Retrieving a stolen RS from Dubai?
Discussion
Not my car but I have other RS and different Porsches. There are huge number of car thefts in my city ( Toronto) and they are immediately exported.
This particular car was stolen on September 22 and is now advertised for sale in Dubai. I am worried one of my cars could suffer the same fate. Does anyone know if there are any ways to get a car back in these circumstances?...........obviously prevention is better than cure.
Ad here:
https://dubai.dubizzle.com/motors/used-cars/porsch...
This particular car was stolen on September 22 and is now advertised for sale in Dubai. I am worried one of my cars could suffer the same fate. Does anyone know if there are any ways to get a car back in these circumstances?...........obviously prevention is better than cure.
Ad here:
https://dubai.dubizzle.com/motors/used-cars/porsch...
rigga said:
If it's stolen, and insurance pays out, why bother, it wouldn't be yours to try to reclaim.
Indeed, what he said, once its been paid out, its the insurance companies issue, they are able to seek redress if they were to find out as its a lead to a potentially valuable asset they could reclaim to offset their payout, no different to jewellery or art theft internationally, whether they can be bothered, thats a different thing.
RDMcG said:
Not my car but I have other RS and different Porsches. There are huge number of car thefts in my city ( Toronto) and they are immediately exported.
This particular car was stolen on September 22 and is now advertised for sale in Dubai. I am worried one of my cars could suffer the same fate. Does anyone know if there are any ways to get a car back in these circumstances?...........obviously prevention is better than cure.
If your RS were to be stolen and exported by the thieves, as opposed to stolen, recovered and sold by the insurer, then you’d need to get your insurer working with the police in Dubai to seize the car from the showroom. This particular car was stolen on September 22 and is now advertised for sale in Dubai. I am worried one of my cars could suffer the same fate. Does anyone know if there are any ways to get a car back in these circumstances?...........obviously prevention is better than cure.
It’s possible that there is a way under Dubai law for a buyer of a stolen article to acquire a clean title to it - don’t know. You/your insurer would need a local lawyer to help you with that because once the police seize it, you/your insurer would have to fight out the issue of ownership with the dealer from whom it was seized.
At some point depending on the car’s value this may cease to be cost effective for the insurer.
When the insurer pays out it becomes theirs so if you did get it back you would have to hand it over to the insurer.
Another issue is that a buyer will purchase in good faith and then will be out of pocket if the car is seized.
Interesting video here of someone in the same situation (Canadian car bought in Dubai) that did the proper due diligence before buying only to find out a year later that the car had been stolen.
Another issue is that a buyer will purchase in good faith and then will be out of pocket if the car is seized.
Interesting video here of someone in the same situation (Canadian car bought in Dubai) that did the proper due diligence before buying only to find out a year later that the car had been stolen.
Chunkychucky said:
On the bright side, at least they put GT3 RS wheels back on it instead of the Turbo S centre locks.
I have no idea where the OP is going with this. Or why he felt the need to post a pic of his own GT3 as well as one for an allegedly stolen one (which also happens to be blue) that is for sale in Dubai.
Worst "I own a Porsche 911 GT3" thread ever ?
OddCat said:
I have no idea where the OP is going with this. Or why he felt the need to post a pic of his own GT3 as well as one for an allegedly stolen one (which also happens to be blue) that is for sale in Dubai.
Worst "I own a Porsche 911 GT3" thread ever ?
Both photos (AIUI) are of the stolen car.Worst "I own a Porsche 911 GT3" thread ever ?
OP is (understandably) concerned about the security of his car(s) and wondering if there's any right of redress when the car turns up in the Middle East.
Doesn't seem an unreasonable question for SP&L (the UK has a very similar issue with 4wd turbo German stuff and Rangies), so why give him grief???
OP - my suggestions would be:-
- Ensure that your insurance policy / valuation is enough to replace like-for-like, particularly if the cars are rising in value. That way even if the worst happens and you can't recover it, you aren't out of pocket.
- Fit a tracker, and maybe some little unique way of IDing your car in the event someone plays cute with VIN plates and engine block numbers.
- If it's important to get your original car back, find a specialist solicitor and pay for an hour's consult about this specific issue.
(Most of PH is Brit, so unlikely to be clued-up on Canadian or Dubai law)
BlackWidow13 said:
RDMcG said:
Not my car but I have other RS and different Porsches. There are huge number of car thefts in my city ( Toronto) and they are immediately exported.
This particular car was stolen on September 22 and is now advertised for sale in Dubai. I am worried one of my cars could suffer the same fate. Does anyone know if there are any ways to get a car back in these circumstances?...........obviously prevention is better than cure.
If your RS were to be stolen and exported by the thieves, as opposed to stolen, recovered and sold by the insurer, then you’d need to get your insurer working with the police in Dubai to seize the car from the showroom. This particular car was stolen on September 22 and is now advertised for sale in Dubai. I am worried one of my cars could suffer the same fate. Does anyone know if there are any ways to get a car back in these circumstances?...........obviously prevention is better than cure.
It’s possible that there is a way under Dubai law for a buyer of a stolen article to acquire a clean title to it - don’t know. You/your insurer would need a local lawyer to help you with that because once the police seize it, you/your insurer would have to fight out the issue of ownership with the dealer from whom it was seized.
At some point depending on the car’s value this may cease to be cost effective for the insurer.
Turning up mob handed and trying to remove the vehicle from the gang is likely to present certain challenges and at worst, you'd find yourself locked up in Dubai, not speaking the lingo, probably with cops on the payroll of the gang.
This would be a civil matter and you'd need to gather a lot of information in advance of starting proceedings to understand precisely who had the vehicle and whether they were worth claiming against. In the meantime, there's always the risk that the vehicle would be mysteriously stolen / torched / sold on to another buyer. Very hard to pursue if you're on the other side of the world.
Interesting scenario but unless the car was extremely valuable it's unlikely to be worth it.
ETA OP's question is how to avoid it - little you can do other than take reasonable security precautions and don't advertise your car too much on social media as the gangs will be watching for specific models.
That said, as ever you can only take security too far. I wouldn't want to be woken up with car thieves in my bedroom brandishing knives demanding that I come out and get the car started for them. Leave the keys in an obvious place and make sure you have good insurance is my advice.
Edited by MBVitoria on Friday 13th January 10:59
That would only work if the keys hadn't been recoded, on most cars with the diagnostic software you can lock out older keys so they no longer work.
The Police may also not side with the original owner, I know of someone on another forum who had their car stolen but didn't report it to either the insurance or the police due to the fear of losing NCB then a few years later it turned up for sale but he couldn't get it back as there was no record of it being stolen.
The Police may also not side with the original owner, I know of someone on another forum who had their car stolen but didn't report it to either the insurance or the police due to the fear of losing NCB then a few years later it turned up for sale but he couldn't get it back as there was no record of it being stolen.
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