Potential to loose £10k from the sale of my car! HELP! SCAM

Potential to loose £10k from the sale of my car! HELP! SCAM

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Discussion

Mk3Spitfire

2,921 posts

128 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
JustinP1 said:
you cannot steal something which is yours.
Actually, this is not strictly true. There are circumstances where you can commit the offence of theft on your own car.

ging84

8,894 posts

146 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
JustinP1 said:
No. However, if the car has been sold, the car does not belong to the OP.

The agreement between the OP and the dealer is that the dealer becomes the OP's agent - effectively and extension to the OP himself in order to sell the car to the third party.

If the dealer has acted lawfully in his obligation to sell the car, then the car belongs to someone else. The only thing that remains is a debt between the OP and the dealer due to their agency contract.

The only time where the OP could consider taking the car back would be IF the car has not yet been sold, as then, as you say, you cannot steal something which is yours.
That doesn't seem to be the case though, the agreement was that the Op needed to personally authorise the transfer of title on the day of sale, and it does not appear to have happened.

BertBert

19,035 posts

211 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
I assume the answer will be no, but is there any SOR contract paperwork or just done orally OP?
Bert

9mm

3,128 posts

210 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
JustinP1 said:
richie99 said:
But if you bought, in good faith, a car which turned out to be stolen, wouldn't the old bill be round PDQ to take it and tell you it wasn't yours?
They might do yes.

However, there's no evidence that the dealer has stolen the OP's car. All that has happened to date is that the dealer owes the OP a sum relating to an agency contract.
Yes, but in my case, there was also 'evidence' that the car had been sold. We simply didn't believe it and it turned out we were right.

As I said, without every last detail, who is to say the dealer wasn't operating a cam where the cars weren't sold at all - just offloaded to mates or to settle debts and the 'sales receipt' was no more than a fig leaf?

JustinP1

13,330 posts

230 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
ging84 said:
JustinP1 said:
No. However, if the car has been sold, the car does not belong to the OP.

The agreement between the OP and the dealer is that the dealer becomes the OP's agent - effectively and extension to the OP himself in order to sell the car to the third party.

If the dealer has acted lawfully in his obligation to sell the car, then the car belongs to someone else. The only thing that remains is a debt between the OP and the dealer due to their agency contract.

The only time where the OP could consider taking the car back would be IF the car has not yet been sold, as then, as you say, you cannot steal something which is yours.
That doesn't seem to be the case though, the agreement was that the Op needed to personally authorise the transfer of title on the day of sale, and it does not appear to have happened.
I did pick that up from the OP.

If the written contract says that, then the OP is laughing.

My strong guess though is that the contract of agency gives the dealer the right to sell the car. Playing out the endgame of that, the dealer denies saying that, and refers to signed contract to cover his behind.

JustinP1

13,330 posts

230 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
9mm said:
JustinP1 said:
richie99 said:
But if you bought, in good faith, a car which turned out to be stolen, wouldn't the old bill be round PDQ to take it and tell you it wasn't yours?
They might do yes.

However, there's no evidence that the dealer has stolen the OP's car. All that has happened to date is that the dealer owes the OP a sum relating to an agency contract.
Yes, but in my case, there was also 'evidence' that the car had been sold. We simply didn't believe it and it turned out we were right.

As I said, without every last detail, who is to say the dealer wasn't operating a cam where the cars weren't sold at all - just offloaded to mates or to settle debts and the 'sales receipt' was no more than a fig leaf?
I totally agree.

However, potentially committing a crime in the hope that the dealer has shoddy paperwork either takes balls or foolishness - depending on how lucky you end up!

KFC

3,687 posts

130 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
JustinP1 said:
I totally agree.

However, potentially committing a crime in the hope that the dealer has shoddy paperwork either takes balls or foolishness - depending on how lucky you end up!
The new owner has bought the car legitimately as the seller has allowed the dealer to sell it. The fact the dealer didn't pass the £20k on doesn't change that.

Why not just knock over a post office for £20k and get your money back that way? As it has about the same legitimacy as fraudulently taking the car back from the guy who paid for it.

9mm

3,128 posts

210 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
KFC said:
JustinP1 said:
I totally agree.

However, potentially committing a crime in the hope that the dealer has shoddy paperwork either takes balls or foolishness - depending on how lucky you end up!
The new owner has bought the car legitimately as the seller has allowed the dealer to sell it. The fact the dealer didn't pass the £20k on doesn't change that.

Why not just knock over a post office for £20k and get your money back that way? As it has about the same legitimacy as fraudulently taking the car back from the guy who paid for it.
Except in my friend's case that isn't what happened, only what we were told, which turned out to be bs. The dealer and the recipient of the car both tried to claim it was a legitimate sale and it wasn't.

9mm

3,128 posts

210 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
JustinP1 said:
ging84 said:
JustinP1 said:
No. However, if the car has been sold, the car does not belong to the OP.

The agreement between the OP and the dealer is that the dealer becomes the OP's agent - effectively and extension to the OP himself in order to sell the car to the third party.

If the dealer has acted lawfully in his obligation to sell the car, then the car belongs to someone else. The only thing that remains is a debt between the OP and the dealer due to their agency contract.

