My Rover 420GSi - Stolen, Burnt Out. The reason I can never fully enjoy another.

For a change I have a video without silliness or daft observations, but the story of how having my car stolen has changed my ability to enjoy a retro car.
#stolen #stolencar #rover420 #insurance #FAM #police #scandal #priceless

[@windymiller5058]

May I begin by thanking you, I was just about to go out but I saw your video so I thought I’d go after and it rained biblically so you’ve saved me from potentially drowning. Britain is not designed to work for us, it’s just an opportunity for people to squeeze us ever harder and harder. It’s a paradox isn’t it, you have something really nice but you’re stopped from enjoying it through the fear generated by having something nice. And of course our ‘nice’ has no financial value whatsoever. There are two types of vehicle that get nicked, new, expensive stuff that gets ringed or broken for parts in Latvia or older, easy to pinch stuff that the plankton can wazz about in until they run out of fuel/get bored/crash. There’s also a subset in the middle of the Venn diagram of expensive stuff that’s easy to nick which is why you see those big steering wheel disc locks on Land Rovers. I have similar feeling to you with my motorised bicycle. Both Mrs Miller and I enjoy travelling by motorbike but if we want to go somewhere and do something then I sometimes say no to the bike and go in the car because of the fear of leaving it unattended somewhere I’m not happy with. And that’s with an alarm, a tracker and 20kg of locks and chains. If you think car insurers are unpleasant and a rip off, spare a thought for those who have to deal with motorbike insurers. Even Dick Turpin to those Somali pirates would blush and say they’ve gone too far.

[@ProjectNigel]

Wonderful comment.

[@davidthehillbilly7995]

Pretty much the same over here if you live in a "metropolitan" area. My biggest worry about car thieves, at my home, is whether or not I can get the backhoe fired up before the coyotes come sniffing around....

[@repairupdaterepeat5815]

I had an issue similar to yours. I had a big accident on my scooter and it had to be recovered as I was recovered to the hospital. When I got out of hospital I needed to get to it to recover some tools and money In the toolbox. They told me I wasn't allowed to see it, massive arguments then they told me to come look at it but had to give them 4 hours notice so I just arrived. The woman in the office walked me down to the motorbike impound to find my scooter empty of fuel and everything was loose and wirelocks broken. Someone at the recovery yard has started to strip it for parts.

[@ProjectNigel]

Wow that's nasty

[@vampireechidna]

I had the same problem when I once had a Rover stolen and recovered. Wasn't worth claiming on the insurance. I did pay the recovery and I did get the car back, but it would have cost a small fortune to repair. So total lost. Sad as it was my pride and joy. Never felt the same again and only ever owned one other of this type of Rover afterwards.

[@ProjectNigel]

Victims of crime never win

[@jimmyquinn9639]

A sad story about your red rover but now you got a better one so enjoy it mustard another good video mustard 🚘🚙🚗👍👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👏👏👏

[@ProjectNigel]

Better but precious

[@colinmale3331]

I hope the scroat’s that torched your car are no longer with us. There you go, I said it!

[@simonbrader8408]

To paraphrase Jean-Paul Sartre: other people are, by and large, bloody horrible.

[@ProjectNigel]

Shameful

[@paultaylor9652]

Strange one this, I totally agree with you. But, I wonder what it's like if you have an expensive car, saved up years and spent all your savings on that special one, and no way of replacing it should the worse happen, your insurance company aren't going to give you what you paid for it either.😢

[@IfInDoubt..]

Thats why RTI/GAP cover exists. Around £200 for 4 years' cover through ALA Insurance.

