How To Avoid Being Conned When Buying A Car

Wednesday, 23. September 2009

I am constantly banging on about the conmen out there anxious to take money from gullible customers seduced by low priced cars and low lease rates but it’s interesting to see that What Car has picked up on the problem also and warned its readers. Their first warning is to those buying a used car. You should take precautions against buying a cloned car. The first giveaway is often a low selling price. Apparently the fake V5C registration documents that the con men use are so good that it is virtually impossible to identify them as forgeries. The car could be stolen or an insurance write off that has not been professionally repaired. This could lead to you having the car repossessed by the police or worse still having a serious accident in it. If you wish to check the authenticity of a V5C you can get advice by going to the DVLA website www.dvla.gov.uk or there is an automated phone checking service by calling 0870 241 1878. You can also do an HPI check on the car to see if it has been an insurance write off, stolen or subject to outstanding finance. If you are going to carry out this check, do it yourself rather than rely upon the honesty of the person you are buying the car from and any report he provides – it could be a forgery also. The payment of a car is something you have to be very careful about. One scam runs as follows: a foreign buyer gets in touch and agrees to buy the car and sends a cheque to cover the cost of the car and shipping costs. The cheque appears to clear but in the meantime the seller receives an email from the buyer saying that he can’t complete the transaction. He asks for the money to be repaid in full less a generous ‘goodwill gesture’. The refund is sent and quickly cashed, in the meantime the original payment bounces. The bank doesn’t guarantee a payment until 6 business days have passed so if you are receiving payment leave 6 working days between receiving the money and releasing the car. Even better is to use CHAPS or money transfer to make sure that you haven’t been conned. Don’t simply accept a bank draft or building society cheque, either could be forgeries. If you are buying or selling a used car you should check for the latest scams by visiting the Vehicle Safe Trading Advisory Group (VSTAG) website www.vstag.co.uk VSTAG is a partnership between the Metropolitan Police and various advertising mediums such as Exchange and Mart, Autotrader, eBay etc. whose aim it is to combat fraud. The site contains case histories, lots of advice and who to contact if you have a problem. By Graham Hill