Vu Dieu: Bizarre car thief steals Subaru WRX after dealer test drive
A bizarre car thief took a turbo four for a test drive but didn’t return it, instead offering his old banger and a credit deal to ‘pay’ for the new ride.
South East
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A man who nicked a car during a test drive then came up with his own idea of a loan to try and ‘buy’ it, a court has heard.
Vu Dieu went to a dealership and took a powerful performance car for a spin, promising to return it within an hour.
But the Springvale 44-year-old liked the new vehicle far more than his old jalopy so decided he would keep it, offering to ‘buy’ it through an unofficial payment plan.
He pleaded guilty to car theft and breaching court orders at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
The court heard on February 8 this year Dieu strolled into the Glen Waverley Subaru showroom and asked for a drive of a white Subaru WRX.
He was granted the keys and told to bring it back by lunchtime, leaving his details with the dealership assistant.
But the hours went by and the car was not returned, despite frantic calls to the number Dieu had given Subaru staff.
A week later he came back to the dealership and stuffed an envelope under the door.
Inside were his bank details — including his PIN — a monthly payment plan he reckoned he could afford and the rego number of his old banger, which had been left parked up around the corner.
Cops were called and found Dieu sitting in the car in his driveway and he was arrested.
He told police he did take the WRX back, but by then it was too late and they had closed so he kept it for a week.
He said he wanted to trade in his old car and was happy to pay for the WRX in monthly instalments.
Defence lawyer Louise Wildberger said the car theft incident was most unusual, and “a somewhat bizarre set of circumstances”.
She said that sort of behaviour was out of character for Dieu, who had been struggling with the breakdown of his marriage at the time.
Magistrate Andrew Halse said it wasn’t helpful that he was also on a community corrections order at the time over an incident involving a sledgehammer.
He remanded Dieu in custody to be sentenced on August 10.
