Car Stolen, Recovered - advice please!?!

[NorthDave]

Hi all,

My brother had a car stolen in a couple of weeks ago. It was recovered but unfortunately the mileage had been changed and the number taken off the engine block.

The insurance company are basically saying they will restamp the engine and do something with the mileage (they don't seem sure what at the moment). We don't think the car will be easy to sell after this as the mileage won't add up and the engine will obviously have been tampered with. In addition to the stolen recovered marker.

Car is a 2012 Audi A4.

The insurance company aren't being very helpful. What is realistic to expect in this scenario? They are currently refusing andly compensation for loss of value!

Thanks

Dave

[NorthDave]

Thanks guys! They took 20k off the mileometer. The only sticking point sounds like engine number. How pendantic can we be over this being like original?

[NorthDave]

rallycross said:

They can easily get the odometer reprogrammed if they want to go down that route, and if the engine number is not visible ( often it's hidden from sight on new cars) then why not take it back, it's not a new car so you can't expect a new car in exchange .

We dont expect a new car but my brother has only owned the car for something like 6 months. He'll probably want to exchange it as soon as he gets it back.

Surely he shouldn't expect something he paid £24k for to be worth £15k (when others might be worth £20k) just because of this incident? I always thought that was the point of insurance?

[NorthDave]

sandman77 said:

So the only damage caused was the mileage was changed and the engine number was removed from the block and the insurance company are going to correct the mileage and restamp the engine block?

I cant really see the problem here?

Where is the loss of value?

I suppose that is what I am asking advice for. Wont it appear stolen recovered on HPI? Will people notice the engine stamp and assuming he has done something dodgey himself? Fair enough if a purchaser would never know but he doesnt want to be stuck with a lemon.

Surely this is relatively common? What outcome have other people had?

[NorthDave]

Phil Dicky said:

Would only appear on HPI once the insurance company had paid out a settlement on it, which I'm assuming isn't the case with your brother. So effectively once the block and mileage is sorted there will no evidence of the theft.

Perfect, thanks. Very annoying situation!

[NorthDave]

Just to update this thread - apparently Audi had a go at restamping the numbers and the garage said it looked shocking.

The insurance have therefore decided to treat it as a total loss.

It's taken 2 months but it feels like the right decision for everyone.