Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

[mushi]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

I have had the hpi report if the car taken out myself and it was clear. Does that give any relief?

[Gorang]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

You buy a car on 27/05/13 as a private sale complete with service history for 54k miles
Receipt you get has "As Seen" written on it
V5 says only one previous owner (Hitachi capital) but you didn't buy it from them
You go to Honda dealership with it to get it fixed, they then tell you NO DEAL as its done 130k + miles so no warrenty
You contact Hitachi they tell you in writing that they sold it to a agent on 21/02/13

i can advise you that Hitachi Capital car solutions sold this car on 21.02.2013 with a disposal mileage of 173142 to a salvage agent and we would have no further interest in this car from that date.
We have been advised by them that they repaired the car and sold on to an individual and they declared that it had covered approximately 170000 miles. With reference to mileage discrepancy you will need to contact the seller of the car to whom you purchased the car from..

What you don't know, was that "individual" you or someone else
as the people that the car has went through that you know of are
Hitachi Capital
Salvage Agent
Individual (this individual could be you, the person you bought it from or another, and you have NO way of finding out)

What you can prove
Person that sold it to you did NOT register the car in their name, (NOR did salvage Agent or else it would have shown 2 former keepers on your V5, for the simple reason their new keepers supplement would have been received at DVLA before yours did, as there is 3 months between Hitachi selling and you buying)
Mileage when Hitachi Capital Sold it
Mileage when you bought it complete with history saying 54k miles
True mileage from Honda dealership
Hitachi have also confirmed this will be true mileage in writing and have confirmed what mileage was when they sold it

What you can't prove
Who clocked it
How many people the car has went through between Salvage agent and you (could be none or could be 20, no way in telling)

What you suspect
person you bought it from also bought a service history from ebay (so could be the history they supplied you with)

Facts you have been told and know about the person that sold it to you
Persons name
Persons address (which could be nothing to do with him)
Person phone number (confirmed by gumtree add)
Ebay user name
Details from gumtree


MY ADVICE as I think this is now a POLICE matter with all the evidence you have already

GO to a Traffic Officer and show him everything you have FIRST ASAP
If you don't have all above in writing from dealership, then go back and get it if the police need you to
Collect as MUCH written proof as you can then hand to Traffic officer

I think the Traffic Police will be VERY interested in this and they will be able to go back to Hitachi and start to fill in the blanks like, Salvage Agent company name and why THEY didn't register the car as soon as they bought it, and who they sold the car to (if at all)

As you said in your first post

Actually I bought a car from a private seller who apparently was working for a car leasing company known as Hitachi Capital in May 2013.

There is NO way in telling if this is true or not BUT the police WILL find out for sure
It could be Hitatchi Capital pulling a fast one or maybe not
It could be a Hitachi worker pulling a fast one or maybe not
It could be Salvage Agent pulling a fast one or maybe not
It could be Salvage Agent worker pulling a fast one or maybe not
Above could be happening so they can get rid of high mileage cars
or
NONE of the above could be happening

BUT Police will be able to find out and prob prosecute as I would NOT be surprised if this was NOT the first time this has happened with this company or companies as all looks well dogey IMHO

[mushi]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

Thanks Gordon for such a detailed response...

[PlanB]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

Thanks Gordon for such a detailed response...

Which is a longer version of exactly what I told you to do on Friday

If there is a suspicion that the seller clocked the mileage isn't this something the OP can report to Action Fraud and let them do the legwork? It's a criminal offence to alter the mileage of a vehicle which may help the OP renegotiate the asking price in retrospect

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

[PlanB]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

I have had the hpi report if the car taken out myself and it was clear. Does that give any relief?

The HPI check would have revealed whether the car had been reported as stolen or an insurance write-off so you can rule out those two possibilities. However it wouldn't tell you whether the car had been stolen and not reported (i.e. "stolen" with co-operation) because that wouldn't be on the Police National Computer database. If you follow my line of thought. The salvage agent will need to produce a receipt to the police proving that he actually sold it to "an individual".

[PlanB]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

I dont have much of his details. . . . . . . I mean I do have his address and mobile number and thats it. But that address was not the actual address as I remember and he said this was his son's house and they park it there

That shouldn't be too much of a problem because you can issue a county court claim to his "last known address" which in this case is the one belonging to his son where you met him to pay for the vehicle. Did you go into the house or did you do the deal in the driveway? Who's to say it's his son's house and not a random empty property with a conveniently empty driveway.

How did you pay the £7,500 because there may be a way to trace where the payment went through your bank. He wouldn't have accepted a cheque so I assume it was a banker's draft (not cash ray: ) which can be traced from when it is presented to your bank who would have released the funds to his bank. If the seller is a rogue then he'll have used a Pay & Go mobile so no easy trace through the network (although the police can trace these).

