# BEWARE New 2008 535 Stolen By BMW Roadside Assistance After Accident



## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

After having an accident this week in LA my car was STOLEN by BMW Roadside assistance. Whoever they used diverted the car to a no name fraudulent body shop. They refused to give back the car saying that that was the name of where I told them to take the car. They crossed off my dealers name on the work order and wrote over it.

BMW customer service was rude and accusatory and of course claimed no responsibility and would not assist in any way to get the car back. 

I reported the car stolen, it seems that the LAPD paid the body shop a visit and were able to convince them to release the car to my dealer.

BEWARE if United Towing in Los Angeles shows up for your call this could happen to you. Your car may end up at Northridge Auto Collision these are the bastards that stole my car.

This is now a fraud investigation by my insurance company as it is unclear what they did to the car or stole off of it. 

Needless to say I am not done with BMW NA and if the car has been tampered with in any way they will be replacing it.

I am so disgusted by BMW NA and the handling of this, I can not believe that they are foolish enough to allow this to happen to customers with new cars.

They can sing whatever song they want to but legally they have a huge responsability here.


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## ExGMan (Jan 25, 2005)

*Documentation of your incident...*

I'd suggest sitting down today, and writing out a narrative of what happened to you. Put down dates, times, places and events. Record every name you can find on the paperwork or can remember. Keep a log of every telephone call you make, the person with whom you spoke, and what was said during the telephone call. All of this will help you build your case for recovery of damages. Take photographs also.

You will have the only definitive record of the entire incident, and this kind of evidence of care and attention to the details of what happened will sway claims, legal and attorney-type people as you go forward.

Don't get mad...get even.:thumbup:


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

Allready in progress. Beverly Hills BMW is awsome and helping to move this up the BMW food chain


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## mhs525 (Mar 9, 2007)

WOW

Someone's A$$ at BMW NA is gonna get fried...


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

LAX535 said:


> Allready in progress. Beverly Hills BMW is awsome and helping to move this up the BMW food chain


LAX535, I'm very sorry that this happen. Can you give as more detail (if possible).
This is what I undesrtend so far - You got in accident and call BMW rode site assistance. Did this guys intersect the call or call go to the them from BMW? 
The


> Whoever they used diverted the car to a no name fraudulent body shop


 is not the shop that BMW assign you to? :dunno:


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## dbtheo (Apr 24, 2006)

:dunno:Maybe it's just me, but I fail to see how BMW NA is at fault? They had no way of knowing that the tow truck company would take the vehicle elsewhere. Also, if you knew exactly where the vehicle was the whole time, what classifies this as a stolen vehicle case? Nothing against you, just looking for clarification


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Further Info*

Yes the call was made by BMW Roadside - Airbag Deployed and the system called them. They dispatched AAA.

As part of the new vehicle they offer this service.

It is contractual that they offer roadside to owners. Their subcontractor breached the contract and forged the delivery location. There is no court in this country that would see this any other way

Be aware that the switch to BMW using AAA is recent. BMW used to use high end towing contractors and do thier own dispatch.


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Classification As Stolen*

According to the LAPD that determination is made if the police can prove intent to withhold the vehicle from it's rightful owner.

This was indeed the case. They refused to release the vehicle until the police explained that if Beverly Hills Bmw was not given the vehicke everyone at the body shop that was involved would be arrested and booked on auto theft.

Knowing where it was was irrelevent


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## ExGMan (Jan 25, 2005)

*Get Real*

LAX 535 - The LAPD is not interested in either: 1) investigating this case as an auto theft, or 2) attempting to send anyone to jail. Please refer to my earlier post and focus on the specifics.

Stop: :bawling:


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## sc 540i (Apr 25, 2006)

Subscribed.


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## Adumbration (Jun 23, 2007)

Wow, new and interesting scam. LAX 535, thank you very much for the info.

I'm wondering what the most important lessons learned are.

Whenever I've had a break down in the past, I've always gone with the car to the repair shop, regardless of the hour of day, to make certain that it is handled with care.

I'll definitely continue doing this.

Did someone give you a ride home while a tow truck guy drove off with your car? Sounds like it. Convenient, except when sh1t like this happens.


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## MB330 (Oct 18, 2005)

LAX535 said:


> According to the LAPD that determination is made if the police can prove intent to withhold the vehicle from it's rightful owner.
> 
> This was indeed the case. They refused to release the vehicle until the police explained that if Beverly Hills Bmw was not given the vehicke everyone at the body shop that was involved would be arrested and booked on auto theft.
> 
> Knowing where it was was irrelevent


Recently my battery died ( on 8 mo old car ) I called BMW assist and 20 min later AAA truck pull out on my parking lot. After few attempt jump start the car he pulled the car on flat bad and tow my car to near BMW center. The guy was very professional and he really knew his staff. No problem here from my site.
Now, I can accept that as a part of pay back the same AAA guy can work with body shop and get paid for every tow car that he bring to this body shop.
I steal can get hole picture what happen to your car. 
But as a ExGMan said before - document everything. Good luck!


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## SARAFIL (Feb 19, 2003)

So you spoke to the shop and they would not release the car... did they give you a reason? 

We had an accident with our MINI a few weeks ago and it was towed by the police department (my father was driving, and was taken to the hospital after he complained about some back pain, so the police called a tow to remove the vehicle). We were not even allowed to go in the car to recover any items until we had a signed release form from the police department, but this makes sense because if the vehicle was part of a police investigation (the company that towed the car does not know whether it is or not) and we take anything out of it then we would have been tampering with the evidence. After they explained that we needed the release, all it took was a trip to the police station a few hundred feet away and we had the form in a few minutes and were able to go back to the car to remove our items, and had the vehicle picked up by our body shop the next day.

