cloned cars

[jonathan]

my brother in law bought an 06 discovery about 10 days ago for £14,500. whilst transfering his plate on to it with the DVLA he was told there was a problem with the V5. Before he knew it there were police all over the car. It turns out the car was stolen and cloned with an original V5 from the DVLA. Apparently 2 million V5's have been lost by the DVLA. There was a problem with the colour of the ink so the DVLA rejected them but failed to get them distroyed. He done all the checks that he could hpi original V5 etc but still got caught. Now he faces loosing the car and his money. The police have told him 7 million pounds of cars have had this happen to them in the last two months or so. just a little warning to anyone that is thinking of buying a car soon, take care.

 

[umedc]

did he buy it from a dealer or private?

 

[KNU7S]

my brother in law bought an 06 discovery about 10 days ago for £14,500. whilst transfering his plate on to it with the DVLA he was told there was a problem with the V5. Before he knew it there were police all over the car. It turns out the car was stolen and cloned with an original V5 from the DVLA. Apparently 2 million V5's have been lost by the DVLA. There was a problem with the colour of the ink so the DVLA rejected them but failed to get them distroyed. He done all the checks that he could hpi original V5 etc but still got caught. Now he faces loosing the car and his money. The police have told him 7 million pounds of cars have had this happen to them in the last two months or so. just a little warning to anyone that is thinking of buying a car soon, take care.

If he has done a proper HPI then he will be insured

 

[jonathan]

it was a private sale in a ruff area up north the police said it was a rented house. i will let him know about the hpi thing thanks.

 

[219]

If a credit card was involved in the payment , there may be some protection there .

If cheque or banker's draft , the police may be able to trace where the money went .

I hope your brother at least gets his money back .

 

[The Boss]

sorry to hear of this. scans are all over the place, and worst still, the checks let this slip up.

one check which i think he did not do based on info is to submit the v5 serial number, as that would be the full hpi, and would defo have flagged it.

my hunch suggests that the insurance may not cover him as the full hpi check was not done...

its just my thought... sorry mate.

i hope it does work out and he recovers his monies!

my thoughts are there with your family!

 

[jonathan]

he checked the number you can see through the front screen matched the V5 but when the police came to check it over this was a sticker that was put on by the seller the police put a long paint scrapper thingy on the inside and hooked it out they said they had done a good job on it.

 

[SSBB]

he checked the number you can see through the front screen matched the V5 but when the police came to check it over this was a sticker that was put on by the seller the police put a long paint scrapper thingy on the inside and hooked it out they said they had done a good job on it.

The windscreen must have been removed to do this, and was then replaced. Very professional and suggests the involvement of a company or someone who works(ed) for one in the windscreen business.

 

[jonathan]

The windscreen must have been removed to do this, and was then replaced. Very professional and suggests the involvement of a company or someone who works(ed) for one in the windscreen business.

No they fitted it the same way the police got it out with a long tool it looked original you would never know

 

[Smiley]

It beats me why anyone would hand 14k cash to someone in a "ruff" area it is asking for trouble. Why not insist on a bank draft - and if the seller wants to be reassured then take him / her to the bank.
One other easy way to protect yourself is to ask the seller (or buyer for that matter) if they mind you taking a picture of them handing the car over.
Two easy ways to flush out the dishonest.
Sorry I think your brother in law has just lost the lot; the HPI check would have found the problem if the full check (with V5 serial number) had been run.

 

[The Boss]

No they fitted it the same way the police got it out with a long tool it looked original you would never know

Its very easy to do.. not talking from experience, but when my parking ticket is on display on the dash, it can sometimes slide down the edge with the window, and wnd up in the dash, so they would have positioned is as Jon says with a long reach tool and simply used a printed piece on a paper if anything... possibly


*********

what i mean was the serial number at the top of the v5 document, not the car chassis number!!


*********

 

[jonathan]

It beats me why anyone would hand 14k cash to someone in a "ruff" area it is asking for trouble. Why not insist on a bank draft - and if the seller wants to be reassured then take him / her to the bank.
One other easy way to protect yourself is to ask the seller (or buyer for that matter) if they mind you taking a picture of them handing the car over.
Two easy ways to flush out the dishonest.
Sorry I think your brother in law has just lost the lot; the HPI check would have found the problem if the full check (with V5 serial number) had been run.

I agree he was stuppid when he was telling me i was thinking you fool. when you look at the big picture you can see all the problems with the sale. he was blinded by the car i think, still big price to pay. good reason to pay abit more and get one from a garage.

 

[The Boss]

I agree he was stuppid when he was telling me i was thinking you fool. when you look at the big picture you can see all the problems with the sale. he was blinded by the car i think, still big price to pay. good reason to pay abit more and get one from a garage.

There is no problem with buying from private.. Just when you know what to look for or not, then it works out totally fine....

even an AA check on your bros behalf might have picked things up, and then the AA would have to pay compensation via their agreement etc etc

 

[jonathan]

to be truthful i dont know how a hpi check works not showing off but i only buy new he tells me he did all the checks but he must have missed the one that would have picked it up. lets hope they get them. but i think if they are that good they are well gone.

 

[219]

Are there different levels of HPI check now ?

The one time I bought an expensive(ish) car : my first w124 , also 14 grand funnily enough , I phoned HPI from the garage forecourt where I was looking at it , with the V5 in my hand , the woman on the phone asked me for various informations , including a check that the VIN on the vehicle matched the V5 , before giving the all-clear . Don't remember being asked for a V5 serial though - this would have been in the mid 90's .

 

[The Boss]

i could be wrong about the serial number, but i am just thinking back alittle and also one article on the news about the lost serial numbers, which were in batches, which they advised if found should be reported straight away to the police etc etc..

i could be wrong on it, but its just my thought!

Im quite certain though that there is some where on the hpi to check the validity of the serial number...

if i am wrong, a simple call to the dvla would have confirmed the fraud nature of the vehicle..

as i said before, lots of checks can be done, some most know about, others many dont know.. but again, forums like this is where hopefully those with experience can advise others.. and make the world a better place... well sort of anyway

 

[The Boss]

and as an example, ebays check is a very simple check, but then i do believe i have seen various levels.. but maybe im confusing this with the level of car data checks that aa and rac offer...

 

[A-AvantGarde]

When we bought our W203 C320 privately I did an HPI before purchasing it, once I had viewed the car I got a photocopy of the V5 & the MOT and submitted those reference numbers to HPI who then did a check on those which also came out clear. Essentially they're checking for stolen V5 & MOT's.

I'm afraid that as far as I know for the HPI check to cover against stolen vehicles etc, this document check would have needed to be carried out:

Just checked the terms on the HPI gurantee from their website, Guarantee summary

Before you buy the vehicle, you must make sure that all vehicle details provided by HPI match both the vehicle and its accompanying paperwork, and notify us of any discrepancies. As a minimum, you must obtain and check the V5 registration document with us, using our Document Check facility, prior to purchase.

Not sure if he bought the HPI check from a different organisation (RAC / AA etc, their terms / gurantee may differ.

I sincereley hope he's got some protection, really sad to hear of this. It's a lot of money to loose and an expensive lesson for your brother and I hope that this helps someone here from making a similar purchase...

 

[A-AvantGarde]

...
One other easy way to protect yourself is to ask the seller (or buyer for that matter) if they mind you taking a picture of them handing the car over...

Sounds like an excellent suggestion, I like that one!

 

[219]

Since there was a degree of 'sophistication to this scam , chances are the offenders will try it again - hopefully they will be caught .