Outrageous deal, something wrong?

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henry1976

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2021
Messages
8
I just sold my MG ZS EV to buy an Outlander (long story, mostly to do with range...).

I looked everywhere and went to see a few cars then I spotted an 18 plate Outlander 4h PHEV in north London with 32k miles at £16,000. I went to see him, test drove and bit his arm off. Paid asking price.

Am I right in thinking this an absolute steal? I kept looking for the scam angle but I couldn't find one and now the car is sitting outside my house....
 
UPDATE: went to tax car at post office and they couldn't scan the V5c. Have been in touch with DVLA and they confirm it is not the latest version. Been in touch with seller who is calling me tonight after work. Very apologetic...
 
Is V5c some government required bullshit in UK? If it's so important how you do the transfer on your name without it?
From what I have read in first glance... why you should track vehicle registrations and insurance etc.!?
 
Was this a "Private" seller? No V5 would make me suspicious. Did you HPI it? These are common tricks to sell stolen or cloned motors. I hope all is OK but my suspicions would be raised.
 
It was a private seller and he had the V5, just not the latest one. I called DVLA before buying and they told me not to be too concerned as long as I'd done all other checks as I can just send off a V62 and they'll send out a new V5 in my name.

I did a full car check and it all came back clean - no HPI, not reported stolen, matching VIN numbers etc.

I am still suspicious so the police are coming around at 10am today to tell me for sure. I'll update....
 
Yeah in the UK the early Outlander PHEVs were listed as 'Electric' under 'type of fuel'. DVLA then subsequently issued new V5s with 'Hybrid Electric' instead. My replacement was only issued in November 2020. So theoretically I could still have 2 'valid' V5s. Hopefully yours is just one who kept the 'old' V5. What does it say under "P.3 Type of Fuel" as a matter of interest?
 
Well, that is annoying.

Seems I was a victim of a clever fraud by organised crime. They bought one 2018 Outlander PHEV in black and they have since then been stealing the same model and colour over and over again and giving them each the same matching VIN numbers and reg number and selling each of them.

The police took my car away today for forensic analysis and I won't get it back. I'm down £16k and a car.

FYI, reg number EO18 PXC.
 
kpetrov said:
Is V5c some government required bullshit in UK? If it's so important how you do the transfer on your name without it?
From what I have read in first glance... why you should track vehicle registrations and insurance etc.!?

Well, this is what the government bullshit is for. I really feel for Henry76, as he seems to have fallen for a simple, but clever scheme. However, the price should have been a red flag. Another good reason to buy from an authorized dealer...
 
I understand, but if this is so important document isn't it the first thing to check during private sale?
How can the vehicle be even transferred to another owner by the government if it's missing government issued documents!?
 
Well, if the document provided is from another car (and carefully copied/faked) and the car being sold has fake numbers mimicking the original car, the scheme can work, as it did in this case.
 
In the UK, the purpose of vehicle registration is to know who the "keeper" is NOT the owner. This is to avoid arguments over who is responsible for incidents involving the car.

So a new "keeper" can fill in a form declaring they now have the car, irrespective of whether they have acquired legal title or not. The fact that this database is used for other purposes is irrelevant to its basic purpose - simples!.
 
Wow Henry, that's really crappy. I hope somehow you get compensated.

Were you able to take the police to the guy who sold it somehow?
 
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