Sold car, not collected - advice please
Discussion
Paddymcc said:
I had a couple of Ukrainians turn up to buy an old Transit fridge van I was selling.
While one was checking it over I had a bit of a chat with his friend who told me they were looking fridge vans to send to the front line in Ukraine for transportation of bodies.
Lovely.
My friend sold his 2003 Ford Ranger to a couple of very pleasant Ukrainian guys. Again, it was going to help the War effort in whatever capacity a 2003 Ford Ranger can.While one was checking it over I had a bit of a chat with his friend who told me they were looking fridge vans to send to the front line in Ukraine for transportation of bodies.
Lovely.
Great people to deal with, little bit of haggling, smiles all round, paid cash, took V5, left and that was that.
Regarding the OP's position, I'd guess the guy didn't pay vast fortunes for the tired and non running Hyundai. Maybe he used the trip to visit friends as well, or organise some more cars to be exported on his the way back home to Scotland. As someone said, shipping stuff is a bit of a dark art to some of the less "democratic" African countries I'd imagine, maybe he ran into problems somewhere.
the Layby idea does sound good by way of a solution.
Nope. I kindly picked him up at 1140 on the Saturday (he left Edinburgh 2130 Friday) and by 1300 he was back at the bus station with nothing to do until 0100 Sunday when the Flixbus left.
All that for a £750 non running Hyundai that has been to the moon and back.
Takes all sorts I suppose.
All that for a £750 non running Hyundai that has been to the moon and back.
Takes all sorts I suppose.
Ah the Tilbury to Lagos ferry. It's unlikely to be a scam, he's probably just an unorganized idiot like most of them. It's all mates of mates and family members at each end and half of the time it's an absolute s
t show. If it's in your way and not in your name then just push it into the road and tell him where it is or you'll still be looking at it next year.
t show. If it's in your way and not in your name then just push it into the road and tell him where it is or you'll still be looking at it next year.I’d put money on him not needing it just yet and is using you for free parking. I let an acquaintance use my parking space in London for a car he had SORN, it was meant to be temporary and we agreed a date for it to be gone. It stayed for months past the agreed deadline and I needed the space back badly...it got to the point where I told him I’d push it out into the road if he didn’t collect it the next day. That was the only way I got him to move it on and this is a friend who I fully trusted so I’m not surprised by your story. Some people procrastinate massively!!
Maybe he is waiting for his engine to be imported?? Just a thought!
Maybe he is waiting for his engine to be imported?? Just a thought!
I export cars fairly regularly and this type of thing is more common than you'd think, but it generally isn't a scam.
A few things to consider....
He probably isn't doing the process alone, he's just a small link in a big chain, and this particular car may be fairly unimportant to the guy at the top funding the operation, so has been forgotten about / bumped down the list / generally not a priority for them right now.
Shipping schedules are an absolute nightmare and often the companies don't tell you about the delay until the last minute - I've had 2-3 months delay before, and that's on a popular route. So he could well be trying to take advantage and leave it there until the ship gets in. Storage near the port is usually really expensive and could exceed the value of the car depending on how long it sits there.
They may be complete amateurs who have underestimated the cost needed to fix the car or get it to the port. If they're doing it as their sole business, it's very easy to have cashflow issues as it's such a volatile industry.
I've personally left cars with sellers for a couple of months, but I always check beforehand that it's OK, and give them the option of having it collected if they need the space. So far, I've never had any issues.
I personally wouldn't bother with the charging storage thing, I'd either leave it where it is if it isn't an inconvenience, or simply tow it out onto the road and leave it there, sending him a picture to show where it is. If the police then tow it, it isn't your problem.
A few things to consider....
He probably isn't doing the process alone, he's just a small link in a big chain, and this particular car may be fairly unimportant to the guy at the top funding the operation, so has been forgotten about / bumped down the list / generally not a priority for them right now.
Shipping schedules are an absolute nightmare and often the companies don't tell you about the delay until the last minute - I've had 2-3 months delay before, and that's on a popular route. So he could well be trying to take advantage and leave it there until the ship gets in. Storage near the port is usually really expensive and could exceed the value of the car depending on how long it sits there.
They may be complete amateurs who have underestimated the cost needed to fix the car or get it to the port. If they're doing it as their sole business, it's very easy to have cashflow issues as it's such a volatile industry.
I've personally left cars with sellers for a couple of months, but I always check beforehand that it's OK, and give them the option of having it collected if they need the space. So far, I've never had any issues.
I personally wouldn't bother with the charging storage thing, I'd either leave it where it is if it isn't an inconvenience, or simply tow it out onto the road and leave it there, sending him a picture to show where it is. If the police then tow it, it isn't your problem.
This happened to me back in 2014. I sold my old Defender TD5 on ebay. Same story almost exactly - African chap came to check the car, paid via BACS and told me it would be collected the following week and exported to Zim.
Two weeks went by, then a month, then two. The number stopped ringing, ebay account no replies etc. I ended up contacting the police and although i cannot remember the exact time frame after some months and contacts had been made, i was free to go on with my life and with the car.
