That's too bad but that area near the big shopping mall (carrefour Laval and Centre Laval) is renown for car theft. And you car is probably not out of the country, but in thousands of pieces on other people's subarus.
But please don't include Laval (ugly sprawling suburb) with Montreal.

Ciao

Our car was stolen too! We were visting Montreal for a softball tournament when we went back to our car and found out that it was missing. When we asked a resident if we were parking in a tow zone or if cars were stolen in this area, he asked if we had a black car? We said "yes" and he replied, "oh, that was stolen 2 hours ago". He had watched the entire theft (less than 3 minutes) and didn't think anything of it. Our insurance reps also told us that our car would be on a cargo ship on its way to Europe or Costa Rica by the next morning! In that same softball tournament, a total of 16 cars were stolen. NEVER go to Montreal in your own car!!!

I live in Montreal and spent my entire life here. I'd like to advise those of you who are thinking of coming to this city or ones in the Greater Montreal area to not just leave your cars at home but to simply steer clear of the place.

This is one rotten, mean city that is anyone who's been following the news is in a state of decay. It became a filthy place fit for nothing but wasps, roaches and other pests. Roads are rotting away with gigantic potholes that look more like craters. Other infrastructures like water mains, overpasses and tunnels are collapsing because of age, neglect and cheap building materials. You may have heard about the ceiling crack in the underground city (downtown subway stations and stores and offices connected to them) and concerns about the roads on top of the underground network collapsing. If you do come here and make it through your stay without a burst water main leaving you without water, a power outage or public service strike disrupting your plans, you're lucky.

If you don't speak French, it's next to impossible to communicate with anyone here because most people,including important service providers like police, in Montreal and other parts of Quebec are Francophones who speak no English. No matter what language they speak, Montrealers tend to be rude, abrasive and edgy. I heard that many big cities are like that, but this one is noted for its unfriendliness. If you chance upon a friendly person or one who can croak out a few words of broken English, chalk it up to luck.

I fault our police who should be protecting the public for not doing their jobs. Hate to say this, but they don't work all that hard at catching the many thieves roaming the city. At the very least, they should have sent officers to patrol the area where the softball game the theft ring targeted was held. Trouble is they care more about handing tickets out to jaywalkers than dealing with the real criminals. Although I live in one of the better neighborhoods, my street and surrounding area has problems with wayward youths sneaking into apartment garages to vandalize vehicles and steal bikes from the racks. My bike was stolen in January when two of those troublemakers followed a car into the garage. The police surveillance we were promised after filing a report never materialized.

To sum things up, Montreal is a terrible place, a degenerate remnant of the city it used to be. Hope you think things over before planning a trip here.

Marla Comm

dan,
Bummer. Seems you have sucked it up and moved on. I hope your settlement was enough to cover not only a replacement car, but the added expense of extra travel.
Benoit,
after losing your car with so many others, I would think that the parking attendant was given 50 bucks per car to turn away. The coppers probably didn't think to question him on that, I'm sure.
Maria,
THAT was harsh.
I moved away from Westmount in the 80's because I felt that the language was my barrier. I was correct. Here I am in the core of Toronto and I couldn't
be more happier. No language stress, no rude non english speaking service workers. Best of all, the bugs, raoches, and criminals are all the same. Only you cannot spot them until you step on them. Our kids don't steal bikes or vandalize cars, they kill people. Montreal is still a safer place then most bigger cities. Crime pays if you don't get caught.
There is no fix for what is going on now, but we can take responsibility for what can happen tomorrow. Teach the kids that vandalizing may be a rush, but it will sting them later if it happens to them or they pay bigger insurance premiums, What goes around, comes around.
As a business traveler,Montreal ranks as a safer city then lets say,Boston. Almost the same size and pop.
If you don't like it there and it's a "rotten and mean place", maybe it's time to leave.
I hear Toronto is pretty crime free, (sarcastic remark here)
Keith

Keith:

Montreal is tainted with a rottenness that transcends the usual big city blight, but I do have to admit that I heard all big cities suck!
-Marla

I AM BUT ANOTHER ON THE LONG LIST OF CARS STOLEN FROM MONTREAL......
THE HUMMER H-2 I HAVE WORKED SOOOOOO HARD TO GET WAS STOLEN FROM ME AT THE HAMPTON INN IN DORVAL.I THEN HAD TO SPEND $2000.00 TO GET HOME BY AIR.
WHY DOESN'T ANYONE DO SOMETHING????????????????????
AND I THOUGHT CLEVELAND OHIO WAS BAD?
EVERYONE I TALKED TO SEEMED TO LAUGH,AND ALL SAY THEY KNEW SOMEONE, IF NOT THEM, IT ALSO HAPPENED TOO ...
MONTREAL....SHAME ON YOU....
THE PEOPLE OF MONTREAL WERE VARY NICE THOUGH......

Yep, Hilton Airport Hotel...Montreal...Woke up went to the parking lot...Hummer GONE!!! You would think they would invest in more security!!!!!!!!

I live in Montreal for 4 years.
It is very very safe city. Of course shit can happen but the chance is lower then usual.
The French separatism and all this stuff sucks but other that it is cool place.People a nice specially the bilingual one.

It makes you wonder that the Montreal police are in on this car theft activity. My brother just had his truck stolen yesterday, when he was in Montreal for a business trip. The police thought it was a good laugh; Oh well another american car stolen...
How could so many people be victoms of this car theft activity, and nothing is being done to catch thse criminals??

