stolen red 90 td5 on test drive Lancaster area

[pathfinder]

My friend had advertised his 90 td5 on Ebay and someone contacted him for a viewing, they came to his home very chatty and seemed pleasant, during a test drive they pulled over to the side of a dark country lane and quite politely suggested that maybe my friend should drive back now as he knows the area better and he had experienced what he wanted during the test drive, he then applied the hand break and unclipped his seatbelt as if to exit the vehicle! my friend got out of the passenger door and walked around the rear of the 90 to enter the drivers seat when the 90 took off down the lane leaving him standing there puzzled for a moment of what was going on!
The guy walked up the street to house wearing a jumper and jeans and called him from his front garden on his mobile,(number withheld) and told a story of his wife had just dropped him off and had gone to the local chip shop! He claimed to have come up from Nottingham that day!
These people are obviously pro's at what they do, he was careful not to enter the house or ring the bell or knock on the door, as to leave no fingerprints (imho) he will have been part of an organised setup and no doubt? would have had a rendevour set up nearby for either placing the stolen landy into the back of a truck (as to avoid gps trackers and anpr camera's) or a set of number plates to hide the real plates as to not show up on police anpr checks? these people are a plague to honest enthusiasts driven by greed and no empathy at all.
the police suspect that it may well be stripped down and sold in parts, this is also disturbing as we as enthusiasts trawl the internet and rumage around shows etc looking for used bargains, when we could be in fact buying parts from stolen land rovers and if our landy got stolen then these parts etc will be sold again!
So anyway in case any of you don't know already, beware if you are selling a landy on Ebay etc! the potential buyer may be more than they seem!
My friend is offering a £1500 reward to information leading to the recovery of his 90.
there is a link here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-90-Defender-Td5-STOLEN-STOLEN-REWARD-1500-/110701916996?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19c6593344#ht_1236wt_1141

[admin]

Sly bunch of bastards.

Added some pictures, and added to the map.


More details: This Defender was the personal vehicle of the MD of the company and has wanted for nothing! it has been meticulously serviced and cleaned on a regular basis, It comes with raised air intake(snorkel), cranked trailing arm, diff guards (front & rear), 2" heavy duty springs and +2" extra long travel shock absorbers, side steps, professionally lined in the rear with corderoy carpet, new rear door, rear privacy glass, heavy duty steering arm and track rod, scorpion remote alarm and central locking and new alloy wheels and mud terrain tyres.
STOLEN STOLEN STOLEN STOLEN
THIS CAR HAS BEEN STOLEN WHEN ON A TEST DRIVE £1500 REWARD IT WAS thurs 08/09/2011 7.45PM APPROX HE DROVE OFF IN OVER KELLET CARNFORTH DIRECTION THE POLICE HAVE TAKEN CCTV EVIDENCE FROM MY HOME HE IS QUITE CLEAR RECORDING OF HIM WALKING UP THE STREET THEN WALKING UP MY DRIVE I WILL POST THE CTV VIDEO WHEN I GET IT BACK OFF THE POLICE IF THIS CAR IS NOT RETURNED

[minty]

I know its a long shot but is there any info that ebay can give you on this guy?? 

[pathfinder]

No the guy never left a trail! he just called the phone number in the listing, which came up as number withheld.

[mcguiresgarages]

thanks for that post pathfinder hope this helps to get my landrover back cheers regs dave

[admin]

No the guy never left a trail! he just called the phone number in the listing, which came up as number withheld.

Surely the police with all their gadgetry can track a with held number that called you if you can give them the time of the call?
In CSI they can trace a phone down the the exact location, even when its turned off!

[Landy1uk]

I think if you tell them what network you are on they can get intouch with that network as every call will have to go through an exchange or somethig where it's logged at phone company. For Billing purposes.

Mind you if they the thefs have thought about everything then the phone is probley stolen.

 

[admin]

I think if you tell them what network you are on they can get intouch with that network as every call will have to go through an exchange or somethig where it's logged at phone company. For Billing purposes.

Mind you if they the thefs have thought about everything then the phone is probley stolen.

True, but still phones can be tracked to the general location, so if they havent dumped the phone, they should be able to trace it.

[pathfinder]

SUCCESS!
the landy has been found! see pic just before police recover, The thief was apparently driving around in it with a set of false plates!

[minty]

WOW!! thats fantastic news, well done to all 

[PGTips]

Great news getting the Landy back in one piece. The owner must be delighted

[Landy1uk]

Excellent news

[pathfinder]

I was called this morning from North Yorkshire police seeking information on identifying the Defender.
They told me that the engine number had been ground off and the VIN plate matched the reg plate! it is in absolute no doubt that this is the stolen defender but they need to identify it, and it looks like the thief as gone to lengths to hide the identity.
The engine number would be electronically stored on the ECU I once read somewhere? can anyone confirm this?

[admin]

I was called this morning from North Yorkshire police seeking information on identifying the Defender.
They told me that the engine number had been ground off and the VIN plate matched the reg plate! it is in absolute no doubt that this is the stolen defender but they need to identify it, and it looks like the thief as gone to lengths to hide the identity.
The engine number would be electronically stored on the ECU I once read somewhere? can anyone confirm this?

What vehicle was the number plate off that they have been using? Any other identifying features? Jobs you have done to it? Marks in any hidden places?

[pathfinder]

The 90 is now in a North Yorks police compound being checked over, however typically they are struggling to identify it as the stolen td5, although there is no doubt that it is, but the thief has done a diy ring job on it and changed the plates to an 'S' reg (which would make it a 300 tdi) he has ground the engine number off and changed the VIN plate! I have told north yorks police that the chassis and engine number should be in the ECU and should be retrievable with the right equipment!
The sad part of all of this is that if it cannot be positvely identified then the thief could well get it back 
all distiguishing marks have matched up and I personally have identified the 90 with the police and proved it by telling them that the the cranked trailing arms are in fact yellow underneath the black paint that the thief as applied to try and hide its identity, I scratched a small area with a coin in front of the police and bright yellow paint showed through! also the seats are exmoor trim land rover logo cloth seats with a slight cut in them that cannot be seen from outside the vehiclem, this too as been confirmed!
My advice to everyone is to mark or stamp your postcode/name etc all over the vehicle in discrete place, I am going to do that with mine now, although I have some indelible and traceable paint marks that are unique to me supplied by a well known company that also supply to security firms etc and shows up under UV light! (cannot name it for spam reasons) as well which is a similar principle.