Two weeks went by, then a month, then two. The number stopped ringing, ebay account no replies etc. I ended up contacting the police and although i cannot remember the exact time frame after some months and contacts had been made, i was free to go on with my life and with the car.
texaxile said:
Paddymcc said:
I had a couple of Ukrainians turn up to buy an old Transit fridge van I was selling.
While one was checking it over I had a bit of a chat with his friend who told me they were looking fridge vans to send to the front line in Ukraine for transportation of bodies.
Lovely.
My friend sold his 2003 Ford Ranger to a couple of very pleasant Ukrainian guys. Again, it was going to help the War effort in whatever capacity a 2003 Ford Ranger can.While one was checking it over I had a bit of a chat with his friend who told me they were looking fridge vans to send to the front line in Ukraine for transportation of bodies.
Lovely.
Great people to deal with, little bit of haggling, smiles all round, paid cash, took V5, left and that was that.
Geekman said:
I export cars fairly regularly and this type of thing is more common than you'd think, but it generally isn't a scam.
A few things to consider....
He probably isn't doing the process alone, he's just a small link in a big chain, and this particular car may be fairly unimportant to the guy at the top funding the operation, so has been forgotten about / bumped down the list / generally not a priority for them right now.
Shipping schedules are an absolute nightmare and often the companies don't tell you about the delay until the last minute - I've had 2-3 months delay before, and that's on a popular route. So he could well be trying to take advantage and leave it there until the ship gets in. Storage near the port is usually really expensive and could exceed the value of the car depending on how long it sits there.
They may be complete amateurs who have underestimated the cost needed to fix the car or get it to the port. If they're doing it as their sole business, it's very easy to have cashflow issues as it's such a volatile industry.
I've personally left cars with sellers for a couple of months, but I always check beforehand that it's OK, and give them the option of having it collected if they need the space. So far, I've never had any issues.
I personally wouldn't bother with the charging storage thing, I'd either leave it where it is if it isn't an inconvenience, or simply tow it out onto the road and leave it there, sending him a picture to show where it is. If the police then tow it, it isn't your problem.
Also obviously the whole red-sea new story is throwing a huge spanner in shipping at the moment. A few things to consider....
He probably isn't doing the process alone, he's just a small link in a big chain, and this particular car may be fairly unimportant to the guy at the top funding the operation, so has been forgotten about / bumped down the list / generally not a priority for them right now.
Shipping schedules are an absolute nightmare and often the companies don't tell you about the delay until the last minute - I've had 2-3 months delay before, and that's on a popular route. So he could well be trying to take advantage and leave it there until the ship gets in. Storage near the port is usually really expensive and could exceed the value of the car depending on how long it sits there.
They may be complete amateurs who have underestimated the cost needed to fix the car or get it to the port. If they're doing it as their sole business, it's very easy to have cashflow issues as it's such a volatile industry.
I've personally left cars with sellers for a couple of months, but I always check beforehand that it's OK, and give them the option of having it collected if they need the space. So far, I've never had any issues.
I personally wouldn't bother with the charging storage thing, I'd either leave it where it is if it isn't an inconvenience, or simply tow it out onto the road and leave it there, sending him a picture to show where it is. If the police then tow it, it isn't your problem.
Hopefully a stab at a proper answer (not a lawyer)...
- Unless you've agreed with them in advance, you can't charge him a regular storage fee and enforce it, so you might be wasting your time with this.
- If you can't get a response, there is a legal route to sell the vehicle. See s12 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.
TL:DR
You have to write to the buyer giving them notice that you're going to sell it. If they don't respond, sell the vehicle, trying to achieve the best price. If the buyer ever rocks up, you owe him the price you got for the vehicle, less any reasonable costs in selling it.
Not sure if there are any vehicle specific issues with this approach.
- Unless you've agreed with them in advance, you can't charge him a regular storage fee and enforce it, so you might be wasting your time with this.
- If you can't get a response, there is a legal route to sell the vehicle. See s12 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.
TL:DR
You have to write to the buyer giving them notice that you're going to sell it. If they don't respond, sell the vehicle, trying to achieve the best price. If the buyer ever rocks up, you owe him the price you got for the vehicle, less any reasonable costs in selling it.
Not sure if there are any vehicle specific issues with this approach.
I sold a van last year which was on ebay, got a message asking if I would take bank transfer if I could do it outside of ebay
presumed it was a scam and was cautious af, they paid over the asking price without seeing the vehicle from an account in poland. a few weeks after cleared funds a car of random looking eastern europeans turned up and collected it
whole thing was a bit off but turned out to be okay at least from my side
also we've had it at work where a customer from Ireland spent £10k with us and never collected the goods, we held them for nearly two years before just reselling them, god knows what happened to him!
presumed it was a scam and was cautious af, they paid over the asking price without seeing the vehicle from an account in poland. a few weeks after cleared funds a car of random looking eastern europeans turned up and collected it
whole thing was a bit off but turned out to be okay at least from my side
also we've had it at work where a customer from Ireland spent £10k with us and never collected the goods, we held them for nearly two years before just reselling them, god knows what happened to him!
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