Thought on RV theft

[pismolocal]

The other day while I was sitting outside my RV looking around at all the other RVs around me I started wondering about how the banks keep people from skipping out on their loans.

I should say that I have over 20 years As a sworn police officer...So not planning on anything. Lol. Just curious.

My RV was 100k and I know that's on the lower scale compared to these mega RVs. Plates and tags can easily be stolen and I have never seen an RV get stopped at a HWY scale to be checked. I rarely ever see RVs pulled over for anything. I would assume that a fulltime RVer could quite possibly get the RV of their dreams and disappear. Even hide out and live their days on a friends property in the hills if they had that option.

It seems that it wouldn't be hard to get an RV to live in and hide out if that's the life you choose. Even if you traveled down the road and stayed at truckstops for a living.

I am wondering if these new RVs are equipped with a tracking device that can be activated should someone fail to pay their payment and no longer have a perminant address. Does anyone know?

[grumpy0374]

Retired cop here.
Would be hard to "disappear" unless you went completely off the grid. Pay cash for everything, no phone, no "puter", change your identity. "Driving down the road" would require a lot of cash for travel...where you gonna get cash on a regular basis?
Rig breaks down...how you gonna get it towed, pay for repairs? Get into a minor accident, no insurance...how you gonna take care of it? Food, fuel, daily items? Medicine and/or medical emergencies? Would require an ID, and then they "got" you. If. like a lot of us, your on SS/Medicare, everything is putreized. The minute you access your accounts, "they" will know where you are.
Would be easy if your a street person or homeless, but in modern era, where you have to live/travel/buy stuff, hard to go un-noticed for very long. Also would be easier if you were in a car rather than a roving house.
Sooner or later you'll be found. As a cop, how many times have you run across persons that are wanted for years old outstanding warrants, even for minor misdeamenors, while stopping someone for a minor traffic offence? In our current age, where everyone is looking for the "out of the norm" how long before someone, or a cop, notices a multi buck rig in a field, wooded area, truckstop.
You'll be checked, but no one will "stop or arrest you" for a simple bank loan default. But repo companies have access to almost everything us cops do. The minute your checked out, bingo, they'll know where you are.
Afterall, your simply talking about a bank loan, not a capital offence where their going to be looking for you. At the most, a repo company would be looking for you. Sooner or later, you'll come back to your camping spot and find your rig gone.
Because of the size of the loan, obviously the bank will ruin your credit history, and you wouldn't be able to take a loan out for a used Yugo, much less a new car, home, even rent an apt.
Grumpy

[pismolocal]

Completely understand what your saying. Was just thinking that a motor home is a huge investment. Motor homes cost as much as regular homes and I really think if someone wanted to take that motor home and hide out they probably could. I live in the country where most people have between 5 and 20 acre lots. If someone wanted to hide their RV on one of these properties and they knew the owner I don't think it would ever be found. Was just wondering if these new high value vehicles...an RV, plane, yacht have some form of tracking device.

[grumpy0374]

I don't believe any rigs have a "tracking device" installed, at the factory level, unless it's equipped with something like the OnStar system. Aftermarket system, maybe. But that would be owner purchased. Like the old LoJack system.
But remember, your phone and puter are "tracking devices", and the minute you use one, your"tracked".
As far as using someones property to hide on/in...you know as well as I do, that if only one other person knows, it's not a "secret" anymore.
Also, if you have to "hide" it that well, in someones "back 40", what good does it do you? You still need power, fuel, electric, water. How many times are you going to make fuel, water runs to fill tanks? Dump black tanks on ground? Unless your friend sets up a power pedestal, water supply and sewer connection, what you gonna do?
Grumpy

[JCDMeyer]

Originally Posted by grumpy0374

Retired cop here.
Would be hard to "disappear" unless you went completely off the grid. Pay cash for everything, no phone, no "puter", change your identity. "Driving down the road" would require a lot of cash for travel...where you gonna get cash on a regular basis?
Rig breaks down...how you gonna get it towed, pay for repairs? Get into a minor accident, no insurance...how you gonna take care of it? Food, fuel, daily items? Medicine and/or medical emergencies? Would require an ID, and then they "got" you. If. like a lot of us, your on SS/Medicare, everything is putreized. The minute you access your accounts, "they" will know where you are.
Would be easy if your a street person or homeless, but in modern era, where you have to live/travel/buy stuff, hard to go un-noticed for very long. Also would be easier if you were in a car rather than a roving house.
Sooner or later you'll be found. As a cop, how many times have you run across persons that are wanted for years old outstanding warrants, even for minor misdeamenors, while stopping someone for a minor traffic offence? In our current age, where everyone is looking for the "out of the norm" how long before someone, or a cop, notices a multi buck rig in a field, wooded area, truckstop.
You'll be checked, but no one will "stop or arrest you" for a simple bank loan default. But repo companies have access to almost everything us cops do. The minute your checked out, bingo, they'll know where you are.
Afterall, your simply talking about a bank loan, not a capital offence where their going to be looking for you. At the most, a repo company would be looking for you. Sooner or later, you'll come back to your camping spot and find your rig gone.
Because of the size of the loan, obviously the bank will ruin your credit history, and you wouldn't be able to take a loan out for a used Yugo, much less a new car, home, even rent an apt.
Grumpy

And Americans think that they are free.

Ya worked all your life paid off the mortgage and you think that your house belongs to you? Yea, right. Stop paying the property tax on it and find out who it belongs to.

