My colleague's car was stolen from the official BMW dealer in Brussels. The car was left for simple tyre change, so imagine the surprice of my colleague when police called and said 'you have a problem'. It is 116d bought at the same dealership a year ago, complete insurance coverage, so we thought 'sh... happens', but with the insurance and expecting a reasonable approach from the dealer we thought this will be soon over. Unfortunately, there were other valuable belongings as well in the car's trunk.

First off, dealership could not explain how it all happened and only after insisting fiercly to give back the keys they acknowledged that the keys were inside the car. It took quite some efforts and time to receive information and explanations. My colleague's insurance says it can not help, as the keys were inside the car ... After long deliberations, the dealer 'offered' to take one of their test cars ... or a small compensation in cash, which will not be enough to buy the equivalent car (not counting registration taxes, which are also substantial here in Belgium).

All in all, besides this 'pleasant experience' and lots of wasted time my friend will suffer a substantial financial damage because her car was stolen from the dealer ... I was expecting that the dealer will offer the new car with the same equipment just to avoid bad publicity, but it seems they do not care at all.

Whoa, this is unbelievable. Aren't there any security cameras installed? This sounds extremely fishy to me.

I used to leave my e60 for service there as well, never paid attention to cameras. apparently there are no cameras at all. anybody could walk in check if any of the cars has keys and drive away ... I had a thought that it may even be 'insider's work'

Wow WTF... That is extremely unfortunate.

Huh, that is very unusual to hear dealerships not having any camera. That's like the perfect lot to jack cars then.

This isn't an issue with your insurance company since the car and keys were in the dealership's possesison at the time of theft - the dealership is solely responsible for the loss and its up to them and THEIR insurance to provide restitution.

Do they not have lawyers in Belgium? If they do - hire one quickly!

if ur friend could get a good lawyer she could end up with a lot of money

Thanks guys, we will definetly look for a legal advice. Anyone from Belgium/Brussels could recomend a good lawyer/legal firm?

His insurance company won't cover 'theft' if the keys are in the vehicle?

Who knows the insurance laws there, but in the USA this would be covered.

If the vehicle was in possession of the dealership, it falls under their care.