Defender Stolen Sheffield City Centre Late 6th Jan / Early 7th Jan

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Hi steve,
glad your getting it all sorted and i'm sure before long you'll be able to sort the wheels and extra bits out too and have your old lady back!
Just looking at the steering wheel in one of your photos though its bent exactly the same as mine was when it was attempted just a few days after yours was taken. So I'm certain it was the same group. At least they're not operating anymore!
If they would have managed to take mine as well we would have probably seen two hybrids put together of each others, as mines a very similar green tdi 90.

All the best!
 
A bit of an update. After over 3 weeks of being messed about Direct Line I have finally been today to UK Assistance who are supposedly going to repair it.

I am sure I will have more questions if they do end up repairing about part no's etc, but my main question at the moment is they have either ground off or removed any plate showing VIN or Chassis no's. Those being missing surely effects the value of the vehicle. So they need replacing, is that something that is possible, would LR reissue the ID plate that goes just behind the windscreen and on top of the brake servo. I haven't had the opportunity to get under it to see how many of the ID's on chassis, axles, gearbox etc are gone.
 
SteelCitySteves said:
A bit of an update. After over 3 weeks of being messed about Direct Line I have finally been today to UK Assistance who are supposedly going to repair it.

I am sure I will have more questions if they do end up repairing about part no's etc, but my main question at the moment is they have either ground off or removed any plate showing VIN or Chassis no's. Those being missing surely effects the value of the vehicle. So they need replacing, is that something that is possible, would LR reissue the ID plate that goes just behind the windscreen and on top of the brake servo. I haven't had the opportunity to get under it to see how many of the ID's on chassis, axles, gearbox etc are gone.
Click to expand...

Land Rover will not supply any replacement Vin plates, with your Vin on or blank. I know because I tried to order a blank one through a Land Rover main dealer in November. The dealer contacted Land Rover and asked on my behalf but still no joy. However the dealer did suggest that I look on the Internet, and I found a number of sellers of blank Vin plates virtually identical to the originals. So I bought on for about £15 from North East Graphics.
You can also buy the plates with your Vin stamped or engraved on it but very pricey. I can't remember which seller was doing the ones with the Vin on. I just bought a set of 4mm number and letter stamps from Machine Mart for £11-98 and stamped my own plate. If you do the same you need to practice on a similar thin piece of aluminium to ensure you don't stamp too heavily and to get all the digits on the same level and actually manage to get all 17 digits on the plate as there's not much room.
If your axle numbers have been ground off you could try re-stamping them, if you know the serial numbers and if your have a set of the correct size number and letter stamps.
 
I got the Defender back on Friday. It looks the mutts nuts. Direct Line managed to get replacement vin plates for the windscreen and under the bonnet from LR, they just haven't arrived yet. Now on with the work to get more security on it. I was underneith it yesterday fitting an X-Eng pedal lock when I noticed their were holes in the chassis I could put my hand inside so it will soon be time for a rebuild thread.
 
Really pleased you got it back. Mine was taken in a very similar situation a couple of years ago... Organised gang, had filed the engine number off so it took three months to get it back because I had to prove it was my engine and not a stolen one. It's a funny feeling getting it back when they've kindly made changes to it! I burst into tears, think the garage guys thought I was off my rocker, stood hugging my landy and crying haha!

Hope you get it nicely secured and back to it's usual state ASAP :)
 
good to see it returned, on the identity removal bit did they try and do the gearbox and engine numbers?

if one has to argue the toss with the insurers when the vin has been removed aren't there other ways of identifying the vehicle eg, axle, engine numbers etc, although I suppose thinking about it there is no way of proving if those parts had or had not been swapped
 
honolulujoe said:
good to see it returned, on the identity removal bit did they try and do the gearbox and engine numbers?

if one has to argue the toss with the insurers when the vin has been removed aren't there other ways of identifying the vehicle eg, axle, engine numbers etc, although I suppose thinking about it there is no way of proving if those parts had or had not been swapped
Click to expand...

Hi, Yeah, they had ground numbers off Axles, Engine, Chassis, Gearbox, Transfer Box and took both plates off. There was nothing in the vehicle that proved it was ours. It came down to things like my keys fit the Doors/Ignition/Fuel Filler Cap. Also things like it being dinted in the same places as my Defender. Another thing we also do is put the date on the Oil & Fuel Filter in permanent marker so we can see when they were done. For the fact that it was only missing 36 hours before it was recovered it was assumed I guess that they didn't have the time to swap stuff about. It is easy to tell if an axle or gearbox has been swapped recently, but there was nothing to say that they are all the same components that have been on since 96.

The paint job the insurers have done is incredible though. They have pulled every dent, realigned panels, etc. You can just close the doors like a normal car now, cant get used to that, I am still swinging them like I used to have to. :)
 
I remember seeing the remote start thing when I went to Detroit a few years ago... 10 minutes before the office was due to empty, people would remotely turn their cars on to warm them up. Seems sensible to me, especially if the alarm stays active so no one nicks it. Better than leaving it running with the keys in to warm it up.
 
farmershort said:
I remember seeing the remote start thing when I went to Detroit a few years ago... 10 minutes before the office was due to empty, people would remotely turn their cars on to warm them up. Seems sensible to me, especially if the alarm stays active so no one nicks it. Better than leaving it running with the keys in to warm it up.
Click to expand...

exactly! We have these sort of alarms with some funky features on our own vehicles!
 
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