High drama in London’s luxury car scene: a top surgeon for a Premier League football club has launched a £78,000 lawsuit against one of Mayfair’s most exclusive car dealers after his prized Bentley vanished from his driveway. The crux of the surgeon’s outrage? He claims the dealer’s lax practices left his car an easy target for thieves.
The eight-month-old Bentley was stolen just weeks after delivery, with investigators finding signs that the vehicle’s sophisticated keyless entry system was not activated. On that basis the insurance company refused to pay. The surgeon alleges the dealer failed to properly erase old digital keys and didn’t update the car’s security settings when preparing it for sale a basic precaution that any high-end dealership should take.
Lawyers for the surgeon argue that leaving a modern luxury car vulnerable amounts to negligence, especially with criminals now routinely using “relay” attacks to clone key signals in well-heeled districts. The Mayfair firm, used to selling iron-clad status symbols to the city’s elite, finds itself facing a PR own-goal as the dispute heads for court.
After a short hearing, the judge reserved his ruling in the case.
