Held to Ransom

Hackman_2

Crabman wrote: »

Ask him for a copy of the dated receipt that his idiot son bought the key from Nissan and see what happens.

I wouldn't pay him, he's clearly being less than truthful here & planned this before the vehicle was sold. If he can't provide a dated receipt as evidence for his story, I would argue that the key is legally yours (the car came with two numberplates & two wing mirrors didn't it?) though I'd be wary of issuing a small claims case as the crook would then know your home address...

Alternatively in light of the elevated risk of theft, I'd look to claim the cost of reprogramming/replacing the locks on the vehicle from the seller if he's using ransom as a negotiation tool. Again, this only works if followed through with small claims court.

Two number plates, two wing mirrors but one key.

steve-L

Crabman wrote: »

Ask him for a copy of the dated receipt that his idiot son bought the key from Nissan and see what happens.

I wouldn't pay him, he's clearly being less than truthful here & planned this before the vehicle was sold. If he can't provide a dated receipt as evidence for his story, I would argue that the key is legally yours (the car came with two numberplates & two wing mirrors didn't it?) though I'd be wary of issuing a small claims case as the crook would then know your home address...

Alternatively in light of the elevated risk of theft, I'd look to claim the cost of reprogramming/replacing the locks on the vehicle from the seller if he's using ransom as a negotiation tool. Again, this only works if followed through with small claims court.

The first part is good.
The second .... I dunno why everyone is presuming the guy planned to do this. (almost everyone)....

There are quite a few reasons why he might not have known about a second key....

The first is having thought it was lost .....
The second is if the battery went and he thought it was broken
The third is his son got it and didn't have it programmed until later....

I don't see the OP is really thinking the random is that they might steal the car but that for a £XXXX purchase they can't throw it in!

When I purchased my last car the car was sold with the wheel nut key missing....

I accepted that ... I knew I could get one from BMW and I was otherwise pleased with the purchase. A week later the guys Dad called me to tell me he'd found it in his garage and he'd pop it int he post.

So its a bit outrageous to charge for the second key but the OP did accept the car with only one.

The idea that they will use it to steal the car is a bit pointless.
They could have had 3 KEYS!!!!

I think this is a bit of a cheek but in the end what is a second key worth to the OP.... I really doubt they would be stupid enough to steal the car when they had purchased the key and its probably recorded.... indeed you'd think they would be keen to get rid of it just in case so they are not prime suspects.

mattyprice4004

Crabman wrote: »

Ask him for a copy of the dated receipt that his idiot son bought the key from Nissan and see what happens.

I wouldn't pay him, he's clearly being less than truthful here & planned this before the vehicle was sold. If he can't provide a dated receipt as evidence for his story, I would argue that the key is legally yours (the car came with two numberplates & two wing mirrors didn't it?) though I'd be wary of issuing a small claims case as the crook would then know your home address...

Alternatively in light of the elevated risk of theft, I'd look to claim the cost of reprogramming/replacing the locks on the vehicle from the seller if he's using ransom as a negotiation tool. Again, this only works if followed through with small claims court.

So much fail.

How the heck is it his key?! It was a term of the sale there was ONE key. Not TWO. Clear enough, no?

debsy42

This fella is telling a right load of porkies.

We bought an Audi recently that came with one key. As we wanted a second key we bought a new one from Audi but this was worthless without the car and both keys being reprogrammed.

So, either he had the key already and is trying to pull a fast one or if his son did buy a new key in the meantime then it's worthless as it won't have been programmed to your car.

I wouldn't entertain the idiot, I'd go and buy a new one regardless and get it all re-programmed if only for your piece of mind.

cleggy.

Subzero2003 wrote: »

I'd tell him to go jump.

Offer him £20, if he says no, bid him farewell and tell him to have fun with his useless Nissan key. IMO, he has clearly planned this to extract more money from you.

20 is a good offer. Being a git, I expect he will take it in a week or two.

Crabman

steve-L wrote: »

The first part is good.
The second .... I dunno why everyone is presuming the guy planned to do this. (almost everyone)....

Balance of probabilities helps.

