My Motability Car Was Stolen

MrHappy2

Not so long ago my Motability car was stolen from the residents parking bay where i live. Luckily the Police found my car a few days later parked about half a mile from my home. Its wheels had been removed plus it had a fake number plate.

Police later confirmed the new number plate on my car came from an identical car that had been stolen from the Leicester area a few days previously which is over 100 miles from where i live.

I then had a horrible experience dealing with Motability and their car hire company Europcar who between them couldn't supply me with a replacement vehicle for nearly 3 weeks.

The good news is the Police were able to arrest the guys that stole my car and my wheelchair (which was in the boot) and my Blue Badge, and my hidden £20 (for an emergency). Apparently the thieves are an organised crime group who use electronic gadgetry to open and drive away locked cars.

I now have a very nice Police liaison officer who gives me regular updates on the court proceedings plus she keeps me in the loop about when i will be asked to attend court as a witness and victim of crime.

Well done Surrey Police.

MrHappy2

Get this… the Police were able to identify and then arrest the guys who stole my car by deep diving into the entertainment system on my car which quite remarkably does an electronic handshake with mobile phones of everyone and anyone that gets into my car. The Police told me this only works with newish cars.

figraspberry41

#Mr Happy2,

I am sorry to read of your dreadful experience with your Mobility car being stolen! It makes a nice change to know that the thieves were caught quite quickly and you can have your car returned to you. I hope nothing else was damaged by these thieves and you are able to use the vehicle again now (once the wheels were replaced of course!).

Many years ago, a vehicle I was driving was stollen whilst I stopped off at a local post office, about three months later my husband received a call from Police to say that the vehicle had been found abandoned. Apparently, Police noted the vehicle and recognised the driver known to them for similar offenses and chased the vehicle only to find the driver had run off! My husband had to identify the vehicle and identify items left in the car. When he checked at the Police station there was an odd sock and jacket (neither item belonging to my husband). When they checked to boot where my son's pushchair had been they found it full of stolen property from other thefts the person had collected from other crimes!

I hope things go well for you through the next part of this ordeal with the guidance from the Liaison Officer.

Bluebell21

Hi @MrHappy2 I am so sorry you have had to go through this experience and have to wait three weeks for a hire vehicle.

Do you have any family and friends that can you take you places that you need to go to?

I am glad you have a nice Police liaison officer and that they have caught the people who stole your car.

Take care.

SheffieldMan1976

Good job the Bizzies got the baddies.

Have you got the car back yet?

Rachel_Scope

I'm so glad they caught the thieves @MrHappy2! The electronic handshake is so fascinating. How are you feeling about attending court?

MrHappy2

@figraspberry41

Other than a few scratches thankfully the thieves didn't do any damage to my car. The Police kept my car in their pound for 7 weeks though to do finger printing alongside their deep dive into the info/entertainment system in their ultimately successful attempt to find the culprits.

MrHappy2

@Bluebell21

I must admit i was not overly happy with Motability and their hire car company Europcar who were not able to supply me with a temporary replacement vehicle for 20 days from the date my car was stolen despite daily promises that my temp replacement vehicle was going to be arriving either tomorrow or at the latest the day after tomorrow.

Apparently the delay in providing me with a replacement vehicle was because Motability were in the process of firing Europcar as their courtesy car company due to their poor reviews from Motability customers and replacing them with Thrifty aka aka Switch. (My car was stolen March 2026 and Thrifty/Switch became Motability's replacement vehicle partner in early April.

For the 3 weeks without either my car or a temp replacement car i was still paying £80 per week through my 3yr Motability lease which Motability eventually agreed to refund as per their T&C's. And after some pressure from Motability Europcar also finally decided to send me a "we are sorry" letter and a £100 goodwill gesture (which was immediately forwarded on to the RNLI).

MrHappy2

@SheffieldMan1976

"Good job the Bizzies got the baddies" that made me laugh out loud.

I agree with you 100% well done to the cops.

MrHappy2

@Rachel_Scope

I'm feeling terrified at the prospect of attending court that said wild horses won't keep me away because according to my Witness Care Officer from Surrey Police's Victim and Witness Care Unit the chances of conviction will increase hand over fist if i am able to show up.

The plea and trial preparation hearing was set to take place at Guilford Crown Court 22/06/2026 but it was adjourned and will now hopefully take place 28/08/26.

figraspberry41

#Mr Happy2,

Thank you for your update. I'm pleased that you finally have your car back after 7 weeks. Hope the scratches will come out without having to rely on insurance claim to 'fix' them. I was intrigued by this deep dive into the entertainment system that enabled the Police to track down the culprits. I'm not an IT person but it proves it sometimes has it's uses. A shame you had problems with the hire car companies and waiting so long when you rely on a vehicle for mobility. Did you have a spare wheelchair as you mentioned that yours was in the boot of the stolen vehicle?

I'm not surprised that you feel terrified of going to Court but hopefully the Police Liaison Officer, will be there to support you. I hope that the day goes well for you. Let's hope that all this technology pays off and proves it's worth when the time comes. Good Luck!

MrHappy2

Hi @figraspberry41

I was flabbergasted when the Police called to tell me they had traced the thieves names and addresses through my car's infotainment system doing an electronic 'handshake' with the thieves mobile phones. I was doubly flabbergasted when the Police also told me the thieves unlocked my car, started the engine, and drove it away in 30 seconds using another piece of electronic gadgetry.

OverlyAnxious

It's easy to steal cars using relay from keyless keys or picking the door lock and then using a device plugged into the OBD port. Vehicle manufacturers have made some improvements in that area, such as keyless keys becoming dormant after 30 seconds without motion. (Older keyless cars, generally pre-2020, send out signals all the time which can be boosted from outside your front door).

But this is the first I'm hearing of an electronic handshake with mobile phones. That must be connecting through Bluetooth. But I can't believe any thief leave that switched on in this day and age. Though I would have thought the same about fingerprints, surely they all wear gloves!

figraspberry41

#Mr Happy2,

It is amazing how quick thieves can get into vehicles and drive off without sounding any built in alarm systems. Back in the 1990's when the car I had been driving was stolen in a few minutes that I was in the shop but it was assumed that I had left the keys in the car except I do not think that I had done so. If the thief had used the keys I had left in the car when the car was discovered by the Police there were no keys in the car and not found abandoned in the vicinity, which makes me suspicious that I had not left the keys in the car otherwise why were they not used to drive the vehicle whilst the thief was carrying out the other robberies in the time the car was stollen and then seen by the Police ?

As regards the thieves wearing gloves, perhaps they used socks as it appears happened when the vehicle I was driving was stollen since there were odd socks (not my husbands) left in the car!

It is astonishing how forensic experts can track people through the electronic "handshake" with their phones via the onboard entertainment system. Quite scary really as to who else might be tracking innocent people covertly.

66Mustang

Mobile phones are a detective's dream! They're the closest thing to electronically tagging everybody. These days, it doesn't really matter what privacy settings you use, the phone can be traced in some way or another. There's a good reason that the baddies now often use cheap disposable "burner" phones with prepaid SIM cards!