You can't be careful enough...

L-M

A friend of mine spotted a car on donedeal today, so we set about heading to Cork to have a look. As it pulled in we noticed the front wing was sprayed, and on further inspection, that both sides of the car were sprayed.

This lead us to look further, the two front windows were different to the two back windows, the owner only just told us as we arrived the car was an ex taxi with 115k "genuine" miles.

My friend previous had the same car before and was caught with it, turned out it was stolen. So on futher inspection we noticed that a new plate had been put over the old chassis plate under the seat. When we went to look at the chassis number, the seller went very red faced. Apparently he had it 5 months, but motortax.ie revealed he bought it in January. We asked him twice how long he had it, before explaining to him we knew he only had it since Jan.

Plus the fact the car was previously an English import...

I've noticed alot of cars seem to be this way lately, and with clocking etc. ripe, you just cannot be careful enough.

colm_mcm

Link?

L-M

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1940475

RandomAccess

One for the Guards? Or have I missed/misread something..

L-M

I personally wouldn't be interested in taking it any further. I'm sure there are plenty more out there like it too!

fonecrusher1

Thanks for the heads up LM.:)

redsteveireland

Would you not just report it to donedeal anyway, 'car not as advertised" or something maybe save some poor fecker from getting caught out.

Kristopherus

Limerick man wrote: »

I personally wouldn't be interested in taking it any further. I'm sure there are plenty more out there like it too!

Have you no iota of responsibility on you that might save come other sucker from being ripped off?:(

v240gltse

hi limerick_man

this should be reported to the garda as i would hate to see someone a lot less knowledgeable than yourself been caught by this pr1ck and then suffering either a repossession or huge financial bills to put it right

we gotta look out for one another ,there's far too many gangsters out there willing and smiling while they rip us off

just my tuppence worth


regards

brendan

giant_midget

As above do the right thing and ring the Garda, On another note...and i don't mean to be nasty but you should no better than to go looking at (probably already clocked) smelly taxi from a taxi driver.

Vertakill

Fair play for the detective work...

But I don't understand how you'd take the time to post this but won't report it to the Gardai?
You can almost guarantee some poor fuker will buy without realising the extent of the matter.

It'd take you about 5 minutes on the phone to report this and you don't even give your name or any contact details. So once you've made the call and given all the details, your job is done.

I found a 1.7 Puma for sale on Donedeal and I had proof it was clocked. I reported it to the National Consumer Agency and also to the local Garda station of where the car was being sold from.
Donedeal won't close the advert until they have something from the Gardai etc.

NCA = LoCall 1890 432 432 or 01 402 5555

L-M

giant_midget wrote: »

As above do the right thing and ring the Garda, On another note...and i don't mean to be nasty but you should no better than to go looking at (probably already clocked) smelly taxi from a taxi driver.

I'm not being smart but if you actually read the post you'll see we didn't realise it was a taxi until we were in Cork and and half way through viewing it.

Lads, I've reported things to the Gardaí before I've only cringed at the response I've gotten. I've also done a similar thing recently trying to help people not waste a journey and it turned back on me, so I'm not going to go any further.

Edit: Just sent this to donedeal,

Hi,

Just spent the evening heading to Cork from Limerick to view this car to realise it's currently registered as a taxi. I think this is a fairly important bit of information that has been left out of the add and would immediately turn off a potential buyer. Also the condition of the body work and a few other things would leave me to believe this car is not genuine.

Regards,
Gary

Vertakill

Limerick man wrote: »

Lads, I've reported things to the Gardaí before I've only cringed at the response I've gotten. I've also done a similar thing recently trying to help people not waste a journey and it turned back on me, so I'm not going to go any further.

Poor form, to be honest. You're knowingly ignoring something that is going to fuk someone over, which isn't much better than the lad selling the car.

As I've said, when you ring the NCA, they don't ask for any name or contact details. The hotline is specifically for reporting this kind of thing and once you give the information about the car, you can sit back and be happy that you've done your bit and leave it up to the professionals to sort out.

They may or may not catch yer man out, but at least you can sit back and know you've done the right thing.
Ignoring it because of 1 or 2 bad experiences is a cop out.

I know this post sounds a bit harsh, considering this thread was about helping others not buy a dodgy car... but you must see my point here.

L-M

I rang that hotline before while I was travelling behind a drunk driver. I was right behind him and I followed him for a number of miles. I rang them, they asked me which direction he was heading yada yada yada. I followed him for another few miles and then had to go about my own journey. 3 days later I get a phonecall saying they've found him and am I willing to go to court...

