Help! Bought a stolen car

davidmaiden18183

krissycontagious wrote: »

Gosh that's aweful, surely the police will do somthing about this and try and help you, as this isn't your fault it could happen to anyone

Unfortunately this is small fry for the police unless they can identify that this is happening on mass and there are others being reported in the area.

They have not followed up on CCTV in the area I dropped the guy off.

Officially until they identify the vehicle there isn’t a confirmed theft, also the county where the vehicle was stolen from will then be handed the case to investigate. when the vehicle sale didn’t happen in my county either basically my police force are just handling the case on behalf of another force(s) that will take the case......its unlikely the car is stolen from the lake district as this is compared to other counties quite rare.

davidmaiden18183

[FONT=&quot]I'm not fretting, though its easier said than done when £3400 (and a year an a half of savings) hangs in the balance.

Today is D-day and the police are temporarily taking the vehicle to a local ford garage to read the ECU data. I’m 99% sure they will thus identify the true identity of the vehicle and the date it was stolen determined.

I believe insurers don’t pay out for a vehicle theft to the original owners until at least 30 days - those 30 days it’s classed as TWOC (taken without consent). After 30+ days the insurer will pay out but typically this seems to be about 6 weeks.

the policeman seem to think that these clones are turned around quite quick after theft which is ominous for me as if the insurers hasn’t paid out it goes back to the original owner.

If they have paid out it will go to the insurer and I would then hopefully get a chance to buy it from them at a reasonable price as hey cut their losses.

the reason for all my questioned or "fretting" as "S b" said is because I need to hit the insurer quick with an offer, its far easier for them to sell it if someone wants it that to allocated man-hours and manpower to put it to a UK or foreign car auction. But to go the insurer I need to know what I can offer, and what is sensible to offer. If for example the car is marked as Q plate, or CAT C, or has stolen-recovered on its history it may have a substantial effect on its value (for me to buy or sell!) likewise insurers may not touch such a vehicle.....in which case it might not be prudent to even try to buy it, so what I would offer needs to take that into consideration. But as yet, I am not really clear on what will happen to the vehicle i.e. Q plate, Cat C, a fee to DVLA to get it re-registered, and or tested to put it back on the road.

It might sound insane when I've already handed over £3400 for the vehicle to think about paying yet more for it. But it would probably be better off for me to spend another £2000 buying it for a second time and have the car - (all be it in total paying over the odds) rather than righting off £3400 and having nothing at all![/FONT]

New_World_Order

Any updates OP?

red_eye

davidmaiden18183 wrote: »

Tuns out I bought a cloned car on Thursday for £3400 via a private sale that it is assumed is therefore stolen.

I'm totally gutted. The reg passed a £5 hpi check and wasn't listed as stolen- the reg plate used anyway was fake and the police inform me that registration does correspond to an identical spec and colour car at the other end of the country.

My brother and I have both been dubbed, all the vechical identification numbers at several points on the car were all correct and matched the v5 (which we now know was fake, as is the tax)

The original vehicle identification numbers on the car have all been filled/grinded off and painted over


We have been to police and reported it and and they have looked at the car and the documentation and confirmed it is a clone. Obviously it is assumed it stolen as it too cheap to sell at a big profit and doesn't appear to be an insurance write off that should be scrapped but slyly repaired and returned to the road.

I know I can't get my money back (well nog unless the slim chance the guy gets found and caught)- I don't know his address, and his name is probably fake and his mobile number not not in use so unlikely.

I also understand if they can link this vehicle with the owners it was stolen from it will be returned to them and I will be out of pocket.
!Similarly if the owners insurance company have already paid out to the owners they will take ownership and sell on at auction, or to me at a cost to recoup their losses (usually the value of what they've paid out!)

What I was wondering though is if the original vehicle identification numbers have all been removed/filled/ground off how can they identify whose stolen vehicle this is? What happens if they can't identify whose vehicle it is? Do I get to keep it yet on a new plate (I.e. a Q plate?)!

Basically anyone knows what will happen if they can't identify it?

Thanks

Dave

Chassis and serial numbers are what the manufacturers use to keep track of their inventory, and what engine/gearbox, spec etc will make up the finished vehicle. That is unless engine number has been removed and the ecu swapped.