How Would You Know If A Used Car Has Been Stolen
Monday, March 8th, 2010Whether a used car has been stolen or not is one of the most important things that you need to find out before you buy. If you do happen to purchase a stolen car it will still belong to the original owner. You could easily end up out of pocket and without a car. Below are some of the ways that you can ensure you do not fall foul of this.
The first thing you need to do if thinking about purchasing used cars is to check the vehicle identification number to see if it has been reported stolen. The records of any cars reported stolen are updated continuously on the database of the Police National Computer. You will be responsible for contacting police to report a car you are checking if you find that it is on this database.
Don’t assume that just because a car is not on the database that it hasn’t been stolen as a lot of criminals are aware of this and will provide false vehicle identification numbers. Here are some tips about how to do further checks to see if this is the case.
- Make sure all paperwork looks authentic. The registration certificate should have a watermark and the engine and chassis numbers should match what is stamped on the actual vehicle. Make sure there has been no tampering to any of these documents.
- Unless you know the seller you should try to confirm their identity.
- Insist on seeing some form of official identification.
- Do not pay for the vehicle with cash.
- You should forget about the sale if you have any doubts at all.
Ending up with a robbed car can be an upsetting ordeal. Most sellers of stolen cars will vanish as soon as you have paid them and they are almost impossible to track down. It is important that you do all you can to avoid purchasing used cars that have been stolen.
If the time has come for you to be searching out used cars for sale, you may end up much better off by thoroughly researching the cars that interest you. Researching allows you to find the very best used cars for the category you are looking for. Once you’ve finished, you could find youself driving away from the dealers in a used KIA or even a used lancia.
