[tantragna]

My assumption.. The guy steals the posh car, & puts in another Q7's plate copy! These segments cars are not driven by the am junta, so the cops would not bother to stop & check. Well he's a happy man afterall, eh!?

Most of these Q7's I have seen are used by the most influentials in the society!!

EDIT: oops double post, mods please delete!

[bluevolt]

I am feeling very sorry for the guy who accompanied thief for the test drive. I am more interested to know what showroom manager did to that fellow after theft?

Anyhow, such case has happened in Delhi at a maruti showroom.

[wildsdi5530]

How does the company recover an unregistered car?
Or was the car a demo vehicle that was registered?
In india, it's very easy to live with a stolen car. Your chances of being stopped for document verification are very minimal. And no cop is ever going to cast more than a cursory glance on your papers. In the last 15 years, I must have been stopped by cops perhaps less than 10 times. Not once in the past 2 years.
Cops are more interested in collecting booty from college kids without licences.

[neil.jericho]

Sweet con job. I have a pretty strong feeling its going to end up in the hands of a (wannabe) / politician who will drive it around with impunity. Will be interesting to see how he gets it serviced

[diffsoft]

Recall reading something similar with a Merc C class taken from Sundaram Motors, BLR - likely a year back.. It was found deserted about 5 kms from the same place after a few weeks (?!) I think.

Unless he ships it out of the country / rips the parts the car is likely to be retrieved. At some point it will have to reach the few Audi dealers that are there and they will know the VIN for this stolen car.

Cheers,

[VW2010]

...the few Audi dealers that are there and they will know the VIN for this stolen car.....

Cheers,

The engine will carry the unique identifier. What about the other parts. Selling the head lights can fetch close to 50K let alone other parts.

The car may be carefully dismantled for the neccessary accessories including the audio player, may be even seats, tyres and things that can never be traced to a stolen car.

God help the sales man who went for the test drive.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Hmm, you mean to say lot of Q7 owners buy spares from chor bazaars? Why would people who own 80L cars buy stolen parts in grey market? I find it very hard to believe.

They may own a q7, but usually the drivers have a free rein on how to get the car fixed etc.Owners aint bothered with such mundanities....
Q7s/touaregs, etc are a dime a dozen to be seen at the Sujan singh mechanics.
I've seen range rover sports getting their "scheduled" 50 k service and repairs here, as well as at palika.

guess how the salary is supplemented.

[hiren959]

As per today's local newspaper this Q7 was last spotted near Delhi and cops afraid that the vehicle is now in Nepal as some gang of Delhi and UP is after this theft and they supply to Nepal.

[diffsoft]

Originally Posted by VW2010

The engine will carry the unique identifier. What about the other parts.

VIN is usually there on the windshield (in Skoda, I think) and on the sides of the door panel (Hyundai). Not sure if it's there on the engine, as the VIN is supposed to identify the vehicle and not the engine alone.

The showroom would have insured against theft and should be able to recover the amount.

IMO the only option is to rip or leave after enjoying the care for a while . If sold to anyone else I presume any buyer would do some due diligence with Audi. If retained then surely would need to visit the dealer - can't think of an unauthorised dealer being able to handle a Q7.

All of this assumes no GPRS in Q7

Cheers,

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by diffsoft

VIN is usually there on the windshield (in Skoda, I think) and on the sides of the door panel (Hyundai). Not sure if it's there on the engine, as the VIN is supposed to identify the vehicle and not the engine alone.

The showroom would have insured against theft and should be able to recover the amount.

IMO the only option is to rip or leave after enjoying the care for a while . If sold to anyone else I presume any buyer would do some due diligence with Audi. If retained then surely would need to visit the dealer - can't think of an unauthorised dealer being able to handle a Q7.

All of this assumes no GPRS in Q7

Cheers,

GPS, you mean.
Ah the vagaries of the pricing wars in india, the dreaded "not standard equipment" clause.
Even an on-board navigator would have assisted in locating the car.
but,tsk, a "premium" version needs to be bought to get that 30k odd equipment.

[Skyline GT-R]

Or he might be trying to beat this record of "longest test drive" ever.

Australian Man Takes Honda on 3,800 Mile Test Drive - Civinfo

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by VW2010

God help the sales man who went for the test drive.

I don't think it is his fault. He just did his job. The management's job was to make sure that they had the polished person verified with the necessary credentials. Frankly after this incident there might be strickter rules for taking out these biggies for a test run. Sometime back some teenagers took a Merc the same way to impress his girlfriend and were caught in Mumbai.

[VINUMON]

I have heard that somebody in "B-jungle" has a penchant for such pranks when a release is just around the corner. But here, too much too early???

[diffsoft]

They manage to catch the guy after about 4 months. Some interesting observations:

1. He was a Manager at DLF and drawing a salary of Rs 49,000/- monthly.

2. He kept it covered for 2 months but couldn't stop the temptation of using it afterwards I guess.

3. The police hoodwinked (?!) the neighbourhood saying some north Indian gang was behind it and our man probably felt "safe"

Glad to see him caught!

Here's the link: Audi thief’s ride ends after 3,000km ride in Ahmedabad - India - DNA

Cheers,

[h@r$h@l]

Police catch up with Audi thief after 5 months

Son Of Mamlatdar Had Stolen Q7 By Hoodwinking Showroom Staff
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad: Anupsinh Padhiyar, 32, son of a mamlatdar and an MBA, proved that he could pretend to own an Audi Q7 even at a monthly salary of Rs 40,000. Padhiyar was caught on Thursday, five months after he stole the Audi SUV by hoodwinking the showroom staff while taking a test drive.

Padhiyar, who claims to be working as a manager in a private insurance firm, lived his dream and rode the luxury car carefully avoiding toll booths for 12,000 km till the law caught up with him. A resident of Gandhinagar, Padhiyar is married with two children and was booked for vehicle theft, an offence that could get him up to three years in jail.

Tempted to own this SUV worth Rs 80 lakh, Padhiyar had done several recces at the Audi showroom in Ahmedabad before he spotted the Q7 finally on February 17 that sent his adrenaline rushing. He gave his name as Bhavesh Kabra and the showroom staff, looking at his Rado watch, gold chains and expensive clothes were convinced of his intention to buy the car.

He took Chandresh Desai, a sales representative with him on the test drive and near Science City he told Desai to take the wheel. When Desai got out, Padhiyar sped off with the car. The police were tipped off about someone near VS Hospital in a Q7 with an ‘applied for registration’ sticker. “We caught him with the car and he was later identified as Padhiyar,” said Mayur Chavda, assistant commissioner of police (crime).

“An automobile aficionado, he has specifications of every new car on his mind all the time. He has also taken rides in a number of luxury cars owned by his friends and family members. As per his statement, he had an urge to own an Audi Q7 and to fulfil that wish, he dared to steal the car,” he said.

SOURCE : e-paper Sign-in

Notice the spelling on the reg plates. This particular pic is from Ahmedabad Mirror as TOI had a side ways pic.