Hello,

I'm one of those francophone bastard that you seem to all hate.
I've ben witnessing a tentative of car robberie yesterday evening on Plateau Mont-Royal; and the guy was pretty drunk obviously... So i thought that, first steeling a car is mean, but worst; if he's going to kill somebody by driving it after... Anyway, we went, my friend and I to the poste de quartier 38, on Rachel street to declare the suspect behavior of this guy, and... I would have never imagine that something like this could actually be possible... There was two police officer right there, one corner away from the place where this man was trying is best to get the car, and the cop said:"Come back tommorow, we are closed now..." because me friend insisted then they said:" Take the phone outside and phone 911."
Thiefs are shitty, but Cops are in some cases even shittier!!!
Beside that MOntreal is maybe a bit dirty, but it's a town with spirit, a great place to live in i think. Those who are so unhappy here should just leave somewhere else, but good luck, because there's always something to complain about, everywhere you go...

Well, well, well. I am not alone!
I picked a brand new Chevy Silverado on April 20 08 and drove it to the Holiday Inn at the Dorval airport.
I left it at 6:00 pm on Tues night and went out on Wed am and-guess what!-no truck. I reported it to the front desk [one of the previous posters said it right-the stolen vehicle report was right at there fingertips].
They called the police who showed up and made a report. Same thing-"you will never see that truck again, it is on a container to a foriegn country. Call your insurance company and get on with life"
I knew they had cameras, so I asked the hotel to review the videos from the night before. " Yes will have security do that right away" was the reply.
On Sat morning, I asked about the videos. "Security looked at the videos the other day and we are waiting for the police to call for them" Can you believe this??!!
I called the police and they laid the "I don't speak much English" routine on me and said they would look into it. Never heard another word about my truck.
The best is yet to come here.
One month later,my company bought me a brand new Chevy Colorado. I drove to Montreal on [as I do often for work] and parked in the Holiday Inn Pointe Claire parking lot at 8:00pm. I went out at 10:00pm and my Colorado was gone!
This hotel did, however, cooperate and we reviewed the videos from the two hour time period.
These scumbag thieves were so bold, they pulled up behind my truck 20 minutes after I parked, spent 4 1/2 minutes working it over and drove off with it like they are going to a golf game.
People were walking in and out of the hotel nearly right past them and they did not care.
It was two cars-a small new black compact car with tinted windows and a 2000ish light colored Intreped. There were two guys in each car and they were VERY casual about this-be careful.
The police are not pursuing these a**holes and the thieves know it-that is why they can be so bold and callus.
Keep your eyes open-you can spot these thieves scoping out vehicles pretty easily if your looking. I have already spotted a couple of them and followed them through the hotel parking lots. It does not matter-the police just think your an idiot when you report it.
Sure wish I could get my old Marine buddies together for a little reminiscing about the accuracy of those Government issued sniper weapons-but that is a whole other story!

After having our Escalade stolen from the parking lot beside the
hotel we were staying at, VIP Themis 12 Rue St. Jacques we were in shock, consumed with utter disbelief. We travelled to Montreal with our 2 babies from Toronto with thoughts of having a wonderful vacation. That thought quickly changed after 3 days.

We contacted the police and waited hours for them to show, it would have been better had they just not come at all. They
treated us as though we lost some keys or something meaningless.
After listening to them I got the impression that there is something bigger going on here, that car theft in Montreal is more than just a couple of gangs going around stealing cars, the real question is who on the upper level is allowing thefts to happen. Surly Montreal is aware that they have this distasteful reputation, how is it that auto theft has not been addressed considering the high amount of tourist each year with the same experience, isin't protecting tourism in Montreal worth implementing some course of action? Of course not!! far more revenue is being generated through criminal activity than there will ever be in tourist dollars. It will only be addressed when Montreal has lost their tourist, then they will become viligent and concerned about car theft and creating a better profile. I for one will not be travelling to Montreal under any circumstances ever again!

wow... i've only had good times in montreal. Getting your car certainly sucks.. but the city is clean and safe otherwise.

i would say don't judge the city based on a stolen car.... beautiful women, amazing restaurants, almost ZERO violence..

good luck everyone!

If your car was stolen in Montreal it's a hint: you've got too much money. Buy a shitheap car and get over yourself, then burn the rest of your money in the fireplace. Anyone with a Hummer deserves to have it stolen.

I work Security for one of the hotels mentioned by others. Car theft near the airport has been a very big problem for years. What is the solution? Cameras do not work. So what if you have a recording of the person who stole your car? Unless the suspect is well known by the police how are they going to find him? Although I feel sorry for the victims the ones that insist on watching the video of the event actually make it easier for people to steal more cars. While the tape is being reviewed it is not recording & worse the staff member is stuck playing it when they could be out in the parking lot detering other thefts. My biggest question - after you have watched the video what do you plan to do, rent a car & search for him?

Our hotel cooperates 100% with the police. We give them the videos when they request them & send them to them if we see something & they do not ask for it.

A solution is a closed monitored parking lot. This costs money. None of the hotels on the strip near the airport wants to be the first to do it & start charging for parking. Business would suffer a lot. Another problem,a lot of these hotels have huge wedding receptions can you imagine the lineups & complaints if every car arriving & leaving had to go throgh a check-point? Another business reason: Although it again sound cruel to a victim, if your car is stolen from a open air self park area, the hotel or shopping centre etc is not responsible. If they set up a monitored pay parking lot they become liable. Rates would have to go up furter to cover the insurance.

This site is good in that it advised that there is a problem in Montreal *and I believe other urban areas) with open air parking lots near highways. Prevention is better than trying to catch someone after the fact. If staying in one of these places take precautions. Use an anti theft device. If going away by plane for a few weeks think about doing something drastic like removing one of your wheels & leaving the car on a jack. As someone write these criminals are fast. They would not have a spare wheel with them & a tow truck driving around would attract attention.

Hummer H3 stolen from Delta Hotel Parking Garage in Montreal 9/1/08. Security Cameras showed two people driving the car out of the hotel parking garage at 3:00pm in the afternoon.