Lancia Motor Club

Keep a watch on your car if it's parked outside on the road, or probably anywhere else.
Last night my old Mercedes was done, thieves forced the locking petrol filler flap and attempted to steal the fuel, they obviously got a bit going by the stain on the ground, but as there was only about 3 Gallon in it they didn't get what they obviously thought they would, probably thought "rich git" (untrue) there will be lots in that, so hopefully they will be disappointed, I was going to put about £60 worth in tomorrow when Sainsbury start their 5p a litre off, but now I won't bother and for the forseeable future will only put in enough for what I'm doing at that time.

It also didn't help when I attempted to report it to Footman James, after 3 seperate phone calls, messages to "Try again Later", driven crazy by an inane message, & with no idea where I was in the queue, after 30 minutes I gave up and shot an email off to their customer care, (joke) and asked if they really wanted my business as I have 2 cars insured with them; having been with them for over 10 years I'm surprised, something to do with being taken over by
Aeon?
It's probably not going to be worth claiming anyway as with the excess I'll lose out.
Bang goes another lump of my pension! 

I must get back into the habit of reducing the size of photos before posting. 

Brian
8227 >:(

That really sucks... sorry to hear about your misfortune Brian. Nothing is safe is it? And the price of petrol can only, I fear, make this kind of thing more a frequent occurrence...

Some years ago I decided to stop leaving valuables in the car and to stop locking it... and the dumbasses still broke a 1/4 light glass in my Mini to get into an unlocked car  >:(

Here's hoping it doesn't prove too painful to repair, and doesn't spoil your week too badly Brian!

Yeah, I saw some comedian who was saying why not just steal a petrol tanker (rather than rob securicor van)... how much would they be worth ... ?

Even with 5p off a litre the Passat still takes £73 of diesel to fill up ... and at the moment I'm glad I have it at 65pmg (driven carefully)

I believe the 'comedian' you were referring to was Jeremy Clarkson on a recent issue of Top Gear.........

:) .... yep, you're right ... i'll withdraw that bit !

Much to my amazement a scenes of crime officer came out & dusted it for finger prints, but clever little B-----d wore gloves so no prints , obviously does something like this on a regular basis.

The damage is worse than I thought,  at first sight it looked like the flap & it's keep where the pin slides through to lock it, were repairable, that I think is no longer the case.
 
Further inspection and my attempt to get it to lock & unlock, shows the the pin in the motor is bent & while it will lock, it won't unlock, and I've had to take the trim off in the boot so that I can reach the manual release pin. So all in all it looks like it will need a new lock, the flap is too damaged to repair, and the keep for the pin is half torn from the aperture,+ repairs to the paintwork; so it's into the local Mercedes place Bedford to get a quote, and keep my fingers crossed I don't have the hassle again with Footman James.
Another source of annoyance is that I'm waiting for someone to come and refit my security camera after our recent move but as usual trying to get anything done here is a pain but I've now mounted it outside so it at least looks like it's on, case of stable door & horses!

Brian
8227 >:(

Just got the estimate from Mercedes at Bedford for the repair :o
I know their labour rates are pretty high, but £1085 inclusive of Vat.
Shall have to see what Footman James think of that ::)

Brian
8227 8)

More bad news, I only had the Mercedes covered Third Party Fire & Theft as at the time the insurance ran out someone was going to buy her, so rather than pay comprehensive I went for the cheaper option, which seemed a good idea at the time, until the potential buyer pulled out and she remained with me.
Since then the increase in the cost of fuel has made her virtually unsaleable, so I've had to keep her.
Footman James have passed me directly to Royal & Sun Alliance as they deal with their own claims, I have just been informed by them that they won't pay out, according to R&SA breaking into the fuel flap and locking mechanism & stealing the fuel, for some reason isn't theft ??? but vandalism, and that surprise, surprise, they don't cover >:( seems a bit like splitting hairs to avoid paying out, thethieves stole the petrol so surely that is theft, so the damage caused was consequent to the theft? is it me or is that too simple.

Brian
8227 :(

Oh heavens!

That's really bad Brian... it might be worth speaking to a good local body shop and finding out which of the "chips away" / "dent master" guys they use (a lot of body shops farm small jobs that do not require use of a booth out to a good quality mobile specialist now) and getting a quote. Typically a good workman of this type will have served an apprenticeship in a body shop themself and know many black magic solutions to what would appear to be quite horrific damage.

Faced with such a large bill it might be worth trying such a route?

Hi Ian,
I shall argue the case that it was theft not vandalism & the damaged was occaisoned in the course of the theft of the Petrol, no doubt they will wriggle and I'll probably lose in the end, but I shan't let it go without a fight and a few stroppy letters, I've also been looking at the Home Office's definition of Vandalism, & my Oxford Dictionary's definition of theft, as well as a legal definition of theft.
& I don't see how they can claim it was vandalism & not theft, we shall see >:(

We've also got a Mercedes trained alternative garage in Bedford who have a body shop, the Mercedes goes in there from time to time so I shall let them have a look.
I have had work done previously by Dentmaster but I don't think this damage is suitable for their techniques.

The Mercedes Dealership quote for over £600 Labour so I should be able to get that down, going by the parts required they are also looking at taking out the rear window, which I think is so they can respray up into the window aperture.

Brian
8227 :'(

It's worth persisting with the argument. If someone broke a lock while entering your home to steal something, the claim would be for theft not for vandalism.

Brian, may I volunteer a solution...?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LANCIA-DEDRA-SE-TURBO-16V-SPORTS-SALOON_W0QQitemZ270260750778QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270260750778&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LANCIA-DEDRA-SE-TURBO-16V-SPORTS-SALOON_W0QQitemZ270260750778QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270260750778&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318)

;)

Now is the time, it seems, to buy a Dedra, before they all die out...

aw don't... that Dedra is lovely... Brian, please buy it and then sell it to me when you're done with it  ;)  ;D

Get behind me Satan ;D

Looks very nice but did you spot the deliberate mistake? RHD Dedra with a 16v engine, I don't think so ::)
I've emailed him to see if it is SORN, although it has an MOT it's not taxed, in which case it should Sorn'd.
Just been looking up the registration number to see if it was a LMC car when we had the last printed "Register of Members And Their Cars" . (Please can we have a new one soon :'(  ) although L49 UEU isn't shown, L39, L45 & L47 UEU are, and they are all turbos! While L31,L34,& L52 UEU were all 2.0ie's.
Seems like they must have been a batch left over at the end of RHD Models & were all registered together, I wonder Where & by whom?.

Brian
8227 8)

EU is Bristol if that helps. My Thema Turbo was an L39 (but UGH).
Neil

Thanks Neil,

In the register they had found homes as far apart as Torry (Aberdeen), Middlesborough,Wembley (London),Iver (Bucks) Lincoln, & Taunton (Somerset) ::)


Brian
8227 8)