[Aditya]

An old friend's Hyundai Verna CRDi reg. no. MH 01 AC 2220 has been stolen from the Shivaji Park area sometime after 3am early today morning.
Colour: Champagne Gold
Chassis No.: 017227
Engine No.: 50219
It's got a red "L" sticker on the boot.
If anyone has any leads, please call me on 9821186085.
Thanks.

[vnabhi]

I feel sorry for your pal. I read an news report today in Indian Express and Deccan Chronicle (Hyd edition) that the cops have apprehended a gang of inter-state thieves, and they had 39 cars and SUVs with them, such as Pajero, Safari, Indica, Verna, Accent, Alto, etc.
The article says that their kingpin is based at Mumbai, and is still at large. I'm not sure if the same gang is responsible. Thought of sharing this info.

[vivekji05]

Will keep an eye for that champagne gold Verna. I know how your friend will be feeling now.

[frankmehta]

will surely look around. losing a 9 lac rupee car is not a joke :angry:

[StarVegabond]

This is very bad, I know that in shivaji park area, most of the buildings do not have their own parking areas and cars would be parked on the road. One of my ex-colleague used to stay behind Shiva sena bhavan.

Has he registered the complaint ?,

[kannan666]

Dosent the car have comprehensive insurance coverage ? I know it cannot make up for the loss of one's car but at least it will help financially.

[007]

Mate,

Dont panic.

will surely call you if I spot the same.

Remember to claim your insurance well in time.

[Aditya]

A police complaint was lodged in the morning and the car is comprehensively insured.
We can and will claim insurance if the need be, but, emotionally it has hurt him a lot. It was the first car he had bought with his own money after a lot of thought and loved it dearly. We were at the police station and found out that atleast 3 more Vernas have been flicked from that area in the recent past. His building is located on Cadell Road.

[NetfreakBombay]

I hope this becomes a success story like a Fiat that was stolen and later located by a T-BHP member in Pune.

Does Verna has Engine Immobilizer like iCat in Maruti cars?

If it does then its a scary thing. It means thrives have mastered ways of tricking or replacing the ECM quickly.

[hellstar]

oh thats bad , i just hope that the owner somehow gets the car back , as i know for sure how he would feel.. Do inform Hyundai also as they would know if the car come to an Authourised workshop for some repairs anywhere in india. They can pull up maintenance records of any hyundai across india.

for Hyundai you need to quote the engine and chassis numbers.

[heavy_foot]

Sorry for going O.T, i am wondering what must be the motive for these gangs to steal the same model of cars?

[mmmjgm]

Originally Posted by heavy_foot

Sorry for going O.T, i am wondering what must be the motive for these gangs to steal the same model of cars?

Someone somewhere would "like" these cars backed by cash demand. It's part of a larger syndicate.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

Someone somewhere would "like" these cars backed by cash demand. It's part of a larger syndicate.

Or are they easier to steal?

[ram_hyundai]

Verna AFAIK is not that easy to open without the keys,Normally i have seen people opening the car using a scale or a long scale like thing but in verna its too tough.You have to remove the front wheel and access a boot which has to be pulled out and a wire shorted and then the lock gives way,means the central locking is electrically operated rather than mechanical links,they would have taken a lot of time for it

i had once locked the car with the keys inside and it took almost an hour for the A.S.S guys to open it.

[mmmjgm]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Or are they easier to steal?

Watch the movie "Gone in 60 seconds" I don't want to propagate theft,
however if you attempt to befriend a towing guy, and if he does not talk, there's a lot behind it.

Most of the times the towing guys either teach (highly unlikely as that tuition leads to loss of side income) else they actually are responsible for a break-in into a car.

Any car is easy to steal, provided you have the right person backing you up.
Indian production cars, forget it ive lost an expensive system plus a lot due to theft.

OT: There was a time in my childhood, many moons ago, say a minimum of 20 rounds around the sun, half the cars of my neighbourhood have been opened into. this area is the southern most point of Bombay.