[@dennisblake2498]

Some people are disgusting and despicable. It’s not the book value that’s important for some people and owners, it’s actually sentimental and close to their hearts. Sorry for your loss my friend. My dad bought an ex police Ford Transit MK2 1984 B reg long wheel base twin rear wheel axle 2.4 York diesel, had the old cast iron 5 speed overdrive from factory. It was very very unusual and a few things with it rang alarm bells and got us scratching our heads, it had a few SVO items like riveted bullet proof type windows and the cage on the top front of the roof and in the rear had shutter cabinets original and unique with key locks and the loud haler on the dashboard and the switches for the sirens etc and just visible were the words police on it , now I know most were white but not dark blue and with this set up and how it was . Inside the rear shutter cabinets we found old 1980’s police uniforms and helmets and with rank and division numbers on them still and that really creeped us out and got us thinking how or why . We took it for it’s MOT at the testing station that night in 1997 and surprisingly the MOT tester said he never seen one so clean and original let alone an ex police riot Ford Transit MK2 minibus with the windows it had all around. We did some digging and found out outside the Metropolitan police force it never had an MOT outside the police force and the one we did was it’s first, we kind of knew how valuable and very rare it was and we chained it up to a lamp post that night on the street we lived on in South East London and from the rear axle and the front axle and chained up the steering wheel , later on in the early hours of the morning someone with a very organised and big recovery truck that was quick broke the chains with croppers and left them there and hiab craned it onto the back and then took off at speed, we never did locate it or recover it , not even until this day. After my dad and us were very sad and angry, even I have tried a couple of years ago to trace it to no avail. This truly our experience and yeah it’s heart wrenching for sure.

[@alistairshaw3206]

My 1985 Rover 3500 VDP suffered the same fate. It was fully restored and a rare manual. The engine was built by real steel and ran like a dream. I got £2000 from the classic insurance company, but I have never had a classic car since. The restoration and the stainless exhaust cost more than I got, that was in 2005. I've stuck to classic Japanese motorcycles since.

[@michaelbolt4530]

I had the same problem as you, car Austin meastro got nicked, police found it a month or two later, they wanted x hundred quid storage charge and they’d had it a week!…we didn’t part with any ££ as insurance company paid up

[@AliMackMechanical]

Somtimes in life things happen we have to learn from these thing's. It's unfortunate it happened but it does happen. I have a 250 excess because all the car's I own are worth at least £1000.

[@ProjectNigel]

Thank you 😊

[@O1Richard]

I’m glad you didn’t give up on Rover. I’m similar that I’ve never claimed and my rover isn’t worth much financially, to me it’s priceless, 2002 model 1.8T connoisseur, I wish mine could be in doors at night, vandals love damaging it.

[@qc2731]

Terrible to hear this mate. Sometimes humanity just fails us all in inexplicable ways. Glad you’ve got Brett Anderson though, every cloud.

[@pit_stop77]

Bad luck old bean 😢

[@Dick-Dastardly]

A sobering account of your experiences expressed extremely well. Of course it is not your usual style but I think all the more compelling for that. One can only hope the unknown perpetrators received their just deserts. Personally I'd have little hesitation in deporting such 'gentlemen' off the planet. I think it is completely understandable these events continue to influence your feelings and actions.

[@emmajacobs5575]

Yeah, that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. At least when my last MG Midget was stolen/burnt out, the recovery people (Mount Pleasant) let me go and look at the remains, though nothing was worth saving. Also, the insurers paid out the full whack, less a small excess. I’d only had the car from January to March so hadn’t driven it much and hadn’t really “bonded” with it, so I wasn’t put off getting another, now much loved one.

[@Daz_Stap]

Completely understand this. I keep my rare retro in the garage at home. But I find myself limiting the time it can spend on the driveway in case someone is casing it out. If I go out in it I cannot leave it in a car park. Which means I can't just use it as I want.

[@badbooks476]

Very unfortunate, There is a definite sub class in our society & that includes the robbing recovery company

[@Parknest]

This just goes to show that we are shaped by our own experiences. It is a shame that you can't enjoy anything nice out of such worries. I say "don't let the bar-stewards grind you down", feel the fear and enjoy Brett Anderson anyway. It was the R8 you dreamed of so go live the dream. I'd have another R8 in a hearbeat if I had the space.

[@BlackLines]

Sad video really - I sort of understand how you feel but in my case it was my garage (not unlike your experience last year). Once it was broken into I never really felt comfortable in it any more and didn't feel safe leaving any decent tools in it. Took a long while for me to get over that, I just accepted it as a possibility and got on with it (what else could I do?). Bloke at the end of my street has it worse because his shed is exposed being on the end and scrotes love to have a mooch around in there. He just leaves it unlocked now and stores his good tools in a shed nearer the house.

