My car was stolen a couple of weeks ago, it was found apparently undamaged on someone's drive a couple of days later. It's now been released by the police and is at the garage to have the locks changed. Is there anything else i should get them to check before i accept it back?

hmm not sure if the police would already have done this, but you should check the engine numbers in case they have swapped the engine out of yours. Id consider an RAC inspection just for peace of mind, then if there is anything wrong due to mistreatment you can go back to the insurance company

needles ?

A friend got his back and it came with a free tape in the stereo.

drugs & a body in the boot?

I'll bear the rac check in mind, but just wondered if there was anything easy to check at the garage. Judging by the insurance companies performance so far it'll be easier to get things done before i accept it back than trying to get things done later

notice that the rev counter now goes upto about 14k….or at least it probably did while they had it 😮

scottyjohn – Member
hmm not sure if the police would already have done this, but you should check the engine numbers in case they have swapped the engine out of yours. Id consider an RAC inspection just for peace of mind, then if there is anything wrong due to mistreatment you can go back to the insurance company

lol
would a thief really take an engine out and replace it with a dud one i guess the engine still runs etc.

Stolen, recovered on the vehicle check?

many years back had a car stolen – was a company car so not sure what happened ref docs and the stolen recovered issue – could be serious moneywise

missing 5-6 days turned up a couple of miles away and police more interested in getting moved than stuff that wasn't mine it was full off

anyhow front left suspension shagged from being kerbed big time – so worth getting checked

Get it checked by a mechanic for hidden damage to suspension etc. Check all seats carefully especially drivers. Sometimes the thieving scumbags like to put a needle (used!) into the seat so when you plonk your bum down……….. Well you can guess the rest!

If you get a car stolen then found by the police , are you within your rights to reject it from the Ins company

Even if there are no signs of damage there could be damage to the engine that may only come to light a few weeks down the line

just seems odd to me that people just take them back and think all is well

if my car got robbed i would never want to see it again

well maybe stuffed into a tree burned out with the scrote who robbed it still at the wheel

billybob – Member
drugs & a body in the boot?

You would hope that is something the Police would spot.

I'm quite happy to take the car back. For me the hassle of buying a new car outweighs any thoughts of what the criminals may have been up to in it in the 48 hours it was missing. I'm hoping that those driving it were doing so in a manner not to attract attention judging by what was found in it

TBH unless it has body damage or they clouted a kerb I dont see a problem.

I would get the car independently checked though – including the wheels, suspension, linkages and bushings. If you clout a kerb its a whole world of trouble (and expense) down the line. If the engineer finds damage you can then ask the insurance company to pay for this.

Oh hang on. Reject it. The next owner (or PX dealer) will HPI the car and it will come up as previously stolen/recovered.

Reject.

I don't ever intend to sell the car so whether it would show up as stolen is irrelevant.

I don't ever intend to sell the car so whether it would show up as stolen is irrelevant.

I said the same about my Subaru. Two years later and I was sick of repairing bits and pieces.

But a suburu gets stolen to race around in, not sure a toyota corolla with a 1.4 engine gets taken for quite the same reason 🙂

I know what you mean when you say you are keeping it for good however the value of your car would be adversely affected and a few years down the line your plans may change or you may be sick of niggling repairs. At that stage would you just scrap it then or keep repairing? How old is it?

The car is coming up for 6 years old. The plan was to run it until it dies 🙂 It's not had to have any work done to it beyond new brake pads and tyres in it's life so far. The insurance company seemed quite keen to say it was total loss before i pointed out that the police said there was no damage. Makes me think they want to sell it for more than they'll offer me.

See what they offer if you reject it. May well be enough for a new car and a few hundred quid. Sometimes glass' values are way out of whack.

If you say there is nothing wrong with it…but the Ins Co want to write it off let them do that and you haggle for a good payout…then ask to buy the salvage back for peanuts

sorted !!

what andy said, take a settlement, buy it back as salvage. The ins co will probably remove the tax and youd have to MOT it (possibly even IVA?)

Its a VIC , not an IVA, You take the car to a DVLA center where they check all the numbers match and its totally safe and road legal. HAd to do it to my £100 Golf TD, could not tax it before I had it done.
The 'Buy back as salvage' is being phased out by some insurance companies.
I had a small problem with what was found in the boot of my old Celica , had a visit from the Po's and now always fill in all the V5 paperwork

this happened to a mate of mine; got car back valeted and all and having been gone over by forensics; he found syringes under the passenger seat!

I went to look at the car the other day, only visible damage is a bit of trim on the back bumper that needs replacing because the clip on bit has snapped and it's filthy. Not many miles on it whilst it was stolen.

It has to have an engineers report on it before they can do anything, then they'll write up a report, and see what the insurance company will do but should be able to get it back, but probably another couple of weeks. Now my car is officially in for repair I get a courtesy car so that helps 🙂

It's all rather complicated though, car was stolen the week we were moving house and also the week the tax ran out. I've SORNed it now but not sure whether to send off the V5 for change of address or hold on to it (insurance company need it if total loss).

The issue of the car being registered as stolen – is recorded on a database called MIAFTR by your insurance company(which from memory of car insurance days is Motor Insurers Anti Fire and theft register…or similar) this can be reversed, so provided car is ok – Your Insurer should pay to check it over, then just make sure your Insurer has removed the entry from MIAFTR so in future your car doesn't "flag" as stolen when selling it one day.

My parent had a car stolen and recovered, and it didn't seem to have been listed as stolen/recovered on the register (dealer didn't say anything when we sold it, at least).

Sometimes the thieving scumbags like to put a needle (used!) into the seat so when you plonk your bum down……….. Well you can guess the rest!

Urban myth?

Urban Myth? I don't know, but a while back our employer advised us to push lift buttons with your car keys as people had started sticking needles down the side of the buttons and then snapping them off…

Yeah. Watch out for razor blades at the flumes at the pool.

Well, I'll definitely be getting some sort of independent inspection

Car was dropped back today, drove into work (6 miles), horrendous noise when braking

One of the discs looked like this

So it's been picked up and taken back to the garage, leaving me without a car once more. Back on the bike then!