private sale thefts

[scruffy]

chap round the corner had his 04 clk pinched whilst out on a test drive, apparantly very common at the mo, 2 men responded to his ad and came round to view the car, they went for a test drive and they forced him out and drove off, car never recovered men never traced so be careful if your selling privately.

Chap was ok apart from being a little shook up obviously and has consoled himself with a new CLS which looks fab, dya think I should ask for a test

 

[Flash]

Be interesting to see if the insurance companypays out - factors such as who is insured to drive may be taken into consideration. Selling privately is never easy unless u know who u are selling to.

Flash

 

[Dave Kerr]

As this seems to be a common occurrence would it be against the law to take a photo of the people who turn up for a test drive?
If they say no then sorry no test drive.

Dave

 

[prprandall51]

And, if the prize (i.e. the seller's car) is worth it, they will steal another car and turn up in that to give the seller a mis-placed sense of security.

Before they come, I would ask for a passport or photo-driving licence to be presented at sale time. Hopefully, that should discourage the scum from turning up.

Luckily, the threat of 50 hours' community service puts many low-lifes off the idea of stealing nice cars.

Philip

 

[PJH]

As this seems to be a common occurrence would it be against the law to take a photo of the people who turn up for a test drive?
If they say no then sorry no test drive.

Dave

Good idea. How about taking someone else with you so that it's never 2 against 1.
If the said owner had the spare keys with him, could he have locked the car as it was being driven away. Would the immobiliser have cut in and stopped the car ? It might take the theives a minute or two to realise what had happened.

 

[Flash]

There was a gang operating that tageted top end motors from the Stealerships by going out on demos and then takings the cars by.... I can rememeber a story I read on teletext where a black W203 was taken on demo when the salesman got out to swap seats with the passenger to allow him to drive - the thief actually ran him over but lukcily the salesman was not seriously injured.

Flash

 

[Tan]

Its incidents like these that make me very weary about selling my car privately, but what other real choice is there?

 

[Benzowner]

When you advertise your car for sale, why not insist on a bankers draft or cash for the full amount be lodged with your other half when they take it for a test ride, after checking it is legal of course, then if they don't come back car sold I have seen many motorcycles sold in this way as insurance against any damage caused to the machine.

 

[nickmann]

I did that when I sold my last motorbike. I told the guy on the phone he'd need to bring his licence, plus a cheque for the full asking price. That way if he crashed it, he'd already bought it.

When he arrived he turned out to be the leader of the local Green Men bike gang - black wraparound shades and studs etc. My face must've been a picture when I opened the door, and I'm sure the smell of fear was all too obvious. He was nice as pie though, and had an envelope full of cash to the required value.

 

[janner]

Many years ago I went to look at a 928. The guy invited me to test drive it by myself because he had my car as security.
When I pointed out it was a hire car he decided to come with me