18 February 2010

Car theft

The doorbell rang. Of course it did, I expected a delivery. But I found no mailman on the doorstep! Two police officers wondered if I perchance owned a Fiesta. It's probably always a bit of an unnerving thing if they ask that. And indeed the reason they asked was somewhat unfortunate. They found it in the middle of the road! And that had nothing to do with a forgotten handbrake or something (the road slopes in the other direction), but eveything with unpleasant criminals who had tried to steal it, but apparently not managed to start it, and had absconded empty-handed.

I was a bit surprised; most cars in my street are much more expensive and glamorous. The police informed me, though, that newer cars are much more difficult to start if you don't have the key. Figures...

My key dit not fit anymore; the wannabe thieves had probably stuck a screwdriver, or something like that, in the ignition. The garage will have to come and pick it up. As it is not a very expensive car the question is whether the fairly minor damage is already enough to not render it economically repairable. Or in more down to earth terms: it does not take much to leave it total loss. Would be sad, two weeks after an expensive MOT...


For now I'll just await the garage, who will have to figure out if repair is worthwile, and the police, who took the casing the thieves had removed for getting access to the wiring and whatnot, and will check it for fingerprints... I'll see how this story ends!

Whoever it was who did this, he or she (most likely he I guess) is much taller than me!

6 comments:

Jesper Hansen said...

Poor you. I look forward to hearing how it all ends.

Jesper

Roelof said...

Technical total loss does not always mean you should not have it repaired! If it is a good car, spending more than its worth on a repair can save you the hassle of finding another (maybe worse) car, and any one with a mind for the environment would not scrap a functioning car to save a few quid.
But a sorry tale it is...

Margot said...

I agree Roelof! I'll see what I can arrange with the garage and the insurance. Maybe today I'll know more...

Margot said...

Technically speaking it's total loss. But it sounds like it's worth having it repaired anyway...

Unknown said...

De schurk zit waarschijnlijk op de wc bij de McDonalds, http://thetimes-tribune.com/plymouth-car-theft-suspect-nabbed-in-toilet-1.343720

Margot said...

Dat moet een andere autodief geweest zijn. Zo'n nettere, die meteen ook de sleutels jat, en daarom geen schade hoeft te doen!