[GMfan1111]

Hi guys last night someone tried to steal my dads truck. What they hoped to accomplish with a 15 year old truck I'll never know but anyway he is currently awaiting word from his insurance about what to do next. Granted the truck is so old that chances are they will want to junk it. If that scenario happens (and i hope it doesn't) then we will possibly need a new vehicle. I suggested that he should either explore a fuel efficent vehicle or find a truck that is fuel efficent. If the the insurance does indeed decide to junk it does anyone have any suggestions for a replacement vehicle He's stated that he is not buying a new vehicle and prefers to buy a used one. Also it has to be GM only.

 

[betron02]

Oh that sucks, BTW what truck is it?

 

[likearock00]

That's pretty crappy. Sorry to hear about it. What did they do to the truck?

IMO, if he wants a more fuel efficient vehicle, he should go to a small truck like a S-10 or Colorado. If he goes with the S-10, get the 2.2 motor or the 2.7 with the Colorado.

 

[GMfan1111]

Oh that sucks, BTW what truck is it?

the truck in question is a 1993 GMC Sierra 1500 that has a color matching bed shell. He's had that truck for a long time and it has outlasted the other past members of our fleet (buick electra, chevy suburban, GMC Vandura). It still runs good despite its age and mileage

 

[GMfan1111]

That's pretty crappy. Sorry to hear about it. What did they do to the truck?

IMO, if he wants a more fuel efficient vehicle, he should go to a small truck like a S-10 or Colorado. If he goes with the S-10, get the 2.2 motor or the 2.7 with the Colorado.

what the thieves most likely did was they jimmied the lock open (my dad found the car locked and running when he got out of work) and popped the steering column. They managed to get it running but in the process of hot wiring and popping the ignition they wrecked the shifter and couldn't shift it into drive so they decided it wasn't worth it and left it. The only plausible reason why they would even bother to try and steal a truck as old as his is probably because they wanted parts. The plant he's at has had problems with break ins especially with older cars. Anyway he's still waiting for an estimate but until this whole matter is resolved we'll be down to three cars (actually two because my brothers riv has no collision coverage) and he'll probably be driving mine for awhile (which means no photos for the time being)

 

[454]

post the photo

 

[paul8488]

I read the title quickly and thought you had said 'mormon'.

 

[GMfan1111]

post the photo

oops sorry about that i couldn't find the memory card right away anyway heres what the crooks did. And this is the only photo i could take because the towtruck was already present

 

[2b2]

Very Sorry to hear about this, GMfan1111.
I'm not knowledgeable enuf about trucks (at all) to help
but will be interested to follow the selection process
maybe post needed/wanted capabilities/specs?

 

[GMfan1111]

Very Sorry to hear about this, GMfan1111.
I'm not knowledgeable enuf about trucks (at all) to help
but will be interested to follow the selection process
maybe post needed/wanted capabilities/specs?

I'll be sure to post capabilities, specs etc if we are at that point, however right now we are still waiting to hear whether insurance will cover it or not and that could take at least a week before we hear from them. I hope they cover the repairs but because the truck is so old theres a good chance that they will not cover it and possibly junk it. If it is fixed i don't think he'll take it to work for awhile. the truck has a very noticeable body color (robins egg blue) and theres a possibility that the thieves could recognize it and be tempted to try and steal it again

 

[chris442]

Well, the good news is that it's very fixable, and that they didn't really trash the truck. Some thieves would have torn up the interior to punish you for not making the truck easier to steal or something.

Hopefully, there's no body damage on the door handle. A screwdriver jammed between the door handle/lock assembly is the most common way to get in to one of these. The column is most likely fairly easy to disassemble and repair. I'd guess it needs a few small parts to free up the shifter and fix the lock cylinder. I've never taken apart one in a vehicle this new, but I can have one apart on a '69 Olds pretty quick. Probably not hugely different, if I know GM; as 1969 was the first year of the locking column.

Hopefully insurance will fix it, but I think you should consider getting it fixed even if they won't. These old trucks are nice to have and keep around. I think it makes more sense to buy a used small car to supplement the truck, personally. That way you have a truck for truck stuff, and can save on gas most of the time.

 

[GMfan1111]

Well, the good news is that it's very fixable, and that they didn't really trash the truck. Some thieves would have torn up the interior to punish you for not making the truck easier to steal or something.

Hopefully, there's no body damage on the door handle. A screwdriver jammed between the door handle/lock assembly is the most common way to get in to one of these. The column is most likely fairly easy to disassemble and repair. I'd guess it needs a few small parts to free up the shifter and fix the lock cylinder. I've never taken apart one in a vehicle this new, but I can have one apart on a '69 Olds pretty quick. Probably not hugely different, if I know GM; as 1969 was the first year of the locking column.

