Was a Bentley’s broken convertible top caused by vandalism or mechanical failure?

This month, Garrett Forensics received a request from a client asking us to investigate a possible vandalism case. The main question revolved around the broken convertible top of a 2011 Bentley Continental – was this caused by mechanical issues, like wear and tear, or vandalism as the insured claimed?

Convertible tops like these are very complex as they have a lot of moving parts. We at Garrett Forensics knew that we needed an expert that understood the various mechanisms involved, so we called our automotive expert!

Garrett’s automotive engineer found some issues with the movement of the rear quarter glass and had a theory that the glass may have been in the up position when the top was being lowered down, causing the POP sound that the owner had heard. In order to test his theory, our investigator created a simple template to represent the edge of the glass and align it in space with an alignment jig.

Our investigators have to come up with creative solutions and think outside of the box while working in the field with sometimes very limited tools. This window template and alignment jig were created using the materials available at the body shop: a piece of welding rod, a square, paint stick, and lots of tape. Its final accuracy was probably within only 3-4mm.

With the template in place, the top was slowly lowered and the damaged links landed right on top of the edge of the template, consistent with the damage to both the convertible top and the broken glass.

Our investigator interpreted used this test to prove that the convertible top failed as a result of a mechanical issue and not vandalism. As a result, the involved insurance company saved a whopping $68,000!!!!!

Creative investigation solutions are part of the reason that Garrett’s team has been well-loved by our clients, and trusted time and time again.