[@davidlipski863]

My friends live in Hyde and they bought a Rover Tomcat and collected on the following Friday drove it home and parked it outside the front on their house. He took out the pull out radio and they went to visit a neighbour 2 hrs later they walked back home and the Rover was gone 5 hours after collecting it. It was never recovered and all he had left was the radio.

[@lewis72]

I really thought that the Rover R8 was a far better car than the Escort/Orion and even many of the other competitors; Gold was a bit staid. I thought at the time that Rover would go onto much bigger and better things.

[@PJ-om2wq]

When my classic is back on the road it's getting a Disklok and agreed value insurance.

[@glenhatcher47]

Sad. I know it's easier said than done, but keep your chin up chap and please try and keep the videos coming.

[@brucemay5409]

Terrible situation to be in.Hope you can see yourself able to enjoy ya Tourer at some point soon Paul!

[@PinguConcorde]

I feel your pain Captain, I had a 220 Gti stolen and trashed by scum back in the day! 😔

[@ProjectNigel]

😌

[@davidanderson8407]

I can understand how you feel. I had a 1986 Nissan Micra .It was a cracking little car. Unlike you I sold it to a man . However he disappeared with both copies of the log book.Then burned the car out. Re the recovery of your car. Some years ago I had an accident, I was a member of the A.A. however the police arrived and said no we get our own recovery people to come to remove cars as they are much faster.This was 1987 and they charged me over £80. I had left some things in the car so went to the recovery depot ,turns out the recovery company were retired police officers!!!!!

[@jacksturner]

Hi there, first video of yours I've watched and it definitely hurt like hell. I own a 2000 Honda Civic 1.4iS MB2 which is the Rover 45 shape which has been in the family since new and I honestly can't imagine how I'd feel if this happened to it. I joined the Rover 200 and 400 club with my car and I'll be attending club meets with it so hopefully see you there!

[@markmoore2625]

Sorry about the loss of the R8. You hear far too many stories similar to yours, and as for the recovery company words fail me. If it's not yours, keep your EFFING hands off it!!!

[@martinnorth2680]

Terrible. Sorry go hear that. I had two XUD R8 tourers, lovely cars. Would love another

[@leonardgoldberg2879]

I would consider investing in a good quality steering wheel lock for your new R8.

[@jbconno]

I feel similar to my car I’ve spent a fortune on ! You feel you’ve been held hostage by it, can’t really relax when it’s parked up somewhere where I can’t keep my eye on it. It does take some of the enjoyment out of having it to be honest

[@lordbrennanofsealand5772]

You should mount that over your ‘fireplace’……. 🦗 🦗 🦗 I’ll get me coat!.

[@sootyspitfire6382]

😢

[@MeMe-qr3go]

That makes me bl**dy angry. The insurance, a company that directs lines, or so they say, pounced on me with a paltry offer a day after I had been collided with by a 28 ton rigid lorry, driven by an Irishman who was so short, he couldn't see over the dashboard of the truck. I actually thought I was going to die when that truck hit me and the insurance jumped on me while I was still in shock. I did manage to get them, eventually to pay for repairs because by the grace of God, the damage was only cosmetic. I was basically saved by the fact that my boot was full of tools that stopped the lorry pushing me off the road! Everywhere on a lorry is a blind spot when you are 4'7! So like you I was minding my own business when stupid showed up and spoiled everything!

[@localreviewking134]

My late Mom`s Rover 214 was stolen. Minor damage, just one wing mirror and a lock. The Police, found the car. Had it towed and then lost it again. In the end my Mom had to do her own detective work to find the car. She had to pay 4 days of storage and the insurance offered her £50. The car was worth £2,000. So who was the real thief?

[@IntensityAngel]

Hopefully karma did its justice with the arseholes who stole your Rover.

[@split_pin]

Car insurance is absolute racketeering, nothing more nor less. Have you considered a Disklok? Quite dear even 2nd hand but it may let you enjoy your cars a little bit more again?