Unauthorised use of car - Now its broken! Seeking advice

[K14A]

Evening PH,

Apologies if this has been posted before, couldn't decide what to do based on the threads I've read so seeking some advice.

To make a long story short: Car was left to get some paintwork done. The quality is pretty terrible, with the paint not matching at all and worse off than before (aside from the scratches that needed fixing).

I've been told that the drive shaft has "broken". Initially I didn't understand why, but having investigated I've learned some more information about this. The individuals who made me aware of this when I went to collect the car (I had seen it earlier in the day and it drove perfectly, but I couldn't collect at the time) said it just broke and made no allusion to it being their fault.

I've heard from others in the area that they had seen the car being driven (fast/aggressively) in and out various times in the passing days. They also saw them pushing the car in (A few hours after I had seen it today) which indicates it was driven after I left. I have checked the tyres (which were brand new a week or so before I dropped it off) and they are showing wear consistent with drifting/sliding, with marks on them (and the arch, its lowered) where they have been rubbing meaning it has been taking corners pretty vigorously (one also now has a nail in it) and there are skid marks outside, with the size/width and distance between the marks matching the width between my rear wheels. The car also has roughly 60-80 or so more miles on the odometer. I'm pretty sure I've got picture of the reading when I dropped it off.

There is various CCTV within the area from different business and I'm hoping to acquire this tomorrow (or their cooperation) and go to the police, but anybody more familiar with this able to give some advice. I should mention that the insurance expired a few days ago (renewal, Not done yet) and it was therefore uninsured (I left it with the knowledge if would be staying in the garage until I picked it up) so its been driven uninsured, and I believe the individuals in question don't have a valid driving license. Assuming I can (or can't) get CCTV footage as proof my vehicle has been used, where do I go next. Of course I'm very upset. Someones been "drifting" my car and now broke it and are lying to me and not admitting fault.

Thanks in advance.

Edited by K14A on Tuesday 16th August 23:33

[Zombie]

What kind of car is it?

And have you contacted the police?

[davepoth]

They sound like a bunch of chancers, so recover your car before you go to the police.

[K14A]

Zombie said:

What kind of car is it?

And have you contacted the police?

davepoth said:

They sound like a bunch of chancers, so recover your car before you go to the police.

The car is a GT86. I will be contacting the police in the morning. I plan to take my car away tomorrow as well (well, get it towed). Anyone know where I stand legally, as I now have to get nearly the whole car (3/4) repainted again to fix the terrible job on top of mechanical work and one new tyre.

[BlueHave]

K14A said:

Zombie said:

What kind of car is it?

And have you contacted the police?

davepoth said:

They sound like a bunch of chancers, so recover your car before you go to the police.

The car is a GT86. I will be contacting the police in the morning. I plan to take my car away tomorrow as well (well, get it towed). Anyone know where I stand legally, as I now have to get nearly the whole car (3/4) repainted again to fix the terrible job on top of mechanical work and one new tyre.

Unless you have CCTV of them actually drifting it on a public road I doubt the plod will put this top of their list, it just isn't worth their time and effort.

The owner of the garage is who you need to go to but if he's as much of a knob as those he employs then you probably won't get very far either.

With regards to CCTV from experience businesses will be very reluctant to show you CCTV unless plod physically make them. They'll usually cover their arses with phrase like 'it's illegal to show' and 'it's against data protection'

So unless you take a small claims case against them with as much evidence then you won't get very far.

From reading this it seems pretty clear what they've been up to, it takes some doing to break a GT86

[Zombie]

ETA... err nothing. Reiterating above post - Police - They're the only ones who can access any cctv evidence.

Edited by Zombie on Wednesday 17th August 01:15

[Red Devil]

K14A said:

I've heard from others in the area that they had seen the car being driven (fast/aggressively) in and out various times in the passing days. They also saw them pushing the car in (A few hours after I had seen it today) which indicates it was driven after I left.

Ask them if they are prepared to provide signed witness statements. If so, obtain them asap.

K14A said:

The car also has roughly 60-80 or so more miles on the odometer. I'm pretty sure I've got picture of the reading when I dropped it off.

Can you get another picture of the odometer while the car is still at the garage/bodyshop?

I would be building my dossier to tackle the owner of the business. If he won't admit liability then I would be issuing a LBA followed if necessary by a County Court claim against the him/his company.*

You will only know if the police will take an interest if you bring it to their attention. As against your current situation you won't have actually lost anything if they decline.

However, as the insurance has expired and if you haven't declared SORN you're in breach of CIE. I would be wary of stoking that fire.

 * Delete as appropriate.

