An MX5 Called M1L3S

stilletto_rebel · Postby **stilletto_rebel** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 8:25 am

Car was broken into last night...

They've taken the audio head unit, my TomTom (which was hidden out of sight behind the driver's seat - yes, I know), my old Archos MP3 player (was with the TomTom), and even the removeable tray from the centre console.

They also went into the boot and have taken my grab-bag (which contained silver blankets, collapsible water bladder, two torches, two (nice!) penknives, glowsticks, and other bits and pieces necessary if one breaks down in the middle of nowhere), my first aid kit, and even my travel rug!

But they did leave me their screwdriver.

jorgan92 · Postby **jorgan92** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:09 am

Fingerprint the screwdriver?

Sorry to hear man, that looks pretty nasty. Where were you parked? Insurance?

stilletto_rebel · Postby **stilletto_rebel** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:32 am

Police crime investigation unit will be here between 9 and 9.30. I'm planning on making an insurance claim.

I just realised that they've also taken my workshop manual as well! Not a crappy generic Haynes one, but the The Rod Grainger's Enthusiast's manual. It was in the footwell as I was planning on doing some work on the car this weekend. Very annoyed...

jorgan92 · Postby **jorgan92** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:47 am

It's a shame, but it could have been much worse.

stilletto_rebel · Postby **stilletto_rebel** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:51 am

Police have been. There's no liftable prints as its believed they were wearing gloves. Screwdriver taken as evidence.

I have to say, though, I'm very pleased with the response time of the police on doing this. When I had my car broken into in 2004 in the UK, the police said the earliest they could attend was three days, and they never actually showed up at all!

Yes. As Mrs S_R pointed out, they haven't jimmied the locks or messed about with the ignition or the housing around it, so I should be grateful for small mercies, I suppose.

Now to call my insurance...

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 12:48 pm

Bastards.

Frustrating that they took things that are of little to no value to them.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 12:57 pm

Thieving bastards. They really stole everything. Lucky your LPG system is permanent. At least they didn't take your Momo.
One good thing - they unplugged your stereo rather than ripping out the wires. Time to get just a cheap/used head unit for tunes.

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:11 pm

Sorry to hear SR - if you have to overnight park outside regularly, it might be worth having a word with your insurance company to replace your soft-top with a good second hand hardtop. Mine let me do it in '04 when my soft-top was cut to gain access. Back then hardtops were about $2k, & new Mazda OEM soft-top was about $1.2k plus about a days labour ($600) to fit. Got a cheque from insurance for about $1800 after paying $2k for hardtop - no problem since. With hardtops being much cheaper these days it would actually cost more to replace damaged soft-top with new OEM plus fitting. This gives you the option to later buy a Prestige Auto Trim (or similar) soft-top from the UK:
http://www.prestigeautotrim.co.uk/acata ... Hoods.html

taminga16 · Postby **taminga16** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 4:12 pm

Hi Miles,
Sorry to hear about your car if it is of any consolation, I know exactly how you feel. They have been a bit particular, have you noticed any MX-5's in your area?
Greg.
P.S. You have a PM.

stilletto_rebel · Postby **stilletto_rebel** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 6:13 pm

I think they just emptied everything they could find and sort out the valuable stuff (in their eyes) to the crap. I've now also discovered they have emptied out the glovebox of my notepad and pen, the cigarette lighter (as the TomTom is normally plugged in), and my old leather fur-lined WWII flying gloves.

Mrs S_R reckons it's all at various cash converter stores already...

I already had the car booked in today to have its first LPG service, so he's doing me a favour and keeping it locked up at his garage until the insurance have evaluated it on Monday.

The police called this afternoon as they recovered a TomTom. They asked me to detail some of the favourites I had stored to identify it as mine. Unfortunately it turned out not to be mine, but it's made me happier knowing that I'm more than just a case number to be filed and forgotten, unlike my experience with the UK police.

Oh, just remembered; I realised whilst dropping off the car at the LPG place that my new ebay aeriel looked a bit floppy... yep, they broke that, too.

stilletto_rebel · Postby **stilletto_rebel** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:27 pm

So, the assessor called me today to tell me it's going to be a borderline economical write-off. Keep in mind that I have an agreed value on the car of $7,300.

He reckons the soft top is going to cost almost $4,000 to replace!! I queried this and it has to be a genuine Mazda replacement. Likewise with the stereo.

I don't want to admit that I already have a replacement top in case it makes my claim look suspicious.

I've left him with a couple of questions to answer tomorrow morning. There's no way I'm letting them write my car off.

91 Malibu · Postby **91 Malibu** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 8:37 am

Hi Miles
Sorry to here about the break in I also had my 1st MX5 broken into the same way. If you need it I have a hardtop you can use untill you get your roof sorted, I am only down the road from you in Skye I will be home tonight.
Cheers Chris

stilletto_rebel · Postby **stilletto_rebel** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:35 am

That would be awesome, thanks Chris! If I have my car back before the weekend I may pop over and grab it, as I was hoping to attend the GoR run on Sunday.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:01 pm

If the insurance coy allows it, you may be able to buy the write-off cheap?
But then your car will be listed as a registered write-off...not a big issue for a 'cheap' car.