Bought a car and seller reported me for theft

jr92897

Hi, so I bought a car recently and paid the seller in freshly withdrawn cash. Lets say it was £2500. I lost a note while counting the money in my car, so I told him to double check the £2480 was all there. He said it was about £150 short so I recounted the money and it most certainly wasn't. He then counted it again and discovered I was only £20 short and so I agreed to bank transfer this to him when I arrived home, which I did. I drove off with my new car and the keys - he's happy, I'm happy. Later, he calls and messages me continuously saying I've only given him £2120 and I owe him £360.

Now I've told him several times that we BOTH counted the money whilst it was on his desk and we AGREED I only owed him £20 (which I did transfer to him, of course). He's now threatening to call the police, and probably will, to report me for theft. He says he didn't count one pile of money whilst I was there and that it was only me who did, but even if that's true surely that's his problem? And it WAS all there. Again, he was happy enough to let me drive off with the car.

Where do I stand? And where does he stand? He signed the log book in front of me but did not give me a receipt, nor did I ask for one (didn't even cross my mind, didn't think I'd need to). He's an older guy, and I don't believe he's counted it incorrectly but he MUST have lost some of the money or something.

Thanks in advance

worried_jim

Call his bluff, he's blagging you. Police won't care as it's a civil matter and you have a reciept for the car, a record of a £20 payment to him and the cash withdrawal record.

waamo

Did you get a receipt? I can't see the police being interested as this sounds like a civil dispute.

jr92897

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking it was a civil matter. but wasn't sure. I do not have a receipt though (lesson learned).

EssexExile

Keep any messages on your phone as proof of the disagreement if he accuses you of stealing the car.

tacpot12

Not getting a receipt for a car is about the most basic mistake you can mistake. How are you going to prove that you own the car in future? The V5 is only a record of the registered keeper, it proves nothing about ownership.

jr92897

Tacpot: All the messages on my phone between us are pretty solid proof that car now belongs to me. There are millions of car buyers in the UK who've at some point purchased a used car privately, and I have a strong suspicion that a large percentage of those do not have a receipt to prove ownership.

Tiexen

For anyone selling a car:


http://www.theaa.com/car-buying/buyers-sellers-contracts


If you're selling a used car, print two copies of our car seller's contract and complete them in front of the buyer. Each party should sign and keep a copy of this document as proof of sale.

Car details

Make ..............................................................


Model...............................................................


Registration number...........................................


Mileage.............................................................

• Vehicle identification number matches V5C? yes/no
• Registration Document completed by buyer/seller yes/no
• Registration Document (V5C) exchanged yes/no
• Buyer has received V5C/2 (green slip) yes/no
  
  

The undersigned purchaser acknowledges receipt of the above vehicle in exchange for the cash sum of £.........., this being the price agreed by the purchaser with the vendor for the above named vehicle, receipt of which the vendor hereby acknowledges. It is understood the vehicle is sold as seen, tried and approved by the purchaser.


Purchaser..........................................................


Vendor..............................................................


Date.................................................................

Socajam

tacpot12 wrote: »

Not getting a receipt for a car is about the most basic mistake you can mistake. How are you going to prove that you own the car in future? The V5 is only a record of the registered keeper, it proves nothing about ownership.

The first big mistake was paying cash - a banker's draft is the same as cash - no mistake there.

mollycat

jr92897 wrote: »

Tacpot: All the messages on my phone between us are pretty solid proof that car now belongs to me. There are millions of car buyers in the UK who've at some point purchased a used car privately, and I have a strong suspicion that a large percentage of those do not have a receipt to prove ownership.

Although you probably wish you did get a reciept, (but I don't expect it's crucial), I suspect the point you make is correct.

In decades of buying selling cars at the (ahem) "shallow" end of the pool I have hardly ever been asked for a reciept, nor have I ever bothered getting one.

Not saying what I've done is correct, would respectfully disagree that it is a "schoolboy error". Much more basic mistakes to make than that.

reddwarf2002

As others have said, it would have been better to pay using a different method.

There are elderly people out there that are forgetful and make errors and then think maybe the other person has short-changed them.

Conversely, there are also people out there that will prey on the elderly and their forgetfullness and because they can no longer are able to fend for themselves, which can look exactly like in your scenario too.