The only time where the OP could consider taking the car back would be IF the car has not yet been sold, as then, as you say, you cannot steal something which is yours.
That doesn't seem to be the case though, the agreement was that the Op needed to personally authorise the transfer of title on the day of sale, and it does not appear to have happened.
I did pick that up from the OP.

If the written contract says that, then the OP is laughing.

My strong guess though is that the contract of agency gives the dealer the right to sell the car. Playing out the endgame of that, the dealer denies saying that, and refers to signed contract to cover his behind.
The OP is only laughing if the dealer has assets and will pay the money back if ordered by a court. What odds on that? As with so many things, being in the right is precious little comfort if you can't enforce those rights in a material way. We could have left the car where it was and argued the case. Our belief was that the car would disappear if we did that and so even if ownership was confirmed in my friend's name, we would still be without the car and chasing someone, or two people, declared bankrupt.

Jasandjules

69,884 posts

229 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Purchaser of car is, absent anything to the contrary, Equity's Darling. Does your contract for Sale or Return state that you retain title until you expressly transfer it, or anything similar?

If not, course of action would be to head on over to the dealer now and serve a claim on him for your money.

If it does however, you have two approaches!

Spare tyre

9,563 posts

130 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Nightmare

I'd certainly be making his life hell (legally)

anonymous-user

54 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
I've been on the other side of this. I bought a car from someone who had in turn bought it from a Sale or Return dealer. The money (£25k) was not passed on to the original owner by the SoR dealer, I knew nothing about this until a call from the Police a few weeks after I picked the car up.

To cut a long story short, the original owner had left the V5 with the SOR dealer and lost both the car and the money, Police very quickly backed off when presented with sales invoices from the SoR dealer to the person I bought from and from him to me.

Left a very bad taste and I no longer own the car.

TVR1

5,463 posts

225 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Mk3Spitfire said:
JustinP1 said:
you cannot steal something which is yours.
Actually, this is not strictly true. There are circumstances where you can commit the offence of theft on your own car.
And as if by magic, one of the first search results when googling R v Turner is......

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=126...

Fastpedeller

3,872 posts

146 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
pinseeker said:
This sounds like a nightmare and my thoughts are with the real owner. Proof of ownership keeps popping up here and it astounds me that the v5c is not this, tbh what actually is? The v5c should be a legal document for ownership and responsibility for the car (taxing, insuring and mot'ing), which the dvla manage tightly and not in the washy washy manner they do. Ie transfers being done without accurate signatures or even signatures, and should perhaps even include signed proofs/receipts of sale.

Far too many grey and 'what if' areas popping up with this story, surely it should so much more black and white!?
Strangely if you build a kit car using a donor vehicle the DVLA want sight of the V5 for said donor vehicle (though not the purchase invoice it seems). They also want the purchase invoices for all the parts put on the vehicle - Going through this procedure certainly gave me a feeling of 'I'm being treated like a thief'. Yet again logic doesn't seem to be a trait of the DVLA

alwoodman

Original Poster:

31 posts

197 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for the comments, i've spoken to the dealer today and I mentioned id seen reviews, depicting my situation exactly. He denies them of course, shortly after i spoke to him a new review appeared on review centre showing a positive light...i wonder who posted that!? I don't know how he can really deny they are inaccurate because they are telling exactly the same story as i am experiencing!

ANYWAY...he has given me his word (unsure of the value of that yet) that i will have a cheque on Friday morning in the post. We'll see!

I've spent a good few hours working through his companies and his previous companies today. He's been in the same spot selling cars for 20 years so he has history but less you might think.

I think i may have found something which i could latch onto in the fact that he incorporated himself under a new name at the end of September 2014, i had done the deal with him in late August 2014 but the car didn't get sold, according to the DVLA, until November 2014. My thought on this is that therefore the company that actually ended up selling the car was not authorised to do so as my contract was with the old incorporated company name?

What do you think?

Jasandjules

69,884 posts

229 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
alwoodman said:
What do you think?
Drive over there tomorrow. Do not leave until the money has been transferred into your account.

Mk3Spitfire

2,921 posts

128 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
TVR1 said:
And as if by magic, one of the first search results when googling R v Turner is......

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=126...
Thanks. Couldnt think of the case name. Should have known it would be on here somewhere!

Vaud

50,450 posts

155 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
alwoodman said:
Thanks for the comments, i've spoken to the dealer today and I mentioned id seen reviews, depicting my situation exactly. He denies them of course, shortly after i spoke to him a new review appeared on review centre showing a positive light...i wonder who posted that!? I don't know how he can really deny they are inaccurate because they are telling exactly the same story as i am experiencing!

ANYWAY...he has given me his word (unsure of the value of that yet) that i will have a cheque on Friday morning in the post. We'll see!
That is excuse number 1.

Friday will be "another cheque didn't clear, a customer passed me a bad cheque - I didn't want to send you one"... "next Friday latest, I'm out of pocket here, it was £30k!"

Rinse / repeat. etc

ez64

233 posts

162 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
Drive over there tomorrow. Do not leave until the money has been transferred into your account.

JQ

5,740 posts

179 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
alwoodman said:
What do you think?
Drive over there tomorrow. Do not leave until the money has been transferred into your account.
This. I certainly wouldn't be waiting for the post on Friday. Doorstep him at 9am tomorrow morning and don't leave until you have the cash.