If you’ve done all you that you can to prevent your car from being stolen and it still happens, what next?  Generally, you call your local law enforcement agency and hope for the best.  Then you sit on tenterhooks until you get the official word, one way or another, about the disposition of your baby, which could be weeks or even months later.  Or maybe even never.  But, is that really all you can do, short of driving around looking for your stolen car?  No, it’s not.  You can be way more proactive than that.

After you’ve alerted the local police, you can register your stolen car online for free at www.stolencarreports.com and enlist the help of a whole cadre of nosy neighbors who can be on the alert for your car.  Everyone in your neighborhood, who has registered for the service, will receive either an email or a cell phone alert.  And you don’t have to be the victim of a car theft to register; you only have to be a helpful, law-abiding citizen.

Seemingly abandoned, or even unfamiliar, cars parked in front of your home may be on the database, so if your nose tells you that something smells fishy, check it out.  The database has an open public search function, either by VIN, make and model of car or even zip code.  If a car is on the list, you simply report it to the local law enforcement agency and let them investigate.  It’s important to say this again:  Let.The.Police.Investigate.   For your own safety, you should never approach or pursue a person in a stolen vehicle, even if it’s your car.

So, what’s in it for you?  If your tip pans out, how about a $250 reward (incidentally, paid by the website)?  And if it’s your vehicle that’s been stolen, how about getting your car back?