[williamp]

Report it as a hate crime. They have a big budget for that...


http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/08/16/the-pol...

[TooMany2cvs]

Red Devil said:

K14A said:

The car also has roughly 60-80 or so more miles on the odometer. I'm pretty sure I've got picture of the reading when I dropped it off.

Can you get another picture of the odometer while the car is still at the garage/bodyshop?

I hope the photos have EXIF data with GPS location information on, and there's some kind of timed check-in from the bodyshop, otherwise it's going to be easy for them to claim the "before" photo was taken elsewhere. Even if the shot shows the odo and the location, they could say that it was taken, the car was taken elsewhere by you, then returned.

[wgl2014]

1st approach the garage owner and see what response you get, if they accept responsibility and propose a suitable solution then fine. If they dispute or otherwise fall short then you will need to sue them, consider taking the car to an independent inspector who can do a report on the cars condition for any subsequent action.

With regards to Police action what are you actually going to report? The garage didn't steal your car or obviously TWOC it, that leaves any driving offences which you haven't seen but have been informed about 3rd hand. There may be some offences in there somewhere but its not going to be straightforward to sort out, also consider that by having your car uninsured and not on SORN you have fallen foul of the continuous insurance regulations and so by trying to report anything you could end up the only one getting done!

Out of interest has the car been in a smash? The reason I ask is it seems quite new to require paintwork, if it has been damaged could this have also weakened the driveshaft?

[Burwood]

the first thing you should do is get the car properly inspected by a Toyota expert. Get tyre tread depth readings (by an expert). I would think toyota's being very reliable would require massive abuse to just beak.

[K14A]

Morning,

Appreciate the feedback. Just to give an update, it has been reported to the police who have informed me it falls under "TWOC" as they were not given permission to take the vehicle outside (there was no need to). They will also be getting hold of CCTV footage in order to view it. Realistically, I don't expect much to come out of this.

The owner himself is being very rude and refuses to accept accountability, claiming I broke it, when I wasn't even there. The "Mechanics" themselves are making various excuses, claiming the driveshaft/diff (and god knows what else) just broke while it sat there after I left. Again, not much help. I'll wait to see what the police find on CCTV and if I can gather enough evidence I will be taking it to court.

The individuals accused of driving hold no valid driving license so evidently they are not covered to drive. I doubt they are even employed in the proper manner but that's a different matter altogether. Oh well, will see what happens.

Thanks chaps

[skilly1]

Zombie said:

ETA... err nothing. Reiterating above post - Police - They're the only ones who can access any cctv evidence.

Edited by Zombie on Wednesday 17th August 01:15

They do have to provide a copy - you can ask for a copy of any footage with your car on it and the company can ask for £10 to cover any costs to provide it. They must supply it within 40 days (from memory). They must also blur any faces which can be recognisable.

Its called a requested for information under data protection act 1998.

[V8LM]

skilly1 said:

They do have to provide a copy - you can ask for a copy of any footage with your car on it and the company can ask for £10 to cover any costs to provide it. They must supply it within 40 days (from memory). They must also blur any faces which can be recognisable.

Its called a requested for information under data protection act 1998.

Only applies to personal data doesn't it?

[Mutley]

Surely it's a Freedom of Information request against the companies in the area?

[BristolRich]

IIRC they only have to provide the footage in which you (the requester) appear. Not sure how this would extend to your property i.e. the car...

Note "They can refuse your request if sharing the footage will put a criminal investigation at risk"...

https://www.gov.uk/request-cctv-footage-of-yoursel...

[BertieWooster]

Mutley said:

Surely it's a Freedom of Information request against the companies in the area?

Nope. FOI only covers public bodies.

[DanSI]

This is a good example of why I always take a photo of the Speedo clock / Trip counter, when dropping a car off.
So when I collect the vehicle after some work, I see how much it changed. Shouldn't be more than 0.1 of a mile if the car stayed "on-site" and wasn't taken out on the road for any reason...

Unfortunately it sounds in this case its going to be your word against theirs.

There IS a dedicated number you can call for the Police CCTV department, I've called them before (but can you believe it, they said there were no cameras on the busy industrial estate, where we recently had a Truck reverse into our vehicle, while parked).

You might also want to walk in to business premises that neighbour the garage in question, and ask if they'd kindly check their CCTV (if they have any) concerning an incident you've had with your car........

[Torquey]

Is the drive shaft covered by Toyota's 5 year warranty?

[TooMany2cvs]

Torquey said:

Is the drive shaft covered by Toyota's 5 year warranty?

Only if it's failed because of material failure in normal use. Which it hasn't.