Hopefully insurance will fix it, but I think you should consider getting it fixed even if they won't. These old trucks are nice to have and keep around. I think it makes more sense to buy a used small car to supplement the truck, personally. That way you have a truck for truck stuff, and can save on gas most of the time.

there was no damage on the door handle and as i mentioned in a prior post when my dad came to the truck the doors were locked and it was running so they probably either used a slimjim or a similar instrument to get the door open without noticeable damage. as for the screwdriver they used it to jump start the car but i guess they mucked up the shifter when they were tearing the steering column apart. They wouldn't have gotten far anyway because once the shifter was unstuck by my dad a short time later the engine stopped. luckily there were no valuables in the truck at the time (unless cheap plastic bead necklaces like the one we have hanging in the back seat area, have gone up in value recently). The truck has aged well and my malibu is a good fuel saver as it is. But I have brought up the issue of possibly getting another fuel saver to help even out the wear and tear because other than my car the other three cars are gas hogs especially my moms 02 suburban

 

[mbukukanyau]

sorry to hear about it GMfan111...
I bet they would have driven it over the border and sold it. That is what happens around here anyways if the vehicle is stolen.
What to buy as a replacement truck?
GMC Denali or perhaps Silvarado with cylinder deactivation

 

[GMfan1111]

sorry to hear about it GMfan111...
I bet they would have driven it over the border and sold it. That is what happens around here anyways if the vehicle is stolen.
What to buy as a replacement truck?
GMC Denali or perhaps Silvarado with cylinder deactivation

this happened in Pontiac so over there they probably would of taken it chopped it up and sold it for parts. as for a possible future truck he'll probably look at a Silverado or a Sierra but I have a feeling he'll lean towards the Sierra more because of how long his current truck has lasted and also because Sierras are supposed to be pretty durable. the Denali model is tempting and I'll offer that as a suggestion but he wants a good work truck so he'll probably go for one of the lower trim levels. Of course we won't know our next course of action until we get an estimate

 

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

I dunno what kind of insurance would scrap that. I mean you could probably get that thing running again if you spent 15 minutes looking at what occured and disengaged the locking part on the shifter

 

[GMfan1111]

I dunno what kind of insurance would scrap that. I mean you could probably get that thing running again if you spent 15 minutes looking at what occured and disengaged the locking part on the shifter

before i respond to you saabr i do have an update. The repair shop the truck was towed to has managed to find the parts needed for it. The estimate for all of that will be a little over 600 dollars a tad pricey (because they had to get the parts from another state) but we're hoping that insurance will decide to cover it. The reason were a little concerned about the insurance is that the truck is 15 years old and its also has over 100,000 miles on it and because of those factors the insurance might decide to junk it based on the age of the vehicle. Either way when all of this is over I'm going to suggest the idea of having an anti theft device installed just in case the thief decides to try and steal it again.

 

[Kennyboy]

Ever consider buying a Chevy Aveo or Suzuki Forena?? Saves on gas and fuel-efficient also.

 

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

before i respond to you saabr i do have an update. The repair shop the truck was towed to has managed to find the parts needed for it. The estimate for all of that will be a little over 600 dollars a tad pricey (because they had to get the parts from another state) but we're hoping that insurance will decide to cover it. The reason were a little concerned about the insurance is that the truck is 15 years old and its also has over 100,000 miles on it and because of those factors the insurance might decide to junk it based on the age of the vehicle. Either way when all of this is over I'm going to suggest the idea of having an anti theft device installed just in case the thief decides to try and steal it again.

I don't know where the heck they got 600 from unless they are trying to replace the whole steering column... which might be the way for a "real" repair, but I would think you could jury-rig something for free and have a running truck again. With keyless start to boot

 

[GMfan1111]

I don't know where the heck they got 600 from unless they are trying to replace the whole steering column... which might be the way for a "real" repair, but I would think you could jury-rig something for free and have a running truck again. With keyless start to boot

your right on the money they have to replace the whole column. the thief that tried to steal it appeared to have been an amateur because besides wrecking the shifter there were other signs the technician found that indicated the thief did not know what he was doing. Anyway the cheapest security system with keyless start i could find was around $230.00 and thats before the installation costs if we got a store like best buy to do it. I'll be talking to my dad about it later today with him but he likes to save money so it'll be a tough sell but i know the next time someone goes after that truck he might not see it again so either way some form of anti theft device will be installed especially with the amount of break ins that have been happening in the area he works at

 

[GMfan1111]

Ever consider buying a Chevy Aveo or Suzuki Forena?? Saves on gas and fuel-efficient also.

i agree the aveo and the suzuki are efficent little cars but my folks are not very big fans of 4 cylinder cars for some reason and as such they prefer cars with a V6. also both are too small since both my dad and my brother are over 6ft tall.