Nimbus

My sympathies to your friend. I guess you need to make sure you don't let your guard down at any time when your trying to sell a performance car

Paul M

Anytime, Three blokes come round to look at a car, I would immediately call someone, to get back-up. a rule of business meeting's is never to be outnumbered, whatever business it is. Hindsight is 20-20 though.

banshi

I would never say anyone deserved to get their car stolen but a little common sense would assist crime prevention.

Surely the problem with his insurers is more likely to relate to the failure activate the tracker unit. Assuming he completed the claim form more competently than he conducted the sale the "location" of the keys shouldn't be an issue

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

I don't know the lad personally, I just know who he is from seeing him driving around. He's 23 and possibly a bit naive but i agree if there's a series of mistakes to make when selling your car I think he pretty much did the lot.

Personally I can't believe he didn't know which tracker device was fitted let alone have the number of the company. If I was paying a subscription to somebody I'd like to know who.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

I was told by a friend of mine about his mates Evo6 which was stolen at the end of last week.

The car was advertised in Autotrader. A person arranged to come and view the car. Three men arrived in a newish Jag. Two got out (smartly dressed) and started to look round the car. The bloke selling did the usual. He was showing them around the car, started the engine etc. They asked lots of questions/appeared v.interested (gaining trust) then asked to see the service book. This was kept in the house, he went to fetch it, heard the doors of the car close and off they went. The car had a tracker but he didn't know the number of the company who it was with (I don't understand this bit) so he didn't inform them it was gone (if he did later I don't know). Anyway with the recent threads about buying/selling and the M3 hijack thread I thought I'd tell this story as a cautionary tale.

Nimbus

So he left the keys in the car with the engine running while he went into the house?

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Yep, I don't want to critise but it is a small but highly regretable thing to do. I don't know how the insurance people will look at it.

DrEvil

the insurance company is going to have a field day... isn't their a clause about keys left in the car or something to that effect...

SDB

It's easy to criticse.. but there is always the possibility that he got off very lightly...

if three blokes turned up and they obviously had the intention to steal the car, who knows what they might have done to get it.

I think the tracker thing is the strange bit.. do you know what tracker system it was?

Cheers

Simon

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Simon,

I'll try and find out more, as I say I heard this on Saturday in the pub (before I started drinking) so I didn't get all the info. That's not to say anything in my original statement is false it's just that there may be more to the story.

I can only presume the tracker was disarmed when the engine was started and as he didn't alert the relevant company for some time. PTMW may help us here as to what may happen.

Cheers

Guy

bren@apex

iTrader: (20)

A friend of mine did a similar thing. He was selling a Motor X bike (a 1990 CR500 for thoe interested). It was winter and dark and snowing. The guy comes to see it so my friend gets the bike out and shows the guy round it. The guys chatting away for a good ten minutes. My friend starts up the bike and still the guys chatting away as he continues to look round the bike. My friend gets off and this guy gets on, still chatting, and all of a sudden he knocks it into gear and hes gone!

There must have been a van parked round the corner somewhere. He never saw it again

I personally wont even allow the buyer to get too close to the drivers seat if the keys are in the car unless Im stood right next to him so preventing him shutting the door and driving off or Im sat in the passenger seat.

If someone comes to see your car make sure you see the transport theyve arrived in, if someone appears to have walked then thats a major warning sign!

Bren

Jerome

Further to what Bren said, be warned that the vehicle they arrived in with this type of incident is often stolen as well. Many people have seen someone arrive in a nice car and happily let them drive off in their own car assuming the buyers car is a guarantee they'll come back. It isn't.

Always assume anyone coming to view the car is a potential thief. Always have someone else with you (who also comes on any test drive). If you decide to let them drive it (and you've checked to see they are insured to drive it) don't give them the keys until you and your passenger are sitting in the car. Paranoia gone mad I know, but better safe than sorry. Because alarms/immobilisers and other security fitted to decent cars these days are so good, scum are increasing trying to steal the keys to be able to drive the cars away.

Not much help in the case detailed above I'm afraid.

DavidRB

Poor sod, must have felt a bit intimidated when three blokes turned up. I wish him luck with the Insurance claim, but I can't help thinking he won't get anything at all for this one.

DazW

iTrader: (1)

I would have just said that I had been threatened by three large blokes to hand over the keys! Thus eliminating the Insurance problem and also the embarrassment of looking like a dozy get!

Luke

Some folk never learn !!

DR Motorsport

Very strange this one, but when we sold an EVO 6 a couple of months ago. 3 guys turned up in a brand new top of the range BMW, the driver was the buyer. But he never asked anything about the car or any of the extras it had, while his 2 mates were all over the boot and side panels. We later discovered this is the area a tracker would normally be fitted to on an EVO 6.
They made there excuses and left.
Maybe just a coincidence, but you never know.

David