My beautiful W124 has been Stolen

[ChuckyYeager]

I doubt ur car is on a container to Africa or will be anytime soon. There isnt a demand for diesel cars in the type of African countries where there is a demand for such old Mercs so if it was stolen with the intention to export to such African countries, the realisation that it is a diesel should hopefully make the thieves abandon it and u can be reunited with your car.

 

[BillyW124]

Sorry mate to hear this...

Honest John says 124 thefts are on the increase. This was on the net a while back July 2011.

E-Class (W124) thefts increase | Motoring News | Honest John

I couldnt believe it around 15 years ago my cousin brothers then quite new 300E saloon with Borbets got lifted off the drive while the fam were asleep.

As he is a mechanic the nextdoor neighbour who saw the truck in the drive lifting the car off the bricked drive way thought it was somthing to do with his car stuff and didnt think anything of it....


.....what at 3am pal?

we would have still had that car it was beautiful.

 

[Howard]

I doubt ur car is on a container to Africa or will be anytime soon. There isnt a demand for diesel cars in the type of African countries where there is a demand for such old Mercs so if it was stolen with the intention to export to such African countries, the realisation that it is a diesel should hopefully make the thieves abandon it and u can be reunited with your car.

Hope you're right , suspect you'll be wrong.

All london based w124 owners ( i was one of them ) were mailed by the police a few years back , as thefts of w124's to be shipped to Africa were particularly rife.

Lots of diesel in Africa as the trucks run on it. Not so much petrol.

You could ask Spinal to keep his eye out for it on his next desert escapade ?

 

[BillyW124]

If you ask me thats gone to the continent for sure....did your 124 have cloth or leathers?

If cloth....its gone.

 

[219]

good idea in theory, but the problem is - whats in it for MB apart from extra processing and costs?

It could be viewed ( and advertised ) as an extra security measure . Not so different to all the labour intensive and time consuming security measures brought in over the ordering of keys and locks after there were cases of people walking into dealerships and quoting a VIN number ( which they had read through a windscreen after MB helpfully started displaying them there for all to see ) and obtaining keys without any checks whatsoever .

I suppose recovery of stolen vehicles could merit an admin fee from the insurer to whom it would then belong .

All it would require would be one field on a database , which would alert any partsman/service receptionist who keyed the VIN no in .

Even cars which no longer visit the dealer network still require parts which have to be ordered from it and can be flagged up in this way , even if it is an 'Indy' or a back street garage trying to order the parts .

 

[219]

All london based w124 owners ( i was one of them ) were mailed by the police a few years back , as thefts of w124's to be shipped to Africa were particularly rife

That was after they had already stolen all the W123's

 

[AMG Steve]

Thats gotta hurt, feel for you mate.
Fingers crossed the old bill find the scrote

Steve

 

[dulayj]

Sorry to hear this all too familiar depressing news!

 

[ChuckyYeager]

Hope you're right , suspect you'll be wrong.

All london based w124 owners ( i was one of them ) were mailed by the police a few years back , as thefts of w124's to be shipped to Africa were particularly rife.

Lots of diesel in Africa as the trucks run on it. Not so much petrol.

You could ask Spinal to keep his eye out for it on his next desert escapade ?

I do not doubt W124s are being shipped to Africa, not just diesel ones. In some African countries diesel can cost up to 3 times the price of petrol and thats if you can find it in the stations. Nobody in the African countries where there is a demand for such old Mercs wants a diesel one. (fact)

 

[Beno]

Sorry to hear, there are some *****oles out there, I've had two cars stolen in the past. When you like the car its almost like a bereavement

 

[Howard]

(fact)

Really ?

Lets see if it turns up . Lets face it , no one is going to steal a diesel 124 to go joyriding .

 

[Niks]

Sorry to hear about this buddy. I do hope it gets recovered soon!

Maybe the mods could start a section of stolen mercs, where people can post where and when it was stolen with the cars details. It would make it a lot easier to respond if someone has spotted it, or the outcome of it - gone or recovered.

Just a suggestion.

 

[BillyW124]

pretty sure trucks out there (a lot) use diesel and would be pretty easy to fill up..

 

[davidmi]

My sympathies but if it doesn't turn up in a day or two it has probably gone to be broken into parts for Eastern Europe. I doubt the Africa stories because I lived for nearly five years until fairly recently in Cotonou which is the main West African transit port for secondhand cars and where Interpol keeps a permanent office to check on illegal trade in cars. There are perhaps several dozen yards operated by Lebanese traders bringing cars in and you will not find many if any RHD diesel Mercedes in there. They are mostly LHD and come from the USA, Switzerland, Germany, France or Belgium and almost always petrol. East Africa may be different but I believe 'missing' cars turn up there from the Far East via Dubai etc. Several African countries now ban the import of secondhand cars over as little as 7 years old because of pollution and illegal trade.

 

[Dieselman]

I do not doubt W124s are being shipped to Africa, not just diesel ones. In some African countries diesel can cost up to 3 times the price of petrol and thats if you can find it in the stations. Nobody in the African countries where there is a demand for such old Mercs wants a diesel one. (fact)

Having recently been to Marrakesh, I can say you are definitely wrong. Every large Taxi was a Mercedes diesel. That applies all over Africa.

To the O/p.
Sorry to hear your car has been nicked...

 

[Howard]

Baffles me why someone would suggest diesel isn't readily available in Africa , when every single truck that seemingly endlessly traverse the continent and a large proportion of the cars run on it .

Maybe it was all the high speed testing in your youth Chuck ?

Just finished reading your autobiography actually , it was very good.

 

[davidmi]

Having recently been to Marrakesh, I can say you are definitely wrong. Every large Taxi was a Mercedes diesel. That applies all over Africa.

You are quite correct about the Maghreb countries on the Med (keep forgetting they're in Africa!) but, with the possible exception of Ghana, petrol dominates in the west and central because of the uncertain supply position. My old employers have had to switch their purchase specifications away from diesel vehicles in Nigeria to petrol as a result. Also, smugglers tend to prefer shifting petrol rather than smelly diesel. In Cotonou most of the taxis (mainly Toyota Tercels from the '80s, get their fuel from big glass bottles sold at roadside stalls.

 

[mika]

Really sorry to hear of your car being stolen
Hope you get it back it looks a fine example

 

[jonnyboy]

Terrible news for you.

Guys, can we keep this thread on track for the OP rather than the thread descending into "i am right, no you are wrong" about the fuel it used. Cheers.

 

[tonywashere]

Really ?

Lets see if it turns up . Lets face it , no one is going to steal a diesel 124 to go joyriding .

I once had a boring old Ford Cortina that was stolen twice and found nearby by me it seems that it was pinched because it had a full tank of petrol and was abandoned when the petrol ran low.