Court? 3 days later? Complete waste of time. We all have our reasons. The reason I put up this thread is try and get people to be more vigilant when buying a used car. People are getting caught day in day out with used cars, and trying to find a genuine car in this country is getting very hard.

I might do a "How to buy a used car in Ireland" guide, to try help some people from getting ripped off.

unkel

Limerick man wrote: »

Hi,

Just spent the evening heading to Cork from Limerick to view this car to realise it's currently registered as a taxi. I think this is a fairly important bit of information that has been left out of the add and would immediately turn off a potential buyer.

Completely pointless to report that to donedeal. The seller doesn't have to state in the ad that the car is (or has ever been) a taxi. The buyer is supposed to ask that question...

L-M

unkel wrote: »

Completely pointless to report that to donedeal. The seller doesn't have to state in the ad that the car is (or has ever been) a taxi. The buyer is supposed to ask that question...

Very little people will ask the question has the car previously been a taxi. It should be stated in the add, it's in no way fair to leave someone travel a 2.5 hour round trip without divulging that piece of information.

For all the folks on the moral high ground I suggest ye ring the AGS confidential line and tell them that



has been viewed by a lad who was interested in buying it and that it has a a 2nd chassis plate on over the original, was previously stolen and that Alex @ 0851131382 is selling it in Cork. If ye really want to help out ring Alex and pretend ye want to view it and get his address off him.

As folks are suggesting to LimerickMan it is a confidential line so anyone else ringing will carry as much weight as LimerickMan.

Everyone can sleep easy then.

L-M

I'd just like to clarify I didn't say the car was previously stolen, I said my friend's previous car turned out to be stolen!

Sorry for any misunderstanding.

Limerick man

Limerick man wrote: »

I'd just like to clarify I didn't say the car was previously stolen, I said my friend's previous car turned out to be stolen!

Sorry for any misunderstanding.

Oh, I thought it was this actual car again with false plates on it

L-M

RoverJames wrote: »

Oh, I thought it was this actual car again with false plates on it

It could well be the same thing, we didn't stay around long to find out any more about the car.

fonecrusher1

Heres the thing. If you'd said you had contacted the gards about the car you would have had people complaining that you were being overly suspicious & jumping to conclusions.

You have reported to us that you are not confident that the car is genuine from what you have seen. I think thats fair enough. At least you told us. Unfortunately some people will whinge that you didn't report it to the gards, the same people would also whinge if you did.

Ya can't win here. Ive seen it many times in the past on boards. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.

L-M

Yes I'm just trying to get people to be more cautious. I'm currently writing a How to on buying used cars. Onto my fourth page, I'll proof read it a few times before I throw it up.

unkel

Limerick man wrote: »

It should be stated in the add, it's in no way fair to leave someone travel a 2.5 hour round trip without divulging that piece of information.

Can't see why it should be stated in the ad. People who buy privately should either know to ask and know to do a car check (on line) on it. If not they risk being burnt and it will be 100% their own fault and the law will be 100% against them...

If you want (relative) piece of mind, you need to either buy from a reputable dealer with a warranty, or know your stuff (or bring someone who does)

L-M

You're missing my point. He told us himself when we went down. Honestly I don't think we'd have noticed.

unkel

Limerick man wrote: »

You're missing my point. He told us himself when we went down.

You said it should be in the ad if it's a taxi or not. And you give out to donedeal about it. You should be giving out to yourself instaid

(insert name)

RoverJames wrote: »

For all the folks on the moral high ground I suggest ye ring the AGS confidential line and tell them that



has been viewed by a lad who was interested in buying it and that it has a a 2nd chassis plate on over the original, was previously stolen and that Alex @ 0851131382 is selling it in Cork. If ye really want to help out ring Alex and pretend ye want to view it and get his address off him.

As folks are suggesting to LimerickMan it is a confidential line so anyone else ringing will carry as much weight as LimerickMan.

Everyone can sleep easy then.

Possibly not stolen even if it is a ringer. I've heard of two of the same car being bought and fitted with the same number roof sign and used in two towns in the same county. Not sure how it works though because aside from the reg not matching the tax disc, the non-legit car wouldn't be getting the cheap tax, or maybe a scanner and a colour laser printer cn solve that

Mc Love

The hotline works LimerickMan - i rang it before when there was a car with no rear lights in front of me - they were waiting in the road up ahead. Got caught rotten

Niallhealy

Limerick man wrote: »

Yes I'm just trying to get people to be more cautious. I'm currently writing a How to on buying used cars. Onto my fourth page, I'll proof read it a few times before I throw it up.