[cavie]

I see where the OP is coming from. Let's say a fine upstanding citizen steals a big rig and get's away with it. He doesn't try to hide. Has no reason to. Everyone he knows would think he bought it. Nobody's gonna come looking. I'm gonna have to look into this

[wanderingbob]

Thirty years in insurance recover --- sure it happens , we have found autos that were recovered 20 and thirty years after theft . You could steal a RV and lead a regular life and never get caught , or you could rob a bank and never get caught . we did recover two jillion dollar MHs that had been stolen in CA. and driven leisurely across to Fl. by 4 college boys .they called attention to their selves by getting stuck on the beach at Daytona .

[youroo]

If you want to follow a "Motorhome,Law enforcement story,read the "Kehoe Gang"! They are the ones who had the "Point Blank Shootout" with the Ohio State Patrol in Wilmington,Ohio in Feb,1997! They lived in a Motorhome in a Campground that a Sheriffs Deputy owned,the Motorhome had the Siding Off of 1 side and Insulation hanging out and they Drove it frome Ohio to Casper,Wyo. while there was a Nationwide Manhunt for them! So I doubt that a Normal Motor home will be found very easy! Youroo!!

[poppytoymaker]

Who would want to live like that always looking over your shoulder???

[TonyShope]

A good friend who is a wealthy man just had is Cadillac Convertible stolen Christmas eve.

It was approx 30 years old and mint condition.

When he started to make money this was his 1st nice car.

I advised him after the theft that for $100 investment or less you can track your vehicle 24/7 and within 30 ft of displayed location.

If you fear theft or in the case the GPS was designed for (kids new to driving either permit or DL)

The unit simply tracks speed, location etc.

Cost is about $3.00 a month for the App.

If you activate stolen the companies broadcast it as stolen and continuously proved its GPS location to you and police. That activation at the time I used it cost approx $15 per time reported stolen.

My new truck has it built in. My TT is a year old and has 100% payoff if stolen through the extended warrant. So I can live without the TT and get a new one. Check Amazon if you have a worry.

PS I could disappear on many families and friends farms and they would not know it with the 1000's of acres they own/rent etc.

And on one cousins farm I could likely run power lines and he would say I must have always had those ;-)

[old40ford]

Originally Posted by poppytoymaker

Who would want to live like that always looking over your shoulder???

You would probably be surprised.

[Go UK]

I'm in Ontario Canada, my Insurance company required me to install a tracking device and send them proof of purchase. So along with the insurance cost I have a subscription cost for my tracker.

[RitaB]

I have known of TT's being stolen and used for hunting cabins in the woods.

[yakmeat123]

This is very entertaining but the tracking device sounds great. I think I'll get one. If my dog from the humane society, whose total out the door costs was about $200, has a tracking device, then why shouldn't a multi-thousand dollar RV?

Sounds like a movie in the making ......RVings11

[mhbell]

It use to be every year after the season about Oct to March or april They use to fly over Quartzite AZ and look for RV's still out in the desert. upon investigation they found many stolen and abandoned RV's. Don't know if that is the case anymore.
Mel

[Murbella7]

If you really would like to disappear, forever, bring your rig down to Australia and get into the outback. 5 minutes off the main roads and you are 'gone baby'. If you know your way around the outback, you will know where to find fresh water, know which rivers to camp near, even if there are other campers nearby, they will typically forget all about you when they leave, maybe.

If you have a rig with a trailer and can unhitch, you can drop into a number of towns sufficiently large enough to move around unnoticed. The small town are not the place to be, everybody knows everybody else and notice when a bug wanders across the road. It would be a bit hard for me to be invisible, my Wildwood rig looks like a mobile mansion around here, (not too many big 5er's in Oz) and even though the Silverado is not an entirely uncommon vehicle, it's plain boring white and looks like an overgrown ute, it is still big enough that a lot of people can't help themselves and stop to look as it goes by or have a geek at it when it's parked. I've had younger guys pull up alongside, in their (what they used to consider) big Toyotas and Nissans and say to me "geeze, you make me feel inadequate now", so they will probably remember me.

[johnbryanpeters]

Originally Posted by Murbella7

If you really would like to disappear, forever, bring your rig down to Australia and get into the outback. 5 minutes off the main roads and you are 'gone baby'. If you know your way around the outback, you will know where to find fresh water, know which rivers to camp near, even if there are other campers nearby, they will typically forget all about you when they leave, maybe.

If you have a rig with a trailer and can unhitch, you can drop into a number of towns sufficiently large enough to move around unnoticed. The small town are not the place to be, everybody knows everybody else and notice when a bug wanders across the road. It would be a bit hard for me to be invisible, my Wildwood rig looks like a mobile mansion around here, (not too many big 5er's in Oz) and even though the Silverado is not an entirely uncommon vehicle, it's plain boring white and looks like an overgrown ute, it is still big enough that a lot of people can't help themselves and stop to look as it goes by or have a geek at it when it's parked. I've had younger guys pull up alongside, in their (what they used to consider) big Toyotas and Nissans and say to me "geeze, you make me feel inadequate now", so they will probably remember me.

You could hand them one of those plastic scrota that fit in a receiver hitch...

[RacerRalph]

I painted my phone no. in large black letters on the roof, easy to find if stolen.

[lugoismad]

Originally Posted by ralphbeacham

I painted my phone no. in large black letters on the roof, easy to find if stolen.

I was going to suggest this as well. Easy insurance.

[BandJCarm]

When I sold my Grey Wolf and bought this 5th wheel, the guy who bought my Grey Wolf was in the market because his got stolen. It was parked at his uncles used car lot right off the freeway. Someone just came and drove off with it.

SO........what does a thief do after he steals an RV?????? Serious question, I have wondered. What market is there for one without title, so no license?? To use? Or to sell? Or what??

Yes, a ton of used ones get sold for deer camps, etc.......but they are usually old and cheap. Selling a 100K MH??? Not sure who would buy.