I think my mate has bought a ringer...
Discussion
A mate of mine bought a car 12 months ago... I don't want to say what the car is but its 20 years old...
He bought it off a chap who had owned it for 8 years and when he went to see it everything about the car stacked up... the V5 was in the guys name and had been for his period of ownership, the VIN number is the same as on the V5, there was a load of paperwork with it, receipts for work done and servicing, old MOT certificates going back 10 years, even old tax disks. all looked well so my mate bought it. Its a £1000 car to put things in perspective.
Over the past 3 months he has lovingly restored it back to almost pristine condition, but it was pretty good to start with. He has spent about £500 on it in parts, but many many hours of labour as he intended to keep it for a few years.
Thing is, he is a bit of an anorak with cars and has found that this car has some things on it that year of the car would not have had... which made him a bit suspicious... When he looked hard at the VIN number he saw that it was raised slightly more than ones on similar cars, (which are raised anyway) and when he prodded the side with a screw driver there was evidence of filler! The car looks to be about 2 years newer than the registration date, going by some of the details.
I have looked at it with him and it looks like the VIN number is stuck on the top of the original. It is VERY well done, blended in perfectly, it took a very keen eye to spot it! It must have had the panel sprayed but you just cant see ANY evidence of it. its a VERY good job.
Thing is, what happens now? Its took the shine off the car for him and he may sell it, but he is an honest guy and would not want to mislead anyone by just selling it... He is tempted to take off the VIN plate to see if there is a VIN number underneath, and if it is indeed a stolen car (which I think you can do by a HPI on the VIN number?)
What should he do, what can he do?
He bought it off a chap who had owned it for 8 years and when he went to see it everything about the car stacked up... the V5 was in the guys name and had been for his period of ownership, the VIN number is the same as on the V5, there was a load of paperwork with it, receipts for work done and servicing, old MOT certificates going back 10 years, even old tax disks. all looked well so my mate bought it. Its a £1000 car to put things in perspective.
Over the past 3 months he has lovingly restored it back to almost pristine condition, but it was pretty good to start with. He has spent about £500 on it in parts, but many many hours of labour as he intended to keep it for a few years.
Thing is, he is a bit of an anorak with cars and has found that this car has some things on it that year of the car would not have had... which made him a bit suspicious... When he looked hard at the VIN number he saw that it was raised slightly more than ones on similar cars, (which are raised anyway) and when he prodded the side with a screw driver there was evidence of filler! The car looks to be about 2 years newer than the registration date, going by some of the details.
I have looked at it with him and it looks like the VIN number is stuck on the top of the original. It is VERY well done, blended in perfectly, it took a very keen eye to spot it! It must have had the panel sprayed but you just cant see ANY evidence of it. its a VERY good job.
Thing is, what happens now? Its took the shine off the car for him and he may sell it, but he is an honest guy and would not want to mislead anyone by just selling it... He is tempted to take off the VIN plate to see if there is a VIN number underneath, and if it is indeed a stolen car (which I think you can do by a HPI on the VIN number?)
What should he do, what can he do?
wheedler said:
Do what you want, the internet can't help you primarily because most people would type something and then do the opposite when they are faced with a similar issue.
Sage words. Many people posture and talk nonsense on forums. Its lets their inner sad little nobody feel better.For a £1k car I would keep quiet and save myself the ballache especially if it has ben welldone - If the previous owner had it for 8 years then the rightful owner and insurance company (not to mention the ringerss) are long gone and it is now worth far less than what it was worth when stolen.
Prehaps not morally correct but uses a bit of common sense IMO
Prehaps not morally correct but uses a bit of common sense IMO
wheedler said:
Do what you want, the internet can't help you primarily because most people would type something and then do the opposite when they are faced with a similar issue.
At that sort of age and money I would keep it, morally that's wrong. I k ow that
This - its 20 years old now - no one is going to give a crap. Police won't care, insurance company won't care, hell the previous owner won't care. At that sort of age and money I would keep it, morally that's wrong. I k ow that
Keep it - enjoy it.
I believe the suggestion is that it has happened during the previous owners ownership, making him the culprit.
Whichever it was, Id keep quiet after improving the vehicle so much, because the fight to retain it, buy it at the price, get your improvement investment back simply isnt worth it over such a low value car.
Whichever it was, Id keep quiet after improving the vehicle so much, because the fight to retain it, buy it at the price, get your improvement investment back simply isnt worth it over such a low value car.
Its unlikely that there will be a number under the filler, I would be looking to see if the engine number on the v5 matched to decide if I wanted to look closer into it. Oh, and I am also in the keep it and dont end up out of pocket camp as it's not going to have been done in the past few years, cars that are only worth a few grand are broken not rung over and sold on.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff