Cloned/Stolen Car

[smeariestbat]

Dear NSC, i am currently trying to sell my car, however due to some desrepancies with the hpi check i am beginning to fear the car may be cloned.

I bought the car from a very reputable dealer about a year ago, who sell great quantities of cars. I just wondered what my chances of getting the money for the car back from them were, if the worst were to be true. I have booked an appt with sussex police to check the car. Needless to say the bad press for the dealer about a reputation for selling dodgy cars would pretty much ruin them soi'm not mentioning who it is. yet.

 

[father_and_son]

No chance at all... if your worst fears are true, the car is stolen property and therefore anything you do other than hand it to the police would mean YOU breaking the law.

As soon as the Police confirm it as a ringer, they will impound it and you will have nothing (including a leg to stand on). The best result would be a civil action against the dealership for your money back, but your chances of actually getting it are pretty slim.

Sorry mate. However, on the good news front, there are lots of reasons you could have issues with an HPI check other than your car being a ringer. Yours may be the real deal and have been cloned rather than be the clone. In which case the file will throw back allsorts of issues, but you still have the legal car.

 

[drew]

You could also check the documents at the time of the purchase to see if the dealer claims they do HPI searches on all cars they sel as that might give you comeback if it does prove to be a problem.l

 

[smeariestbat]

kind of hope if it all goes wrong the threat of going to the press about the dealer selling dodgy cars, they'll pay me to be quiet...

 

[Biffer]

As far as I'm aware, if the person who sold you the car is a private individual then you're buggered.
If it was a car dealer, you're completely covered and they have to make amends.

 

[smeariestbat]

As far as I'm aware, if the person who sold you the car is a private individual then you're buggered.
If it was a car dealer, you're completely covered and they have to make amends.

it was a very, very big car dealer.

 

[Napper]

Private sale , pass it on

 

[Lady Whistledown]

HPI checks can throw up all sorts of issues. Are you able to say exactly what the problem is?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Private sale , pass it on

If it did turn out to be a ringer, of course, then he'd be potentially handling stolen goods if he sold it on.

 

[drop dead fred]

How much did you buy the car for ??
Did you take out a loan ?

 

[smeariestbat]

HPI checks can throw up all sorts of issues. Are you able to say exactly what the problem is?

the only difference on the hpi check was the colour. My car is black, V5 and hpi say grey.

however when i queried the issue with ford, my vehicles VRM matches the chassis number of another ford focus. HOWEVER, the exact same Focus VRM matches the Chassis number for my car. Also that car is grey, but v5 and hpi says black.

so i think some brainiac has just input the details for the vehicles the wrong way round, causing me a massive headache!

According to DVLA, my logbook is the original and the VIN and the VRM of my car match that on the V5

 

[smeariestbat]

How much did you buy the car for ??
Did you take out a loan ?

7k last year and yes

 

[Stevie Boy]

what makes you think its stolen or cloned?

 

[smeariestbat]

what makes you think its stolen or cloned?

post #11 mate, pretty much covers the issues i'm having. have phoned dvla and they're perfectly happy though, just want me to inform them in writing of the correct colour?!

 

[Garage_Doors]

post #11 mate, pretty much covers the issues i'm having. have phoned dvla and they're perfectly happy though, just want me to inform them in writing of the correct colour?!

So your seeing a problem that isn't there?
Surprised you paid 7k for a car without looking at the HPI report first. I recently bought one and although the dealer stated they HPI all there car i still done one one my own to be sure.
Done well to pay off the 7k in less than a year or are you looking to sell it before repaying the loan?

 

[smeariestbat]

looking into sellingnthe car back to the dealer i bought it from

 

[StonehamPark]

looking into sellingnthe car back to the dealer i bought it from

That would be my first idea. Maybe think about PX'ing it at the dealer for another car and make sure you get the HPI on the new car!

 

[smeariestbat]

That would be my first idea. Maybe think about PX'ing it at the dealer for another car and make sure you get the HPI on the new car!

im moving country, hence the sale.
they have now twigged the car i'm trying to sell back to them is the same car i was asking them to look into the discrepancies for. They ignored my initial e-mails but now they are looking into it as a matter of urgency. The way i see it, if they refuse to buy the car back from me, they are in turn admitting that they sold me a dodgy car and will get sued. Or they say nothing/ find nothing is wrong, buy the car back and keep it very hush hush. Win win for me i feel....