just scored a new car to go hunting for ladies in! (Women who will most likely feel obligated paying for the hotel lunch because, well, they did drive alllll the way there to see them.) It’s been five days, and this trusting young woman has met the realization that she’s been had. Now what?
First, I want to say to you fellas, this could be you, too. Women are no better - and no worse - than men. Some women are quite nasty, and they will take off with your car (and whatever else they can get).
The big question is what to do once someone takes off with your ride.
1. Realize you aren’t stupid. This scam has been pulled on people who are undoubtedly more worldy and more intelligent than you. Love makes us blind. *shrug* Now is the time to care for yourself enough to get your car back, make sure you don’t wind up in the hole, and give this person a reason not to pull this crap again … and, as an extra benefit, know they shouldn’t because of you.
2. Call the police. *CRINGE* Yes, I know. It feels all wrong. You can’t possibly call the police. It has to be a mistake … right? It just can’t be true that someone used you. Your new car can’t be gone.
The good news is that your love interest is free to explain this misunderstanding to the police once you’ve got your car back. You can just as easily drop charges as to bring them, and it isn’t your fault you can’t get in touch with the person. We all know if you’d borrowed a car, you wouldn’t disappear for a week, so they can’t be too upset if you don’t trust them.
The bad news is that once you give someone permission to use your car, considering how long you wait, it may not be considered “theft.” I know of a woman who tried this almost two years after hooking up with a “borrower” and the police told her to take it to court. So call the police, and see what can be done. If your car has a vehicle recovery system, like LoJack, you may need their help in having it turned on.
3. Call your insurance company. Having given permission is a tricky issue, but many policies will still cover damages if you file a report.
4. Call your financing/leasing company. Most stolen cars aren’t returned when they’re gone for over a week, and cars that turn up generally have damage. Hopefully you have gap insurance that will cover the difference between the insurance payout and the value of your car. They should be willing to work with you to make sure current payments don’t show as “late” though, and may work with your insurance in getting you a rental car.
5. Forget about this person, and their family. Don’t call again! Don’t answer the phone if you get called. I can almost guarantee you’ll wind up threatened. It’s not a pretty place to be. If there has been an accident, if there’s a valid reason the person dropped off the face of the Earth, the police will find out about it. You don’t need to talk to their mom, or brother, or neighbor’s aunt’s dog walker to know whether or not this person is supposed to be driving around without you in your new ride, so let them go.
Did this happen to me? Surprisingly - as I was quite naive before I devised a plan to capture Mr. Hil and make him my slave - No. However, someone did steal my car in college. I never saw it again. Financially, the loss was tremendous. I’m all kinds of moody today though, and it irks me to no end that people do these kinds of things to one another. To pretend to like someone because of their car? There’s not a very big margin between sleeping with someone for them to give you their money, and sleeping with them to steal it … not that people like this wouldn’t willingly take it if it were offered.
[img src Mazda.com]
Tags: borrowed car, new cars and theft., refused to return car, stolen car with permission to driveRelated Stories
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