You often see it in papers and mags and occasionally on the TV but never think it\'s going to happen to you - but last night some pink fluffy dice have come along and nicked the alloys on my Omega and left it on bricks or breeze blocks to be precise!!
First thing I knew about it was early this morning when a neighbour knocked on the door and said \"You\'re not going to believe this but all 4 wheels on your car have been nicked!\".
Went outside to check just in case it wasn\'t April fool come early, to see the Omega with a breeze block and a neat pile of wheel nuts at each corner (The car was parked overnight on the road directly outside the house). No other damage to the car that I can see, though dropping it onto the bricks may have caused some damage to the underside that I can\'t.
I duly phoned the police and went through the normal procedures, though in fairness there\'s probably not a lot they can do. Then phoned insurers, Direct Line, and have arranged for recovery to one of their local repair centres. In theory it shouldn\'t be a big job, just a new set of wheels and tyres and the car should be back on the road within the day (or so I hope).
Reporting the crime and dealing with the insurers was very hassle free as I would imagine commiting the crime would have been in the first place.
I suppose I\'ll have to resign myself to becoming just another car crime statistic.......
Chad.
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Did you have locking wheel nuts? and if so how (if you can tell) did they get around them?
If you didn't have locking wheel nuts, was there any problem with the insurance (although you have already said it was hassle free so I've probably answered my own question)?
Either way sorry to here you are now a statistic.
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Item on TV news this morning said that 30% of all car crime in Europe occurs in the UK. I can well believe it.
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No I didn't have locking wheel nuts - the standard Vx alloy on the Elite model 93-94 is the 15 inch 5 "flat" spoke alloy. This has a locking centre hub (later Elite models has the 16 inch 5 "round" spoke alloys which may not have the locking centre). In hindsight I should have added a set of aftermarket locking wheel nuts....with so much new metal around I never thought they were that desirable :-(
After waiting all morning finally had it recovered around 1pm, they needed a recovery vehicle capable of lifting the Omega hence the delay. Chatting to the driver he was wondering whether it would be written off, a thought that never even occured to me! Hope not - I'm not sure what the alloys/tyres would cost probably around 1K from Vx plus there maybe some minor bits of trim to replace.
I'll wait and see.....
Chad.
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Sorry to hear of your problem. Did you do the maths before claiming from the insurance?? - excess, loss of NCB, increased premium - this can all tot up for something that possibly can be replaced much cheaper from a breakers or even new alloys from a tyre chain.
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Oh dear, I hope you get put back in a beeter position than before.
While on the subject of vehicle crime, here is how interested the Police are...
On Sunday afternoon, I noticed a red motorcycle in my next door neighbours garden (the house is uninhabited at the moment)
I thought this strange as no-one lives there, so climbed over the fence, and found it was a Royal Mail bike and 51 registration, where the storage box should be on the back, there was just a missing panel behind the seat.
I phoned the Police control room, who just said,"I'll phone Royail mail, I'm sure they'll come round for it"
I left a video camera looking at it from an upstairs window, and went about my business..
Anyway, half an hour later three ghetto figures were round there, so I immediately called the Police and told them that they were now riding it around a field. The Police said, "To be honest mate, we're all tied up"
So now the owner has lost the bike, because the Police are too busy pandering to some people and persecuting others.
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A couple of months ago I was out walking the dogs and found some youths driving a car round a field in a car-unfriendly fashion.
Phone plod and reported it and nothing happened.
Next day found the car dumped in the field and reported it again. Plod sent out a recovery vehicle. Nothing else heard.
If they's responded the previous day they could have saved some of the damage to the car and had a good chance of nicking the felons.
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No I didn\'t have locking wheel nuts This has a locking centre hub
Chad.R,
Without going into detail (for obvious reasons), these centre locking plates are extremely easy to remove.
At the time of buying a Cavalier with the same locking plates, the garage lost the key during the service, prior to me taking delivery of the car. After seeing how a mechanic removed all four plates, (less than a a couple of minutes total time) and to fit new locking bolts, I decided some additional locking studs under the plates were required as well. However, these aren\'t foolproof either, as you can readily buy tools over the internet to undo these. It\'s all down to delay tactics. The longer you can keep the thief at bay, the more chance there is of him being caught, and if he isn\'t caught, hopefully he\'ll poodle off and nick someone else\'s that aren\'t quite so secure as yours are.
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Did you have a car alarm? Is available which responds to tilting? It seems an obvious thing.
One of my workmates, when spending an evening in a hotel - very nice - was approached by a very puzzled receptionist who said that his car seemed to be 'going up'. He thought that she was a little odd, but went out to look. One of the PFDs was jacking up his car to remove the wheels.
Another workmate told me that his daughters's car had been robbed of its wheels. Not only this, but the thief had kicked in all four door panels! That was nasty! I hope that his mother bit him when he got home.
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I would agree - the VX locking nuts on the finishing plates are stupidly easy to remove via unconventional means......anyone who relies upon them for security is, well, taking a chance!
--
groups.msn.com/honestjohn/problems.msnw?Page=1 - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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You could pop in for a quick pint at a few of the less salibrious local pubs. I reckon there'd be a good chance you'd be able to buy your old wheels back at a reasonable price. And maybe get to meet the toerag in person.
Seriously, commiserations. This sort of thing is an extra hassle we can all do without.
Terry
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Thanks for all your replies;
Did you do the maths before claiming from the insurance?? - excess, loss of NCB, increased premium - this can all tot up for something that possibly can be replaced much cheaper from a breakers or even new alloys from a tyre chain.
Yes I did, I've got protected full NCB though I'm sure the premium will go up next year and the excess is £200. I thought about going to a Vx breaker and getting a set of alloys but I would have still wanted 4 new tyres. In addition I wasn't 100%
sure that there wasn't any damage to the under carriage as the breeze blocks weren't placed exactly at the jacking points (they weren't the most considerate of thieves)
Without going into detail (for obvious reasons), these centre locking plates are extremely easy to remove.
Yes, I did know about that too - in fact for the first few months of owning the car I didn't have a key and had to resort to "other" means to get the centre plate off. Then bought a complete new set from Vx as they didn't sell keys seperately.
In all honesty I have to put my hands up - I can't even plead ignorance as I knew the alloys were relatively easy to remove.
My only mitigation, as I mentioned in a previous post, is that I never really thought that anyone would be that interested, the car is an 8 years old Vx Omega and looks exactly like what it is - an old Omega and with so much new metal around I'm surprised anyone takes any notice. I even have to put up with all the "mini-cab" jokes from the wife!
Anyway, lesson learned - even if was the hard way.
Chad.
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Not much comfort, I know, but there's a lot of truth in:-
The rain, it raineth on the Just
And also on the Unjust fella
But it tends to raineth more on Just
Because Unjust's stolen Justs umbrella
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Just to "close" this thread...
Car was delivered to my door this lunchtime (well actually several doors further down the road from me, as the bodyshop driver had written down the wrong house number, luckily instead of accepting the keys to a free Omega, my "neighbour" re-directed him.)
The car has got new alloys and tyres (obviously!) and looking for a silver lining, they are the lovely 16" elite alloys with Michelin Primacys all round. The only other damage was apparently to the body coloured side skirts which had come loose and that has been fixed too. The whole car has been washed, polished and valeted and is looking rather splendid .....rather tempted to nick it myself!
I've been unburdened of £200 in the process (excess) and await more good news when the renewal arrives next year. Sorry but I've gotta go now - off shopping for a set of decent locking wheel nuts ....
Chad.
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