Unless the seller's wife is also his sister, his son would not have purchased a spare key from Nissan at significant cost, forgotten to tell his father about it and forgotten to mention it when the car was being put up for sale. This is setting aside the issue of why a two year old vehicle would require a new spare key (if a key is lost, it's recommended that the locks are changed). It is far more likely that they had this key all along and decided to use it to get a bit more out of a buyer.

We also don't know whether the price was reduced because there was only one key. Perhaps the OP can advise whether there was a specific negotiation around the issue of there only being one key?

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

So much fail.

How the heck is it his key?! It was a term of the sale there was ONE key. Not TWO. Clear enough, no?

It's called negotiation. If you start with a weak position, you'll get nothing. The seller, by contrast, has taken a strong position. Also, you should work on your grammar.

steve-L

Crabman wrote: »

Balance of probabilities helps.

Unless the seller's wife is also his sister, his son would not have purchased a spare key from Nissan at significant cost, forgotten to tell his father about it and forgotten to mention it when the car was being put up for sale. This is setting aside the issue of why a two year old vehicle would require a new spare key (if a key is lost, it's recommended that the locks are changed). It is far more likely that they had this key all along and decided to use it to get a bit more out of a buyer.

No really.. the other day my OH went out and took her car key blocking me on the drive. We have a spare but I totally forgot about it (as did she) so I couldn't pick her up from the station.

I've also misplaced spare keys for quite some time before (possibly 2-3 years)....before it turns up in a drawer somewhere.

Now, if that happened and even if I had reduced the price of the car accordingly and I found it I'd give it to the new buyer free. So is the seller being a bit of a ***ker - yes.... but that doesn't mean they planned it all along. He could have thought the key was lost... his son might have lost the key and replaced it ... told his mum he'd lost it and asked her not to tell his dad and then replaced it. It was sat in a drawer somewhere or the battery had gone and they thought it stopped working. One of my old ones the button went so I kept the key so I could change the buttons if the other key ever went... however I think I probably sold that car without it...

There are lots of reasons, he might be being economical with the truth on the key story but that doesn't mean it was planned all along.


The buyer bought the car with 1 key..... so he's not really being held to ransom. From the sellers perspective they probably think it costs £240 to be replaced so why not try and recover some cost now they found it.

It's called negotiation. If you start with a weak position, you'll get nothing. The seller, by contrast, has taken a strong position. Also, you should work on your grammar.

Much as I'd love the time to work on my grammar, the rest is correct. The seller has the key and the buyer wants a spare.

I don't really believe they need to be worried about the old owner nicking the car and if they are then how do they not know they didn't have 2 spare keys made!
If the OP was really worried about that then buy a steering wheel lock thingy!

He's rightly miffed they are not going to throw in the extra key but they don't have to.... he purchased it thinking it only had one.

keystone

steve-L wrote: »

No really.. the other day my OH went out and took her car key blocking me on the drive.

How can you be blocked on the drive by a key? Surely you just drive over it if you can't pick it up?

Cheers

Crabman

steve-L wrote: »

No really.. the other day my OH went out and took her car key blocking me on the drive. We have a spare but I totally forgot about it (as did she) so I couldn't pick her up from the station.

Given that they were selling a car it's reasonable that they should have conducted a search for any & all materials connected with the vehicle. The spare key, log book & service history are the most obvious items that spring to mind.

Whilst there could be a long story behind the seller's idiot son apparently not mentioning the existence of the spare key, this is not the OP's concern.

The risk remains that in the event of theft (not by the seller) the insurer will request two keys and failure to provide two keys in absence of evidence the vehicle was bought with only one key will give the insurer an excuse to try and bully their way out of a claim.

steve-L wrote: »

Much as I'd love the time to work on my grammar, the rest is correct.

That comment was aimed at the member I was responding to (not you).

funkycoldribena

Deleted_User wrote: »

I'd rather pay Nissan/someone to remove all the key codes and change the locks than give someone who I've just given ££££ to for the car any more money for a key.

This.
I wouldnt give the git 1 penny.I wouldnt dream of doing what this guys doing,there really are some money grabbing,nasty sods about.