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I Finally got Caught Last Monday Morning

Pontoneer said:
My first SL was a R129 300SL-24 , but my mum had a W113 230SL and then a R107 450SL .

never any problems with thievery back then , just admiration - especially the Pagoda , always came back to people asking questions about it .

I got the same reactions with my Ponton in the 1980s , people were just genuinely curious and full of admiration .
Click to expand...

R129 500SL 2013
R231 SL350 2016

Loved them both, still miss the R231 every day
 
Big Janner said:
R129 500SL 2013
R231 SL350 2016

Loved them both, still miss the R231 every day
Click to expand...
I plan to get another R129 when I retire ; going to keep the E220 as a daily driver , so the SL needn't be too sensible !

My hope is to find a 600 , since I've had every engine configuration , apart from a V12 , and it's an itch I need to scratch .
 
Pontoneer said:
I plan to get another R129 when I retire ; going to keep the E220 as a daily driver , so the SL needn't be too sensible !

My hope is to find a 600 , since I've had every engine configuration , apart from a V12 , and it's an itch I need to scratch .
Click to expand...

I know what you mean about the itch, I had that for the V8
My V6 350 gave me the same BHP as the V8 500,but was just pretty as well.
My wife loved my first MB a 172 SLK in gunmetal grey with cream leather interior.
We sold it for a porche (boring) and sold the porche for the SL500.
When my wife passed away, I searched for a gunmetal grey (none, nada) so settled for a black, R231 with a light leather interior, a sort of homage I suppose.

Had to sell it.
Difficulty getting out (oldish and a dodgy right leg)
 
Phone call from Aviva today
Payment will be with me in 2 or 3 days, it will include payment for some of the stuff I had in the car, which my house contents insurer refused to accept as 'Personnel belongings' claiming they were 'Vehicle accessories'
Not everything paid for, but, more than I expected, so, no complaints.

I await the drop into my account
 
MeQ said:
Good news, not after figures but wondering how negotiations went for you?
Click to expand...
Very easy
My insurance company was General Accident, which is a trading name for Aviva.
Aviva us a whole owned subsidiary; Solus as a negotiating middle man.

Solus were quick and easy to work with.
Having agreed a sum with Sulus, Aviva phoned me, 5 days later, went through the agreement, we did some tweeking (in my favour) and 4 days later the money dropped into my account

I await the arrival of the replacement.

When I get out of bed, I'll do the promised review of the whole experience
 
I wonder what your insurance will be like at next renewal.... :(
 
Not that its worth anything much....but did you have protected NCB?
 
MeQ said:
Go on…
Click to expand...

Earlier in the thread, I promised that I was happy to share the experience and the financials with you all, so;

I bought the GLc for £18,000 in August
On the 19th February, I gave it to some thieving bastards for free.

Told the rozzers, made the claims and cancelled the new insurance, due to kick in on the 22nd (different insurer) all within 20 minutes of finding my driveway empty.

I did the obligatory list of contents and nearly had a heart attack, almost £1,400!

e.g.

Binoculars x 2
Pair of prescription sun glasses
Compressor
Noco jump starter
OBD code reader
And so it went on . . . . . . .


I made a claim via my house policy contents insurance
They came back with;
We can recompense you for the personal belongings, but not the car accessories.
I asked for clarification and was told;

The phone (old handset, buggered as a phone, used as a speedo) we are happy to pay for (£100), the holder is a car accessory so we can't recompense you for that.
So, I redid the claim and sent the 'personal belongings' bit to my house contents insurer and the rest on, as an addition to my claim for the car.

With me so far?

Insured with General Accident, a trading name of Aviva, dealing with an intermediary called Solas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva, the claim being paid by Aviva.

Claimed £18,000

It took a while, but, a first offer £16,000
(Looking at this, I decided that they were serious, it was a very reasonable first offer)

This I turned down (I wanted £17,000)
Two phone calls and a number of emails later, we settled on £16,250.
Given the street value of the car, this was fair, similar GLc's are selling for between £15,500 and £17,000

My ‘personal belongings’ cover was £150.
Aviva referred to ALL the stuff in the car that my household insured called 'vehicle accessories' as ‘personal belongings’ Hmmmmm
Over a 15 minute phone call, they agreed to pay just under £400 of the £700+ I claimed for as ‘Vehicle accessories’.
Again, not what I wanted, but they were playing a decent game, they could have just said £150 and that’s your lot

I’ve purchased this;

https://www.hippoapproved.co.uk/vehicle-details/used-mercedes-benz-glc-class-for-sale-27552/?Deposit=

They deliver it on Wednesday next.

