‘Moving is stressful enough’: Family checks into hotel. Then they notice something strange about their cars

Having your car stolen can be one of the most frustrating experiences. Not to mention dealing with insurance and reporting the theft to law enforcement.

Such a frustrating experience can only be made worse when cars are stolen in the middle of a cross-country move.

A woman says her family's two vehicles were stolen while they were staying at a hotel overnight. They were on the way to move into their new home.

Content creator Nichole Adan (@nicholeaadan on TikTok) says her family was staying at a hotel overnight while moving from California to Texas. She explains how their cars were taken overnight.

"Both of our cars got stolen," a text overlay on the video reads. "We took our 4 kids to a hotel on our way to move to Texas and woke up to both cars gone."

The clip has drawn over 244,000 views on TikTok as of Saturday.

An ongoing situation

In the video, Adan says she and her family were making do at their hotel while they coordinated with insurance and law enforcement to figure out their next steps.

"We just moved into a bigger hotel room," she says in the video. "Brought all of our stuff in and even snuck the dog in. My husband's still on the phone with the insurance company and we're just kind of seeing what is going to happen from there."

She continues, "I realized that my youngest daughter, Isla, she doesn't have any shoes. All of her shoes were in our car. So that is one of the smaller things that we're going to have to figure out."

In a series of follow-up videos, Adan says their insurance declined to cover one of the stolen vehicles. However, they secured a rental and car seats for their children, but have not recovered the stolen vehicles.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Adan via email regarding the video.

How common is car theft while traveling?

In the U.S., car theft is becoming more and more commonplace. Every 32 seconds, a motor vehicle is stolen in the U.S., representing a 25% increase from 2019 to 2022.

In addition to thefts of vehicles, thefts from vehicles are also on the rise. Some police departments are estimating as much as 25% of thefts from cars occur when they are simply left unlocked.

How can I avoid having my car stolen?

While it is straightforward, many thefts can happen simply by virtue of forgetting to lock car doors. Keeping spare keys away from your vehicle is a good start. Also, avoiding leaving keys in the ignition can go so much farther in preventing a thief from stealing a car, as all they would have to do is break a window.

Audible alarms and even a car immobilizer, which can prevent someone from hot-wiring a car to steal it, are also effective means of deterring thieves.

What should I do if my car is stolen?

One of the first things to do if your car is stolen is to report it to local law enforcement, as they can help recover the vehicle.

The next thing to do is to contact your insurer. Not only do most car insurers offer some kind of rental assistance—as long as it's included in your policy—comprehensive coverage can mean that the insurer will replace your stolen vehicle altogether if it is not recovered.

It might not be as intuitive in the moment, but contacting your home insurer might also be a good idea, as many renters and home insurance policies cover the items stolen in a vehicle theft.

Viewers share their horror stories

Several viewers shared that a similar misfortune had befallen them and loved ones, with vehicles stolen and never recovered.

"Omg. this happened to us last year," one commenter wrote. "And dealing with the insurance companies is the worst! do either of you have apps for your cars? i was able to find my car because of its app."

@nicholeaadan The manager upgraded our room. #fyp #momoffour #beaware #carstolen ♬ original sound - Nichole Adan

"My husband's truck was stolen in 2022 from a hotel in San Antonio while his son was in ICU on life support," one wrote. "Had all of his work tools in it. they got away with about 170k between the truck and tools."

"Ours stolen out of our driveway &our insurance, police , detectives didn’t help at all," another said. "I figured out where it was by ezpass info.We got it back smashed, it became a claim & our insurance went up."

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