I will probably post this in center city too but here goes...

My 1996, Green, 4-door, Honda Civic is missing and so far the parking authority can't help me, so they are suggesting it might have been stolen.

I parked at the corner of 13th and Walnut last night around 11:00 last night in an area where metered parking goes until midnight. Without realizing it, after midnight it turns into a 'No Stopping'/tow zone area - of course I realized this when I got back to the spot and my car wasn't there. So I've been operating under the impression that it was towed because of my own oversight.

Well this morning after calling the number that was posted on the sign (215.561.3636) where I parked and getting no answer, I called the impound lot (215.683.9550) and they said it wasn't there. Next I called the police (non-emergency line) and after explaining it all to them they connected me to 9-1-1 and asked if I wanted to report it stolen.

I asked if there was any delay in registering cars that get towed but the police dispatcher swore to me that if it got towed at midnight it should be in the 'system' at the impound lot by now.

I've never had great luck with the customer service at these lots so I'm giving it some time before I report it stolen.

Does anyone else have experience with this or have any other recommendations for how to proceed?

If not, and you see a 4-door green Honda Civic with a dent in the passenger side back door, a Steelers sticker in the top left corner of the rear window (don't judge, I lived in Pittsburgh for years) and a 'Throwing Muses University' sticker in the back window, please call the police or PM me.

Thanks.

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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

I'm sorry to hear this!

Listen, my friend had the same experience, parked in a similar spot downtown. There happened to be a festival/parade the next day and they were towing cars. The thing is, they weren't towing them to a lot, but rather to another part of the city, onto the street. He was given no information from PPA, they had no records, etc. He filed a report about the car being stolen, started the process of buying a new car when 5 DAYS LATER he gets a call that his car is in the impound lot. It had a bunch of tickets on it that the judge threw out.

I wish I could tell you who to call, but see if you can find out if there are events happening this weekend which would have your car towed to another part of the city. Talk to cops in the area, ride a bike or walk around looking for it. Good luck!

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what a mess...

10:00am : called the number on the sign (a PPA number that only answers calls monday through friday. thankfully not a private lot though.)
10:30 : got online to look up phone numbers to the impound lots, called 215.683.9550 talked to someone with limited customer service skills who said the car had not come in, the end.
10:45am : called the police - basically to ask what i should do or if they could check with the impound lots, got connected to a 9-1-1 dispatcher who asked if i wanted to report it stolen. i told them i would wait to call the impound lot again in the hopes of talking to someone a little more helpful.
NOON : called the impound lot AGAIN, talked to a female, who was phenomenally more helpful than the first fella. She even cross checked by the street cars were towed from and the make and model of the car, no sign of my vehicle.
12:15 : called the cops, filed a stolen vehicle report within a half-hour.*

* he even mentioned that a police vehicle was towed and they didn't report it to lots either, but he checked with the lots again for us and there was still no sign of it.

we are all scratching our heads on this one. 13th and walnut is TEEMING with people, especially between the hours of 11pm and 2am so it seems highly unlikely that this car was stolen rather than towed. i am keeping track of all of my calls and correspondence because if they dare try to charge me for holding my car when i've followed all the necessary steps i will obviously have to demand that all those cahrges be wiped out due to their negligence.

on the flip side, how the hell does a car get stolen in front of woody's?

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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

I think you did the right thing to report it stolen. I have actually heard of people getting their stolen cars back, especially older ones.

Your Honda is a very popular car to steal. But as you mentioned it was parked at a rather busy intersection and I hope some one would have noticed someone breaking into it. As someone else mentioned, it may have been relocated, so check around in the general alrea to see if it was towed and dropped nearby. Also, there are some rather shady tow truck operators who literally steal cars off of the street and say they were improperly parked. Check with Lew Blum and the other low lifes to see if your car was hijacked.

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"Simply put it is possibe to have convenience if you want to tolerate insecurity, but if you want security, you must be prepared for inconvenience"
General Benjamin W. Chidlaw December 12, 1954

somegirl114 actually did find the car - posted in a duplicate thread in the U.City/West Philly forum and the Center City forum. Thankfully a happy ending:

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Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.-- S. R. Barr

Something similar happened to me about six years ago near Jefferson.

This city confuses me... We have a mayor who is self-proclaimed technophile and yet a towed car can be lost for days while the paperwork is sorted out. I guess none of Streets friends and family owns an IT enterprise solution company.

Glad to hear that you got your car back though.

phew..you are even lucky you got it back. I'm surprised they didn't chop it up.

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Live Life to the Fullest tateossian

I am going through the same experience right now.

Car missing as of last night @ 23 and WALNUT.

2005 green Hyundai Accent

No record from the Parking Authority.

It vanished.

Lew Blum claims they don't move vehicles.


here's where the story gets truly sickening:

-As of last night, no record from PA.
-That night, police tell me to wait a day before reporting it stolen bc cars are "never stolen from that area and the PA sucks at logging info on time."

-This morning, no record from PA. I meet with police to file report. Officer radios his station and the response is that the street was cleared and my car is in LOT 1 in south philly
-Today I go to LOT 1 after work - MY CAR IS NOT THERE. Still no record from the PA.

I am now trying to track down the officer who gave me that info.

I have since filed a stolen report.

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Ok, terrific!