Limerick man - The national consumer agency has a v good guide on buying second hand cars here http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/Guides-to-Consumer-Law/Buying-a-car/

There is also a booklet from the NCA which has a checklist of things to look out for and questions to ask when buying a car here:
http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/Our-booklets/NCA_guide_to_buying_a_car.pdf

I was pretty green a couple of cars ago and thought they were handy to have.
Cheers

L-M

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056198864

Mine is there Niall.

Owen

On another note of being careful - myself and a friend have both got calls about our cars for sale from Dublin, pretty much the same story, older guy, into the car, wanting to know if Cash is okay and haggling a bit on price. We both said Cash is fine if we bring it to our respective banks and have them count/check it - and we heard no more. Apparently, there's a glut of fake 50 Euro notes now doing the rounds which are very accurate - so if you are taking cash, be damn careful.

PaintDoctor

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Apparently, there's a glut of fake 50 Euro notes now doing the rounds which are very accurate - so if you are taking cash, be damn careful.

Often a good idea never to send off the change of ownership form until you are 100% sure the fundage is ok after selling a car. At least if they give you a load of dud 50s the car won't go into their name and you have an address for the Gardai to follow up. Folks buying cars with loads of fake cash are no doubt of interesting backgrounds and have fingers in other pies too.

L-M

I was talking to a fella last night. His uncle was buying a 520d. Advertised for €18,000. He met him somewhere in the midlands, and half way through the test drive the seller asked how much he was willing to offer. He offered him 17,000 cash there and then, and the seller pulled a gun on him and took the bob.

Fake plates etc. on the car.

I have to reiterate, be so very, very careful and for the love of god never bring that much cash with you!!!

ottostreet

Limerick man wrote: »

I was talking to a fella last night. His uncle was buying a 520d. Advertised for €18,000. He met him somewhere in the midlands, and half way through the test drive the seller asked how much he was willing to offer. He offered him 17,000 cash there and then, and the seller pulled a gun on him and took the bob.

Fake plates etc. on the car.

I have to reiterate, be so very, very careful and for the love of god never bring that much cash with you!!!

F****ing hell. thats scary

scoobymunster

Jaysus that's scary. I thought there was a limit to how much notes the bank can give out? Did the guy meet him at a house or did they meet up at a car park or something?

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Limerick man wrote: »

I was talking to a fella last night. His uncle was buying a 520d. Advertised for €18,000. He met him somewhere in the midlands, and half way through the test drive the seller asked how much he was willing to offer. He offered him 17,000 cash there and then, and the seller pulled a gun on him and took the bob.

Fake plates etc. on the car.

I have to reiterate, be so very, very careful and for the love of god never bring that much cash with you!!!

To be fair, why would anybody with an ounce of common sense meet some random guy to look at a car with 17k in his pocket?

I feel sorry for the guy, but if he used a bit of sense, he wouldn't have lost 17k

Shannonsider

BDJW wrote: »

To be fair, why would anybody with an ounce of common sense meet some random guy to look at a car with 17k in his pocket?

I feel sorry for the guy, but if he used a bit of sense, he wouldn't have lost 17k

Lads, we've all been there - if you REALLY want something you'll go to all the rounds to get it - including blocking out that judgement that usually comes with hindsight/experience.

I could just imagine the same thing happening to a lot of people - scary indeed. If someone told him your man would have a gun I'm fairly sure he would not have brought 17k in cash.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Shannonsider wrote: »

Lads, we've all been there - if you REALLY want something you'll go to all the rounds to get it - including blocking out that judgement that usually comes with hindsight/experience.

I could just imagine the same thing happening to a lot of people - scary indeed. If someone told him your man would have a gun I'm fairly sure he would not have brought 17k in cash.

I don't agree at all with your post. It was idiotic, pure and simple. You may let your judgement be clouded at cartain things, you may even take 3 or 4k with you while viewing a car. But 17k? That is a whole different thing. Especially on a popular car like a 520d, it wasn't as if he didn't buy that one that day, that he would never get another one :rolleyes:

As I said, I do feel sorry for the guy, and wouldn't wish what happened to him on anybody, but he made an idiotic decision and unfortunately paid the price for it.

the_syco

BDJW wrote: »

As I said, I do feel sorry for the guy, and wouldn't wish what happened to him on anybody, but he made an idiotic decision and unfortunately paid the price for it.

Agreed. A €500 deposit is a good bit of money, but it isn't that much in comparison to the total. Also, get a receipt.

challengemaster

I'd agree with LM on this one - reporting it is pointless, as nothing will come of it. The gardaí either just aren't interested or won't do anything - as is usually the case with anything.

L-M

I saw this Merc in Limerick today. Fairly sure it was a new owner in it... Kinda of annoying to see.