I'm really curious if they gave you some sort of reason why they were holding the car and would not release it.


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Reason For Not Releasing*

At first they gave no reason, then they claimed that they wanted Beverly hills BMW to sign a release and accept all damage on the car.

Obviously that wasnt going to happen.

Once they were caught they were looking for a way out. The only way to get the car back was to turn up the heat on these guys. Thankfully it worked.

There is a task force in LA working on this and the detective I spoke with was aware of both the towing company and the body shop and mentioned that this wasnt the first time he had hear of this,


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Transport to dealer*

Hard to go with the car to the dealer at 11:00 Pm Its not like you can just leve it on the street outside. It was supposed to be delivered the next morning.

I would have if they were open.


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## Bimmer_Bob (Sep 7, 2006)

ExGMan said:


> LAX 535 - The LAPD is not interested in either: 1) investigating this case as an auto theft, or 2) attempting to send anyone to jail. Please refer to my earlier post and focus on the specifics.
> 
> Stop: :bawling:


ExGMan;

Not sure how it works where you are from; but from experence, the LAPD does take these situations very serious... Especially since we are the car theft capital of the world...

I wouldn't want to be on the mechanic end of the stick.

Our PD gets points and awards for each GTA they recover, awarded from the Insurance Companies to the City. Don't think they would drum up a case if they are given a good case?


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Bob*

It would up not being a case. One call from the detective and the car was on ist way to the dealer.

This is not an auto theft ring it is an insurance fraud ring.

see below

A tow truck driver may be paid a referral fee by a vehicle repair or body shop to have damaged vehicles diverted there. These types of tow truck drivers are known in the industry as "chasers." A tow truck driver may be breaking the law by recommending a repair shop without being asked and especially if they receive a kick-back for making the referral.

Many "chasers" are owned or controlled by vehicle repair shops. Insurance companies may choose not to do business with these shops. If the insurer does not deal with the shop to which your vehicle has been towed, your vehicle may need to be towed to another repair shop. But before that happens, you may be required to pay for the towing service, storage and possibly other administrative fees. These fees can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and your insurer may not cover these fees. If you refuse to pay them, the vehicle repair shop can apply laws (different in most states) governing storage and towing fees and place a lien on the titil of your vehicle and sell it to cover the fees. To recover these referral fees, attorneys, tow truck drivers, repair shops and health care providers will most likely "pad" their bills. In the end, you and other policyholders end up paying.


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## Bart001 (Apr 9, 2005)

LAX535 said:


> Yes the call was made by BMW Roadside - Airbag Deployed and the system called them. They dispatched AAA.
> 
> As part of the new vehicle they offer this service.
> 
> ...


So BMW NA is really at least 2, and perhaps 3, steps removed from the person with intent to commit a criminal act. BMW NA calls AAA. AAA calls one of their contracting member towing companies. The owner of the tow company may have had said intent, or also is in the dark as to what one or more of their employees is doing.

BMW NA certainly is not criminally liable, and whether they are contractually liable is an open question. I suspect that the downstream criminal act cuts off their contractual liability.

But the bigger issue is - thank you for making us aware of this! Ultimately, there's not much one can do to prevent it, like many crimes. Personally I'd still use AAA and/or BMW's service (though I've never paid for BMW's service once the initial period expires; I stick with AAA).

I hope that it all works out OK for you!


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Intent*

The point is that BMW cant afford to have this happen to customers. How many such incidents do you think the dealers will tolerate, attempts to divert work away from them.

Ultimatley these criminals are stupid trying this with a 3 week old 535, its not like they would be able to repair it or get parts unless they stole someone elses car.

Luckily the car was released to the dealer who is commited to making sure its perfect before I see it again.

Behind the scenes BMW USA is reviewing all of the roadside tapes and I am expecting a call from the regional market manager.

This is now being taken very seriously. The only reason I am posting the details is to warn others of what can happen.


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## Bimmer_Bob (Sep 7, 2006)

It sounds to me, whoever crossed out the original destination would be the answer to the puzzle. If BMW told them to take the car to BMW and then someone else unrelated to BMW crosses that out and puts another location, BMW would be out of the picture other than being witness that they told the dispatcher, or whoever, where to take the car.

I really don't see BMW sending any BMW to anywhere other than to a BMW dealership. 

From a Towing company side, to show up to a dealership that is closed and drop off a wrecked car and no one to sign for it could be strange, I guess.

Funny that there was a destination such as a body shop that this driver could take it to, since the bodyshop was closed as well... Unless this driver had some way of gaining access to this shop...

Hmmm...


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

djfitter said:


> LAX535, I was just wondering if any contact was made with AAA to find out WTF is going on with their subcontracted tow truck. It was already mentioned here that they probably wouldn't be a AAA tow any longer. I would make sure of it. Sorry about your troubles.
> 
> dj


AAA manager from Burbank called friday afternoon to ask me if all had been resolved claiming he thought there had been a SIMPLE misunderstanding.

When I told him the story from beginning to end he agreed that this was a big problem.

There still has been no contact from BMW NA the last rep I spoke to told me that the customer service managers wont talk to customers and that this will be investigated internally.

I guess my next call will be to BMW in Germany they really need to know what is going on here.


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## LAX535 (Sep 30, 2007)

Bump 

Going to do a test drive on a Cayman S this week


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