[CleverClogs]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

The HPI check would have revealed whether the car had been reported as stolen or an insurance write-off so you can rule out those two possibilities. However it wouldn't tell you whether the car had been stolen and not reported (i.e. "stolen" with co-operation) because that wouldn't be on the Police National Computer database.

Nor would it say how many motor-cars had been welded together to make that one.

[PlanB]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

Have you checked that this car is actually the same car as the one with that that registration number? You should check the VIN (which used to be called the chassis number) https://www.autocheck.co.uk/HowToCheckVIN.html and that should match the one on the V5. If it doesn't then you may have a rogue car.

It's not unknown for dodgy car dealers to sell log books and service records but not the cars which they keep to dismantle and sell as spares.

If it went to a salvage dealer then it was clearly in a bad way from an accident. Did it really get repaired?

[PlanB]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

Nor would it say how many motor-cars had been welded together to make that one.

Great minds think alike Our posts crossed.

[bluebottle]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

I agree with PlanB as regards the Salvage Agent. My BIL's younger brother is in the motor trade and informs me that Salvage Agents/Dealers deal with vehicles that have been declared Insurance Write-Offs as follows -

Category A - Must be destroyed. Cannot be sold for spares or salvage.
Category B - Can only be sold for spares. Disposal of what is left subject to strict conditions.
Category C - Can be sold for salvage and made safe for use on a road, subject to inspection by a VOSA engineer.
Category D - As for Category C, but only needs to pass an MOT Test in order to be used on a road.

Also, Salvage Auctions and Sales take place over secure internet connections and those purchasing must be registered with the Salvage Agent/Dealer. The OP would be wise to make enquiries with VOSA and the police about the vehicle, in addition to Trading Standards.

[Gorang]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

If there is a suspicion that the seller clocked the mileage isn't this something the OP can report to Action Fraud and let them do the legwork? It's a criminal offence to alter the mileage of a vehicle which may help the OP renegotiate the asking price in retrospect

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

Which is a longer version of exactly what I told you to do on Friday

Exactly

As you DON'T know what has happened with the mileage and and you will NEVER be able to find out for sure then as Plan B said

report to Action Fraud and let them do the legwork

as they WILL (well have a better chance anyway) be able to find out for sure what has happened



EDIT

Sorry I should not say "you will NEVER" what I should have said is "it is Highly unlikely"

[PlanB]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

I bought a car from a private seller who apparently was working for a car leasing company known as Hitachi Capital in May 2013. . . . .

. . . Can someone advise me if I can send some notice legally to the company i.e. Hitachi Capital and providing them with the name of their employer who sold it to me?.

^^^^ This is the bit that makes me think there may have been some hanky panky going on. An employee of Hitachi could have had access to information about cars it's leased which have been sent to a salvage agent. Was there a collusion between the employee (who apparently also sold the car to the OP) and the salvage bloke? If the seller was also the "individual" who bought the car from the salvage bloke and sold it on quick smart with fake mileage what are the odds of that being a total co-incidence ?

If the OP has the name of the seller (it would have been on the banker's draft) then Hitachi may like to know what he knows especially if they still employ him

[bluebottle]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

^^^^ This is the bit that makes me think there may have been some hanky panky going on. An employee of Hitachi could have had access to information about cars it's leased which have been sent to a salvage agent. Was there a collusion between the employee (who apparently also sold the car to the OP) and the salvage bloke? If the seller was also the "individual" who bought the car from the salvage bloke and sold it on quick smart with fake mileage what are the odds of that being a total co-incidence ?

If the OP has the name of the seller (it would have been on the banker's draft) then Hitachi may like to know what he knows especially if they still employ him

The OP needs to find out to which Salvage Agent/Dealer Hitachi sent the vehicle and then check with VOSA. Salvage Agents/Dealers are subject to strict supervision, as are vehicle dismantlers and metal recyclers.

[Gorang]

Re: Bought car from private seller with mileage clocked

The OP needs to find out to which Salvage Agent/Dealer Hitachi sent the vehicle

Or even IF they sent it to a Salvage Agent

OP could send another letter to Hitachi or phone them and ask who the Salvage Agent was BUT I suspect OP would be wasting their time

I also think that IF Hitachi has anything to hide then the OP contacting them again would raise Hitachi's suspicion's further which gives them more opportunity that they could get rid of/fabricate evidence

If OP goes to the police then let's them deal with it, first Hitachi knows is when police comes in, If Hitachi has nothing to hide then they will have nothing to worry about IMHO