RAC have lost my vehicle

kuneshbepraised

Started a motorcycle euro trip as our summer holiday on the 4th August, and broke down on the 8th of August in Budapest. In my opinion, the instrument cluster had failed- I watched it die- which is not fixable without both quite hard to get parts and specialist coding equipment.

We waited 10.5 hours for recovery, the vehicle was then taken to a compound, and then we were dropped off at the hotel we had already booked as Budapest was our stop off point for the evening. by this point it is around 2300hrs.

9th August: we were originally told that we could have a hire car, as onward travel, which we waited for all day, and the bike would be taken to a garage. It then transpired the only garage in Budapest that had the diagnostic gear for this bike was currently closed and on holiday, and no other garage would take it. We had a hotel booked in Croatia for this evening, and were told not to cancel and await a hire car. A taxi then shows up, at around 4pm, to take us into the city centre, without any prior communication, which was to take us to the hire car reception. We were then offered a hire car, on the condition of a 1500 euro deposit on a credit card and were not allowed to drive outside of Hungary. In my opinion, that's not onward travel and we refused- there would have been no point.

10th August, we flew home. The RAC agreed to repatriate the bike and skip taking it to a garage, and that they were going to make the arrangements.

By the 13th We had made a couple of calls to see if the bike had started moving, and I had got a price to fetch the vehicle myself, but there had been no reply from the recovery firm. We went on holiday elsewhere for a week, hoping that there would be some movement by the time we got back.

On the 22nd August, I called them, and asked for an update, to be told they had not received any further information, and I then asked for the address of where the bike was kept, to be told they did not know. I was then given 2 addresses that were in Hungary and another in Slovakia, but personally I think the Slovakia address is another call centre.

We are now the 29th August, 3 weeks from the bike last being seen and still no reply from wherever the RAC think have the vehicle in Budapest. My insurance, as the RAC cover is an addition, are contacting them today and are going to advise whether to report the vehicle as stolen.

I have been given an address, where they say the vehicle is, but they are sending out this questionnaire, and question 9 concerns me.

We might repatriate this vehicle back to the UK. Please contact the place where the vehicle is stored and ask them the following questions:

 

- What are your opening hours and what days of the week are you opened?

 

- How much are your storage fees per day VAT included(and since when are you charging some)?

 

 - Are there any additional fees (diagnosis, towing…).

 

- Does the Breakdown Service/Garage accept your guarantee of payment?

 

- Please inform us about the costs so far on the file so that we can update the details on our end.

 

- If the vehicle is a camper van, a minibus or a van, please ask them the exact dimensions of the vehicle (lenght, height and width).

 

 - Can the vehicle be rolled onto a truck?

 

 - Is the garage closing in the next month for holidays?

 

 - Please confirm the name, address, and phone number of the place where the vehicle is.

 

- Is there any trailer / caravan (if yes, what are the dimensions -lenght, height and width-?)

 

- Are the keys of the vehicle with the vehicle?

 

- Is there a roof box or a roof rack on the vehicle? Are its keys on the same key ring as the vehicle keys?

 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

 

I don't really know where to go from here, I've seen people have the vehicle go missing for a few days but 3 weeks is concerning.

Mildly_Miffed

Repatriating broken vehicles is not quick... Three weeks? No, more like six or more.

Until it's in this country, the RAC don't have it. It's with whichever country's breakdown service... That questionnaire is very generic - it's unlikely there's a caravan being towed by your motorbike, and very unlikely there's a roofbox on it - so I wouldn't read too much into any specific question.

Sounds like they haven't actually decided to bring it back yet - so it's probably exactly where you left it. Read the policy docs - international recovery is balanced against the vehicle's value. If they decide it's going to cost more than it's worth to bring it back, they'll effectively write it off.

kuneshbepraised

RAC Europe don't know where it is, they have just, in the past hour, agreed that they are now treating the vehicle as missing/stolen. There has been no correspondence from the company/agent that recovered the vehicle from the roadside, which would normally be the case. I can accept a delay, but even they agree this is not normal. They should have had correspondence and be able to be quoting or even starting to move the vehicle in stages towards home.
The vehicle valuation by the RAC is £8,000, which means they will cover the repatriation, but this case has shifted from repatriation to potential compensation.

Hoenir

Nothing to suggest as yet that the vehicle isn't still in the compound where it was taken too. 

Okell

Out of curiosity, what is the 'bike?

Is it some sort of relatively rare classic?   (You say the parts are hard to get)

cw8825

kuneshbepraised said:

RAC Europe don't know where it is, they have just, in the past hour, agreed that they are now treating the vehicle as missing/stolen. There has been no correspondence from the company/agent that recovered the vehicle from the roadside, which would normally be the case. I can accept a delay, but even they agree this is not normal. They should have had correspondence and be able to be quoting or even starting to move the vehicle in stages towards home.
The vehicle valuation by the RAC is £8,000, which means they will cover the repatriation, but this case has shifted from repatriation to potential compensation.

Is that value for a working bike?

kuneshbepraised

Okell said:

Out of curiosity, what is the 'bike?

Is it some sort of relatively rare classic?   (You say the parts are hard to get)

It's a moto guzzi stelvio, from experience of owning guzzis and a friends recent experience of getting parts from the factory, the parts can take months to arrive, and some garages just won't bother with them.