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R32 written off because garage can't start it

5K views 42 replies 20 participants last post by  DougalR 
#1 ·
So I had my Mark 4 r32 with VW FSH stolen last weekend, fortunately the car was recovered a day later because it had a tracker fitted. The only damage on the car was the lock and the ignition barrel which were both totally mangled where the dickhead had broken in to the car.

The car was recovered and sent to my local vw garage who have quoted for the repairs at £3,200. So the insurers, who value the car at £5,000! Said it was beyond economical repair! Obviously I want the car back but the insurers are saying that because the garage can't get the car started in order to road test the engine they are not willing to pay for the repairs.

I should also point out that the car was recovered literally 5mins walk from where it was taken in mint condition. So its highly unlikely that there is any problem with the engine at all!

Iam not really sure what to do because I honestly feel that there would be nothing wrong with the engine provided the immobiliser was fixed but the insurers won't have it. Plus they are only willing to offer me £5k for a car that's worth far more than that.
 
#2 ·
Hi

Why do you want the car back , if some scum back had stolen my car (and he would have been a dirty scroat) I would not want to touch it again,

Plus it will be a cat D or C car ,

This is the reason that when I bought my car with a tracker I had it removed the same day as I did not want to risk the car being found if some omeba scum bag was in it

Just take the money and get another ?
 
#3 ·
can you take the £5k and then buy it back as a non-runner?

id definitely argue the offer of 5k, if youve loads of history etc then send them it, with adverts for cars the same age/spec as yours (if poss) and they may increase it. i had this with a mr2 i wrote off.

is the car recorded 'stolen/recovered' if it is this would affect the re-sale value of you ever wana seel. how long have you had it and spent on it?

must admit if my mk5 ever got stolen i wldnt want it back. theres a nite in the glove box saying 'please burn out!'


mk5's are far more common tho. be a shame to lose a mk4.

so in a nut shell i dont know what to do if i was you!!
 
#4 ·
If it`s just the ignition barrel damaged plus a few bits of plastic why is the vw garage quoting £3,200 to fix it for?
If it is going to be put on the V5 as stolen/recovered Cat D your loss about 25% re-sale value plus find it even harder then usual to sale so personally would get as much money as possible for the car and get a clean replacement if you want another R32. You could then buy back your old R32 and break it for spares if you wished. You just buy it back and put it on the road after claiming the insurance money if you want a cheap run around i guess but some insurance companies don`t like insuring Cat C/D vehicles though so check on the insurance side of things.
 
#5 ·
Insurance companies mugging punters since the dawn of time.
They know full well that engine will run fine, just trying to wriggle out of course.

Can you get the car taken to another garage for a second opinion. So have you actually claimed.
If you haven't or cancel the claim. you could get a set of locks from the dealer your self.
The insurance company will do exactly this then send it to Auction.

Defo refuse the 5k, as said just trying to rip you off,
they are going up in value at the mo..
 
#6 ·
The OP hasn`t stated what the mileage is plus colour which makes a lot of difference to the price but saying that insurance companies will always offer as little as possible to start with hoping the car owner will not be bothered to argue their corner. People can advertise a car at what ever price they like but that doesn`t mean the price is rising. The cars are getting older with higher mileage plus high running costs and not fast compared to anything slightly modern.
 
#7 ·
You can appeal against the insurance offer and they will bid offer higher.
Also if you can prove cars of similar age mileage etc are worth more. (Which they are)
You should get what it's worth out of them.
Also you should be able to buy it back very cheap.

My work van got crashed into about a year ago
Nissan quoted me £2750 to repair it
They classed my van as a cat D Wright off then I purchased it back for £275

Took the van elsewhere and had it fixed up and back on the road for under £500
 
#11 ·
From what you've written it sounds like just the ignition barrel is broken? or is it much more than just that?

if it's just this, then maybe consider fixing it elsewhere or getting some parts priced up yourself?

seems a shame to write off a perfectly good car if it's a simple part like a barrel lock!!
 
#12 ·
If it's a low miler in good nick (excuse the pun) then I can understand why the OP may wanna keep it. Has FVSH too. I'm not sure what I'd do to be honest as I've spent a fortune on mine and I'm not sure I'd throw it away that easily. A good mk4 low miler is £7k+ min.
 
#14 ·
I would look carefully at a Cat C and probably avoid it but a Cat D is no big deal.
I just bought a CatD Mk2 valver. Window and ignition smashed then the heater matrix failed on the thiefs so car was recovered at the side of the road. Insurance wrote it off.
Paid peanuts for a decent mk2 with 85k, new ignition barrel, new matrix and window. I got the VOSA paperwork stating the car was fit for use.

Not in the same leauge as a 32 right enough but if you like your car then get it back and enjoy it.
 
#16 · (Edited by Moderator)
I would even let them pay you, buy it back, fix it and pocket the rest.

Or

Argue, get more out of them, buy it back, strip it for parts (you will sell parts on here very fast) then put all the money together and buy another one possibably lower mileage/better nick.

For example:
Lets agrue that you end up getting a payout of 6k, you buy the car back for I don't know for 1k (have no idea how buy back works) thats leaves you 5k, you then use a little cheap £200 run around just while you break your R taking you to £4,800. You clear an easy 2-3k breaking the R for parts.

Giving you around 7-7.5k for another R that isnt a cat D/C

Just an idea.
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'm surprised nobody has asked this yet, but how did they steal it if they needed to break the locks/barrel? If they didn't have the keys then the they didn't have the transponder chip in the key that talks to the immobiliser to allow the car to start. Did they manage to defeat the immobiliser and drive it, or was the car towed away?
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
I wasn`t going to post a link to the product but yes items like that are use. Just get in the car and plug it in the OBD port of any EDC17/ME7 ECU run car an flick the switch. Only works on factory alarm/immobilisers as far as i am aware. Standard door locks can be opened in seconds and ignition barrels.
 
#25 ·
YUP, I think this is going to be one of many little projects in the new year. Simple MCU (arduino board) with phase lock loop trigger. Will need PIN code to engage (touch screen display). Place this around the ECU and hopefully will stop the buggers or slow them down big time...
 
#27 ·
If you de-lock the doors keep the boot lock otherwise your be screwed if you get a flat battery etc. De-locking the doors will not stop anyone stealing your car as they will just smash the passenger window. If you have a sun roof the glass can be made to just pop off as well if you know what your doing.
 
#30 ·
My car is a cat D, it was only written off due to the insurance company valuating the cost of repair to exceed the value of the car.
We agreed a price of 6.5k for the car which only had 53k miles and proven FVWSH. It was worth a bit more in my opinion, but it happened a couple years ago now and market prices for r32's in my spec and in as good condition as mine peaked less than 7k, so I couldn't argue for anymore.
They sold the car back to me for 2.5k, which gave me 4k to repair the damage. I did all the work myself apart from a little body work and had quite a bit of change left in the bank.
She ended up in better condition after the accident due to having the front end end and rear quarter resprayed
, removing all the little imperfections such as stone chips and scratches that were there prior.

She's now turbo'd.... I have no idea what I'd ever get for her if i were to ever sell up, after all the money I have put into making this car, i don't think I'd ever get a fair price because of the stupid D that's been stamped into her history. Breaking it would probably be the only way
 
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#32 ·
Maybe so, but seeing as the internet is an easy source of info for anyone and everyone, and this being an R32 owners club, it does seem silly to put into so easily available for the entire world to see how to defeat the immobiliser etc.

All I ask is for the information to be removed. I don't think that's unfair and I'm sure putting the info out there does more harm than any good for us owners?
 
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