The steering wheel of five Mercedes in Rosmalen was stolen last weekend. Last week it was a hit in Den Bosch-Zuid, the police know. What makes the steering wheel of a Mercedes so desirable?
Peter Verstraten of ASV Mercedes Dealer in Uden also saw two cars in his garage a few weeks ago, the steering wheels of which had disappeared. “Airbags have been stolen for years, but I have never seen the complete steering wheel gone,” he says.
He looks back in his own archives, at the price of such a repair. “I see here that we had to fit a whole new steering wheel in one of those cars. That cost almost 3000 euros. The steering wheel alone costs 1500 euros.” Mercedes steering wheels are often made of leather and contain modern technology and sometimes even heating. That’s why it costs so much.
“With a Mercedes steering wheel you quickly end up with a damage item of a few thousand euros.”
“Airbags have been stolen for years,” says Verstraten. Even if the car itself is only slightly damaged, the repair can still be expensive if the airbag is deployed. A new one must then be installed immediately.
“Thieves steal the airbags from other cars to cheaply install them in cars that have been involved in an accident. The buyer often does not know that his airbag comes from another car and is especially happy that it is not as expensive as a new one.”
But the steering wheels stolen in Rosmalen were not necessarily stolen for the airbags, Verstraten expects. “If they care about the airbags, they can take them out. Now the whole handlebars have been stolen.”
What the thieves have to do with the steering wheels and why they want those Mercedes steering wheels, that is a mystery to him. He’s guessing it might have something to do with the price of the steering wheels in the Mercedes.
According to Verstraten, there can be two reasons to steal a steering wheel:
- It can be a certain type that is then used for repairs.
- It can also be very expensive steering wheels, for example those of the AMG version. That is a leather steering wheel with sturdy handles that is often placed in older models to make the car look tougher.
The thefts in Uden and Den Bosch-Zuid did not only concern AMG models, but various cars. It is not clear what happened in Rosmalen.
“Sometimes it’s fighting against the finish line.”
“It goes in all directions these days,” says André Bouwman of the National Intelligence and Expertise Center for Vehicle Crime (LIV). Mercedes steering. I haven’t heard that before. With a Mercedes steering wheel you quickly end up with a damage item of a few thousand euros.”
According to Bouwman, it seems as if criminals are finishing a shopping note. “Today a steering wheel of a Mercedes Benz or the rear light of a Ford Focus. There is no level to raise.”
He advises getting an alarm system from class 2 or 3 for a more expensive car. “Then an alarm will at least go off when they break a window. But yes, some criminals also have equipment to disable the alarm system. It is sometimes a battle against the finish line.”
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