Stolen Vehicle from Auto Trader

Firefox1975

Are you sure the car has to go back to it's old owner?

You bought it in good faith - I would double check with the police/solicitor that you dont; have grounds to keep the vehicle.

whether it is orginally stolen or not might be irrelevant. Pretty sure it has nothing to do with the insurance company, I presume they have already had to pay out on the claim and are just trying it on now to get the vehicle (monies paid out) back.

andygb

Manor wrote: »

Thank you all for the kind replies. I can assure you all I did a thorough check on the VIN, both against the log book and the vehicle chassis. It turns out the vehicle had manufactured mitsubishi number plates, a genuine mitsubishi vin, engine and dashboard plate, and the chassis plate had been ground then re-stamped with the cloned cars vin, using an identicle machine mitsubishi use. The log book was genuine and stolen from DVLA. I really just want to warn as many people as possible to hopefully prevent more people becoming prey to these lovely people. Was a lot better in the old days when Auto Trader visited peoples houses to take the pictures themselves.

I hope you get it all sorted out Manor, I think it could have happened to anyone. I am a bit concerned that you paid so much in cash, because there are laws to prevent money laundering, and this sort of money is getting into that territory. It is quite easy for thieves to amass very large sums of money, by stealing high value items (cars are top of the list), and then insist that potential buyers pay in cash.
It would certainly take someone with a lot of "front" to sell a car from a property which they do not own.
Good luck,
Andy

andygb

SueSueSue wrote: »

Nothing against autotrader. Some car checks offer indemnity but having never heard of them I doubt it.

Sounds like greed kicked in. cheapest isnt always best.

A needless, stupid comment, by someone who can only snipe from the safety of an internet connection.

vaio

Firefox1975 wrote: »

Are you sure the car has to go back to it's old owner?

You bought it in good faith - I would double check with the police/solicitor that you dont; have grounds to keep the vehicle.

whether it is orginally stolen or not might be irrelevant. Pretty sure it has nothing to do with the insurance company, I presume they have already had to pay out on the claim and are just trying it on now to get the vehicle (monies paid out) back.

That thought crossed my mind too but I think it only applies to cars with finance outstanding, i.e. if you buy a car from a trader in good faith and it subsequently turns out to have outstanding finance then you get to keep the car. I can't see anyway that is going to apply to a stolen car.

anewman

It's only the insurance company with an interest in the car. I seem to remember a TV program where a guy in this situation made a silly low offer to the insurance company which was accepted and got to keep the car.

verityboo

anewman wrote: »

It's only the insurance company with an interest in the car. I seem to remember a TV program where a guy in this situation made a silly low offer to the insurance company which was accepted and got to keep the car.

Yes, the program was repeated last night. The guy had purchsed a Discovery and it was worth about £13K. He offered the insurance company £1K and they accepted. Might be worth a try?

stugib

Firefox1975 wrote: »

Pretty sure it has nothing to do with the insurance company, I presume they have already had to pay out on the claim and are just trying it on now to get the vehicle (monies paid out) back.

From the OP:

Manor wrote: »

The Police collected the vehicle on 6th August. I have now been informed that the vehicle is a stolen clone and belongs to the legal owner because the Insurance Company has not paid out.

Chippy_Minton_2

Firefox1975 wrote: »

Are you sure the car has to go back to it's old owner?

You bought it in good faith - I would double check with the police/solicitor that you dont; have grounds to keep the vehicle.

Yes.

Uk law states the own looser is the buyer in this cse the OP.

david39

Irrespective of how much you paid for the car, the person who "sold" it to you did not own it. The car is still owned by the person from whom it was stolen, unless the insurance company have paid him out - in which case it belongs to the insurance company.

You cannot sell anything that belongs to someone else and, so, neither can you own an item by paying for it to someone who does not own it.

vaio

david39 wrote: »

Irrespective of how much you paid for the car, the person who "sold" it to you did not own it. The car is still owned by the person from whom it was stolen, unless the insurance company have paid him out - in which case it belongs to the insurance company.

You cannot sell anything that belongs to someone else and, so, neither can you own an item by paying for it to someone who does not own it.

All true apart from the exception that exists on finance on cars innocently bought from a dealer. Then the buyer does end up owning it, who ends up losing out ultimately I’m not sure but it’s not the buyer.