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Car purchase
tipsPssst: Wanna (not) Buy a Taken
Car?
by:
Michael Trusthold
Would-be you buy a used car--with cash--from being you simply met in the bar, and who walked you down a dark alley to show you the car? Not likely. How simply about from a well-dressed, friendly, middle-aged man or woman, who placed a classified ad in your local newspaper, and who meets you high noon at a building of your choice?
Oops! You may be much likely to be cheated by merchandiser number two. That's the story of Jennifer Warwa, who bought a auto and had her mechanic examine it. The mechanic later aforementioned how afraid he was that Jennifer had been scammed:
"Because I met the gentleman who was commerce the vehicle. Really clear cut. In his fifties. Really soft spoken.... And he went with her to get it inspected. There was simply no sign that was the kind of person he was" the mechanic told CBC's Marketplace.
A few months later, Jennifer got a phone call from the police. They aforementioned she had purchased a taken
minivan, and they were coming to seize it. She was so upset, she tried to hide the van from the police. Eventually they caught up with her and she all over up paying for a year and a half for a $5,000 bank loan on a van she could not drive. Ouch!
Jennifer was simply one victim in the chain that enclosed
the innovational owner, the insurance company, different consumers whose insurance rates support rising, and the police, who spend thousands of hours chase thefts. According to the FBI, a vehicle is taken
simply about every 25 seconds in the USA, amounting to an $8 billion yearly problem.
Here's how these scams often work. Thieves target particular cars: for their value, their ease of marketing as a whole or in parts, or because they are easier to steal. Years ago, most cars were stripped for parts, including unusual parts such as airbags. But now several thieves are so brash they sell cars through newspapers.
This newer scam is called "VIN cloning", because the Vehicle Identification Number is taken
from another car. Criminals receive VINs by repeating
them from the dash of cars in parking lots--even at dealerships. Several even as physically move out the VIN plate from vehicles in automobile salvage yards that allow customers to "pick your own parts." (They do not mean that literally!) The number is used to incorrectly
receive new ownership documents, or documents are forged. Either way, a cloned VIN allows them to transform taken
cars into pseudo- legal vehicles that can be formally
titled and sold. Many a thieves activity across state lines: cars may be taken
in the East, registered in the Mid-West, then sold-out
in California. Scary!
Here's what you can do to avoid purchase
a taken
car:
** Check the VIN on the dash against the VIN in the driver's door jamb, under the hood, and on the activity
** Use the VIN to get the car's history at carfax.com for simply about $20
** Ensure title and registration documents match the name and address of the merchandiser
** Is the car from out of state?
** Be suspicious if you must meet a private merchandiser in a parking lot. Better to see that they live at the address wherever
the car is registered
** Has the vehicle recently been transferred?
** Makes the merchandiser use a house or activity phone number, or simply a cell?
** Is the commerce cost oddly low?
** Be warned that several used car dealers are deed scammed, too
** Pay by certified cheque or money order, not cash.
Keep in mind that most private sellers are not thieves, but rather honest, regular peoples like you. And prices do tend to be lower with private sales. So if you follow my advice, you can greatly improve your chances of drive away with a "genuine" used car.
Just simply about the author:
Wish YOU get scammed on your next car purchase? Archangel
Trusthold writes for http://www.UsedCars.bizand has bought and sold-out
used cars for profit for many a years. For much scam hindrance TIPS and handy checklists for used car purchase
and selling, visit UsedCars.biz.
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