Do you think this is possible? (Detective-Mode)

[n1k85]

Hi Guys,

As many of you know, I bought my 2004 Silver X5 as a CAT D car.

The damage was pretty minimal and was more like a 'scrape' down the passenger side of the car. But I have no details as to what actually happened to the car. The previous owner bought the car as it was, and drove it still with the damage unrepaired (as it's only cosmetic) until trading it in at the Garage I bought it from.

I've now replaced the rear door and unless you are looking for it, most people now would not actually notice the car has been damaged. We have also plugged in a Diagnotic reader and discovered that the airbags are all orginal and have never been deployed.

Since it was a CAT D, it only came with 1 Key and No service Book/History etc, although I did get a hand written note that mentioned that the car had been serviced a number of times at a BMW Dealership in Warrington.

I called up the Warrington dealership this morning and they indeed confirmed that they carried out services and a few other things from 2004-2009, they agreed for £70 to order me a new service book, stamp it up and send it over

The hand written note also mentions the car being serviced at a BMW dealership in Preston in 2010. I was told that if I send them the new Service Book, they would stamp it up for free and return if I included a SAE Great stuff!

So while I was in 'digging up history' mode, I noticed that the Vehicle Data check states that the car was recorded as a CAT D loss on 8th March 2010.

I put a few details into google and looked at the 2010 web/news articles to see if I could find out any info on what happened to cause the CAT D status.. (unlikely but I thought there may be a forum thread from that time like 'Just crashed my X5' or something)

It found nothing on the web, but on 6th March 2010 (2 days before my car was logged on the register as CAT D) a Silver BMW X5 was stolen (along with a number of other cars) from a dealer forecourt in Aberdeen and recovered a few days later...

Is it possible that this is the same car?

I did a little more digging in the Archives and found a news article about it complete with CCTV video that shows a Silver X5 being reversed off the forecourt and speeding away..

The video is grainy but the car looks like it has big wheels, and No sidesteps.....a bit like mine.









Here is the link with video: http://news.stv.tv/scotland/north/16162 ... recovered/

It's highly unlikely I know, especially being in Aberdeen... but could it be the same car? It's hard to make out if the wheels are standard 19's or if it's even a facelift.

But it would tie up niceley and explain why the car was written off for such little damage, and why I have only 1 key etc...

Any thoughts?

[Sanj]

Nice bit of detective work there!

Give Arnold Clark a call and see if you ask details about the X5 (if you give your details first, etc). You might get more info????

[ayat]

That's really impressive detective work, most wouldn't bother but I reckon you have found ur car, same colour no sidesteps, 1key etc same time. Too much of a coincidence.

[n1k85]

Thanks

Maybe i'll give them a bell tomorrow and ask what the reg was, if it was my car they might still have the other key...

[Sanj]

Yeah, go with what your situation is, happy to give over your details first and if they'd be kind enough to confirm or deny same car...

And that you're willing to provide proof of ownership should it help yield better response, etc.

Good luck!

Oh and welcome to the forum Columbo!

[shadrack]

i could be wrong but if a cars been stolen doesnt it apear as 'v' car as well as cat d?

[gchristofi]

that would be a great bit of detective work if it turns out to be your car..... and possibly an affordable way to getting a 2nd key..

[n1k85]

[quote=""Sanj""]
Oh and welcome to the forum Columbo! [/quote]

Elementary my dear Sanj... [puffs on a Pipe]

(btw, I'm aware that's not from Columbo! )


[quote=""shadrack""]i could be wrong but if a cars been stolen doesnt it apear as 'v' car as well as cat d?[/quote]

I'm sure it actually said VCAR on the avert when I bought it, but i assumed this just meant CAT D!

Edit- Just checked Autotrader and it says VCAR just means CAT D.



I'll keep you guys updated!

[5wany]

Would be nice if this turned out to be ur X

Least you know it is unlikely to have been thrashed by thieves as they had it parked up a few miles away & was recovered inside a day. Damage done still a mystery though. Would not suprise me if it is ur car, that A.C. damaged it themselves just to get write of and insurance payout They are quite big in Scotland - loads dealerships and I've heard a few dodgy storys about some of them being less than honest.

Good bit of investigation

[Raj]

Superb find. Certainly links nicely to yours, so you never know.

Good luck with it.

[n1k85]

What a let down...

I called Arnold Clark in Aberdeen, spoke to an advisor who remembered the incident and the car, but she said as it was over 2 years ago and it was a trade-in car, they have no record whatsoever of any details of the X5 that was stolen. They have the details of all the other cars (since they were Fords and were logged on the system) but nothing on the X5.

She said it could well be the same car, but they couldn't tell me the reg, model or anything because they are a Ford dealer and it was of course a BMW. They just advised me to speak to BMW...To which I replied, "but BMW obviously won't have any details of a car stolen from a used Ford dealer in Aberdeen..."

So all I've got now is that it 'might' be the same car. But i'll never know!

On the up side, I received the Service Book today from BMW stamped up from 2004 - 2008! They also printed off a load of copy invoices for various work that had been done on the car, both under warranty and paid for!

I also called the BMW Dealer in Preston who said, said the book over with a SAE and they'll stamp it up for me as well! So i'm slowly building up a history for the car!

[jaynana]

nothing like trying plus u have a fully stamped service history now!

[mikem]

Contact the last owner and ask where they traded it in ?

[X5Sport]

[quote=""n1k85""]What a let down...

I called Arnold Clark in Aberdeen........

So all I've got now is that it 'might' be the same car. But i'll never know![/quote]

OK, here's a really long shot for you. A stolen car would have been reported, so........it's gotta have a crime number right? See if the garage might give you that number, and then see if the local police force will play nicely and cross reference it for you. You might have to submit a Freedom of Information request, but.........

You might even get the Police to give you the data from another angle. You know when this car was stolen, so the report of a stolen X5 from that Dealer will also be traceable, you're just coming at it from the opposite direction. They may not help, but it's worth asking.

Someone should know if that car was ever the stolen one as there will be a record with the authorities, or even on an MIB database?

[Rusty]

[quote=""X5Sport""][quote=""n1k85""]What a let down...

I called Arnold Clark in Aberdeen........

So all I've got now is that it 'might' be the same car. But i'll never know![/quote]
Someone should know if that car was ever the stolen one as there will be a record with the authorities, or even on an MIB database?[/quote]

OMG, does that mean Will Smith was involved? Alien invasion impending?

Good idea though and def worth a try, as they say, if you don't ask.....


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