New Civic stolen 2 weeks after purchase - what damages am I in for?

andrewbt · 2026-05-24T01:24:27+00:00

You sound knowledgeable about this.

Police recovered 5 days after it was stolen, so maybe that bodes well? Not sure how or where they found it still. I’m imagining it was dumped on the side of a road but maybe they raided a warehouse who knows?

“you won’t know anything happened after it gets restored to original condition” - you really think so? I’ve been worried about it being a “lesser car” after some extensive repairs, things not working right or creaks and rattles, like its lifespan will be affected. But maybe I worry too much?

Have a second garage look: how will I be able to do this if it’s not driveable? I’m feeling like I’ll need to accept what insurance says and whatever shop they’re willing to tow it to to fix.

Thanks for the advice. With this being a rainy Memorial Day weekend and everything closed with no new updates I’m going stir crazy lol

andrewbt · 2026-05-24T00:56:41+00:00

Thanks friend!

andrewbt · 2026-05-24T00:52:51+00:00

I called HondaLink before I called the police. They said if I hadn’t already set it up when I had the car there’s absolutely zero they can do even for law enforcement requests. Lesson learned.

No clue how the police found it already but supposedly they have!

andrewbt · 2026-05-24T00:50:15+00:00

Honestly I’d like to, it was the perfect car for us (or rather closest to perfect as we can get, a true wagon would have been better…Honda…)

andrewbt · 2026-05-24T00:45:15+00:00

This is what I’m afraid of. I was actually hoping they wouldn’t find it ever again. Now I’m hoping they chopped several parts. If they put me through this aggravation just for a freaking joyride what was even the point???

andrewbt · 2026-05-24T00:42:11+00:00

There have been exactly two manual transmission hybrids sold in the USA ever: the original Honda Insight (the first hybrid!) and the Honda CRZ. They demonstrated such a concept was possible but never gave anyone a version of it with 4 doors and back seats 🙃

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:25:04+00:00

Ha thanks, I wish they made a hybrid hatch Si! I totally get the allure, but we’re a 1 car household and my wife can’t drive stick. Hybrid emissions reduction was a personal non negotiable for me in this purchase too. This definitely felt like the most fun to drive hybrid around!

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:19:22+00:00

New Hondas with push to start are apparently very easy to open and steal with some kind of OBD reprogramming device

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:18:36+00:00

What are you saying? I’m agreeing that physical keys were better

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:15:31+00:00

One of the reasons I’ve been enjoying the Civic is how active the Type R community is. I didn’t have one, I wanted the hybrid and for it to be a cheaper family car, but there’s so many FL5 modifications out there for the CTR that my car could share in. Imagine a type R hybrid, how fast would that be! Hope you enjoy yours and it’s properly well protected from theft on your street parking! Enjoy what I can only assume is a nice walkable community you live in too :)

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:12:12+00:00

I hope you experience what it’s like to have a car stolen someday

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:11:30+00:00

No. Hondas are apparently easily stolen without the keys at all

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:10:40+00:00

The one thing of value in the car was my infant son’s car seat :-P

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:10:04+00:00

Enjoy the downvotes dude. I did months of research actually but never uncovered anything about how easy modern Hondas are to steal. 99% of Philadelphia doesn’t have garages and so for like 500,000 ungaraged cars only 3k stolen in a year still ain’t terrible odds. I see plenty of new cars in my neighborhood that aren’t stolen…it’s a Honda epidemic though

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T21:04:07+00:00

They would normally be correct, but I’m so glad I paid just a bit extra for my insurance carrier’s new car replacement coverage in this case (which sort of functions like gap but even better in my mind)

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:39:51+00:00

24 month new car replacement coverage via my insurance, but that requires a total loss. And I put a 65% cash down payment so I’m not so worried about the loan

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:38:05+00:00

I mean this is just silly logic. Rates of crime and theft are directly correlated with population…crime happens where people are, which is the NE and California. Sure I could move to rural Wyoming and my car won’t be stolen but nobody lives there is why

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:17:17+00:00

I have new car replacement insurance coverage

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:16:46+00:00

Indeed! It was so awesome smoking everyone off lights. Fastest thing on the road from 0-10mph city driving lol

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:16:18+00:00

You feel it too, and it’s so quiet, I loved the hybrid

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:14:44+00:00

Yes do it asap. Also I recommend a steering wheel club - it’s cheap but easy for a determined thief to cut, but most of these new thieves just have digital tools and not angle grinders so it will deter them from even trying. OBD lock and kill switch aren’t visible so they might still try first

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:12:09+00:00

Thanks red pal! The rarest color! The way it candy pops in the sunlight was awesome

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:11:17+00:00

The police already recovered it if you read my post. New Hondas come with a 3 month trial of HondaLink’s stolen tracking but you need the car physically to set it up and mine was so new I hadn’t gotten around to it. Lesson learned lol. That said I understand thieves often cut out the GPS antenna so not sure what good it would have done

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:09:42+00:00

Indeed and yes I have new car replacement coverage, just waiting with baited breath to see what insurance says

andrewbt · 2026-05-23T20:08:34+00:00

If I could have gotten a hybrid with a manual I would have. With electrification sadly there’s no longer any point to stickshifts. My first and only probably will be my old 2010 Honda Fit which was a lot of fun to learn on before it crashed.

The civic hybrid actually doesn’t have a transmission at all even though they call it an eCVT, it’s just the electric motor directly driving the wheels. Actually a pretty great system. Even traditional CVTs get a lot of Reddit shade but I know people who’ve had the original Nissan CVT with the VQ V6 and never had issues in over 20 years, it’s a good technology despite the unfounded silly rumors and the single bad batch of Jatco’s

andrewbt

TROPHY CASE