So; in conclusion
I expected prevarication, little or no understanding and no cooperation
I expected to have to wait and push at every turn.
I expected to be screwed

I got . . . .waiting, quite a bit of it, but, no derisory first offer
Telephone conversations about their position at each step
A very respectable first offer
A real conversation and negotiation to achieve the final offer
More than I expected regarding the lost contents

I was told that, the big, major factor in the huge rise in premiums this year is the number of stolen cars, especially Mercedes, Landrover, Jaguar et al

All done and dusted in 5 weeks
All in all, not the horror show I expected.

As for my premium, well, I hope you're sitting down;
Last year with GA, my premium was £584 . . . not the cheapest, but, the cheapest 'big' named player
Personal injury, legal expenses and windscreen cover included
Their renewal; £1,243 and coppers

This year with Admiral £1,250 and coppers
Personal injury, legal expenses, breakdown cover (AA) and windscreen cover included.
The AA breakdown cost, via the AA website is £149
I paid an additional £94 for it with the insurance
So, a like for like comparison of premiums is £584 last year and £1,156 this year.
OUCH, you may think . . . . .well, not so much when you consider;

For a real, direct comparison;
I had already reinsured my stolen GLc.
This, new insurance, was due to take effect 3 days after the car was nicked and because of the premium hike proposed by GA, I looked around and found Mojo (another Aviva front, I think).
I paid £1.084 and change for this
This is a direct like for like comparison with the £584 I paid last year

So, if you compare the Mojo premium, pre theft of £1084. with the Admiral premiul (minus the AA cost) of £1,156, the cost of the theft does not seem to be too high at all, being just £74.

I would guess that the huge hike in premiums (an average of 40% I'm told) is, as Aviva have said, due to a huge spike in thefts of premium cars; Mercedes, Landrover, BMW and the like.
Plus of course, the inevitable bit of profiteering by the insurance companies, making hay whilst the sun shines
 
Last edited:
Big Janner said:
Earlier in the thread, I promised that I was happy to share the experience and the financials with you all, so;

I bought the GLc for £18,000 in August
On the 19th February, I gave it to some thieving bastards for free.

Told the rozzers, made the claims and cancelled the new insurance, due to kick in on the 22nd (different insurer) all within 20 minutes of finding my driveway empty.

I did the obligatory list of contents and nearly had a heart attack, almost £1,400!

e.g.

Binoculars x 2
Pair of prescription sun glasses
Compressor
Noco jump starter
OBD code reader
And so it went on . . . . . . .


I made a claim via my house policy contents insurance
They came back with;
We can recompense you for the personal belongings, but not the car accessories.
I asked for clarification and was told;

The phone (old handset, buggered as a phone, used as a speedo) we are happy to pay for (£100), the holder is a car accessory so we can't recompense you for that.
So, I redid the claim and sent the 'personal belongings' bit to my house contents insurer and the rest on, as an addition to my claim for the car.

With me so far?

Insured with General Accident, a trading name of Aviva, dealing with an intermediary called Solas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva, the claim being paid by Aviva.

Claimed £18,000

It took a while, but, a first offer £16,000
(Looking at this, I decided that they were serious, it was a very reasonable first offer)

This I turned down (I wanted £17,000)
Two phone calls and a number of emails later, we settled on £16,250.
Given the street value of the car, this was fair, similar GLc's are selling for between £15,500 and £17,000

My ‘personal belongings’ cover was £150.
Aviva referred to ALL the stuff in the car that my household insured called 'vehicle accessories' as ‘personal belongings’ Hmmmmm
Over a 15 minute phone call, they agreed to pay just under £400 of the £700+ I claimed for as ‘Vehicle accessories’.
Again, not what I wanted, but they were playing a decent game, they could have just said £150 and that’s your lot

I’ve purchased this;

https://www.hippoapproved.co.uk/vehicle-details/used-mercedes-benz-glc-class-for-sale-27552/?Deposit=

They deliver it on Wednesday next.

So; in conclusion
I expected prevarication, little or no understanding and no cooperation
I expected to have to wait and push at every turn.
I expected to be screwed

I got . . . .waiting, quite a bit of it, but, no derisory first offer
Telephone conversations about their position at each step
A very respectable first offer
A real conversation and negotiation to achieve the final offer
More than I expected regarding the lost contents

I was told that, the big, major factor in the huge rise in premiums this year is the number of stolen cars, especially Mercedes, Landrover, Jaguar et al

All done and dusted in 5 weeks
All in all, not the horror show I expected.

