Log book loans..still an issue

dness

Hello all, and thanks in advance for any constructive advice. 
Turns out a car I recently purchased has a log book loan outstanding on it. Without entering into too much detail, we are simply at the point where the vehicle has this issue outstanding and the seller has disappeared into the ether. So... my questions are;
Do I contact the loan company anonymously and inform them the car has been sold fraudulently?
I am fortunate in the respect that I would seldom be using the vehicle and it is not registered in my name as the v5 was basically invalid. It will not be parked at my address anyway through fear being repossessed.
Also;
If I were to go down the route of applying for a valid v5 from dvla, this would obviously trigger the loan company to chase me as opposed to the (expletive) that sold the vehicle on. Surely they must be chasing him/her for their repayment.
And please no “should have checked it” smarminess, this is a help and discussion topic, not a trolling site. It is already a predicament I’d prefer not to be in and the conditions of the sale were with a vulnerable person.
Thank you.

DCFC79

dness said:

Hello all, and thanks in advance for any constructive advice. 
Turns out a car I recently purchased has a log book loan outstanding on it. Without entering into too much detail, we are simply at the point where the vehicle has this issue outstanding and the seller has disappeared into the ether. So... my questions are;
Do I contact the loan company anonymously and inform them the car has been sold fraudulently?
I am fortunate in the respect that I would seldom be using the vehicle and it is not registered in my name as the v5 was basically invalid. It will not be parked at my address anyway through fear being repossessed.
Also;
If I were to go down the route of applying for a valid v5 from dvla, this would obviously trigger the loan company to chase me as opposed to the (expletive) that sold the vehicle on. Surely they must be chasing him/her for their repayment.
And please no “should have checked it” smarminess, this is a help and discussion topic, not a trolling site. It is already a predicament I’d prefer not to be in and the conditions of the sale were with a vulnerable person.
Thank you.

Why was a check not done ?

Anyway, what will phone the loan company achieve ?

You should find out how much is outstanding, then maybe decide if you want the car if you pay the finance off. You can ask, not sure if its an option.

MEM62

Any pre-purchase checks would not have helped as log book loans are often not reported.  How did you find out about it?    

dness

It showed up on the HPi register after the vehicle was purchased. A random encounter with the friend of a neighbour (I kid you not) said he suspected something about the cars history.

Brock_and_Roll

Did the seller produce the V5 document?
In a nutshell the OP has purchased a vehicle that the seller had no right to sell, indeed the ownership has passed to the log book loan company giving the buy no rights to title.
There is no real easy way out of this. Obviously the OP could report the fraud to the police and seek recompense from the buyer...but if the money has gone then that's not much use. Alternatively the OP could find out how much is outstanding - obviously if its £500 it would be worthwhile to get out of this pickle.