As for my premium, well, I hope you're sitting down;
Last year with GA, my premium was £584 . . . not the cheapest, but, the cheapest 'big' named player
Personal injury, legal expenses and windscreen cover included
Their renewal; £1,243 and coppers

This year with Admiral £1,250 and coppers
Personal injury, legal expenses, breakdown cover (AA) and windscreen cover included.
The AA breakdown cost, via the AA website is £149
I paid an additional £94 for it with the insurance
So, a like for like comparison of premiums is £584 last year and £1,156 this year.
OUCH, you may think . . . . .well, not so much when you consider;

For a real, direct comparison;
I had already reinsured my stolen GLc.
This, new insurance, was due to take effect 3 days after the car was nicked and because of the premium hike proposed by GA, I looked around and found Mojo (another Aviva front, I think).
I paid £1.084 and change for this
This is a direct like for like comparison with the £584 I paid last year

So, if you compare the Mojo premium, pre theft of £1084. with the Admiral premiul (minus the AA cost) of £1,156, the cost of the theft does not seem to be too high at all, being just £74.

I would guess that the huge hike in premiums (an average of 40% I'm told) is, as Aviva have said, due to a huge spike in thefts of premium cars; Mercedes, Landrover, BMW and the like.
Plus of course, the inevitable bit of profiteering by the insurance companies, making hay whilst the sun shines
Click to expand...

Interesting account, and useful to hear the details :thumb:

The only questions I have are:

1) How come you were selling the car, then went and bought another that sounds pretty much the same?

2) How much were you selling yours for compared to the settlement figure?
 
Will said:
Interesting account, and useful to hear the details :thumb:

The only questions I have are:

1) How come you were selling the car, then went and bought another that sounds pretty much the same?

2) How much were you selling yours for compared to the settlement figure?
Click to expand...

Mine was an AMG Line black with black interior
No panoramic roof
Limited options fitted (e.g. no memory seats and 3 people drive at some point)

Replacement is blue Premium Plus with a cream interior and fully loaded

If I had the choice I would have kept my SL, (I loved that car), but age and disability means I need a car which is high and with an A pillar that, when I'm in the seat, is in front of my knee

Settlement figure was £500 short of my asking price
 
Last edited:
Big Janner said:
Mine was an AMG Line black with black interior
No panoramic roof
Limited options fitted (e.g. no memory seats and 3 people drive at some point)

Replacement is blue Premium Plus with a cream interior and fully loaded

If I had the choice I would have kept my SL, (I loved that car), but age and disability means I need a car which is high and with an A pillar that, when I'm in the seat, is in front of my knee

Settlement figure was £500 short of my asking price
Click to expand...
It’s obviously not been a nice experience for you, and the hassle of dealing with the insurance/waiting etc isn’t great, but in some ways if you didn’t want the car anyway I guess the outcome isn’t too bad? You’d probably have expected to have sold your old one for similar to the insurance settlement figure and the new one seems like a better car too? :thumb:
 
Will said:
It’s obviously not been a nice experience for you, and the hassle of dealing with the insurance/waiting etc isn’t great, but in some ways if you didn’t want the car anyway I guess the outcome isn’t too bad? You’d probably have expected to have sold your old one for similar to the insurance settlement figure and the new one seems like a better car too? :thumb:
Click to expand...

TBF, I was actually impressed with the speed and efficiency of it all.

Yes, waiting 5 days seems like an eternity, but the car was taken on the 19th Feb and the insurance payout landed in my account on the 26th March, so a total of 36 days or 5 weeks, end to end.
This is much faster than I expected.
There was very little stress, except that of my own making.

I was happy with my car, but I was after a red one which was better and a Premuim spec.
That disappeared before the end of Feb.

The one I'm buying is another step up from the red one and is cheaper, so from that perspective it's a win for me.

I've saved some money in the purchasing process.
To pick it up was going to cost £112 for a rail ticket and about £40 in diesel and a day to do it.
They are delivering it for £99, I just have to wait an extra 3 days for it to get here and all I have to do is inspect it to ensure it is what they say it is.

I'm OK with that
 
Gents
A question
My 2016 GLc, the one that is now in Africa or Romania or broken into its constituent parts, had a steering wheel which had a flat section at the bottom.
When I look through Autotrader, all the GLc's on offer ard the same.
EXCEPT, the one that I'm buying, which has properly circular steering wheel

Any thoughts chaps?
 
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