Have I been robbed?

Hoop66

I bought an MX-5 from a guy about 4 months ago. Paid cash.

He had the logbook with him, and I signed and filled in my address and he said he would send it off. Seemed like a decent bloke, and he had obviously looked after the car.

Now, 4 months down the line I still haven't had the logbook back from the revenue. I tried to ring his phone but it rings once and cuts out.

I went on to the revenue website and put in the reg and all that came back was that there had been no change of owner in th last 3 months. This was only recently though, so I guess it's possible that he did it on time 4 months ago and the revenue have fucked up getting the logbook to me somehow.

Or have I been robbed?

smcgiff

Hoop66 wrote: »

I bought an MX-5 from a guy about 4 months ago. Paid cash.

He had the logbook with him, and I signed and filled in my address and he said he would send it off. Seemed like a decent bloke, and he had obviously looked after the car.

Now, 4 months down the line I still haven't had the logbook back from the revenue. I tried to ring his phone but it rings once and cuts out.

I went on to the revenue website and put in the reg and all that came back was that there had been no change of owner in th last 3 months. This was only recently though, so I guess it's possible that he did it on time 4 months ago and the revenue have fucked up getting the logbook to me somehow.

Or have I been robbed?

From where did you buy it off him? His home?

Hoop66

No, he came out to me, as I wanted my mechanic to take a look at it.

smcgiff

Hoop66 wrote: »

No, he came out to me, as I wanted my mechanic to take a look at it.

It's best to meet private sellers at their home address for reasons that are now coming clear to you.

There's a way of getting a replacement ownership cert, but if you bought a stolen car it will come to light.

Did you get it at a particularly good price?

Hoop66

No, it was pretty standard.

5k for an '04 mk 2.5 with 94k miles on it. He wanted 5.5, but it needed timing belt and water pump done so I managed to get him down a bit.

Now that I think of it, I should have his address. He gave me a load of paperwork with it, all the bills and service history etc. I had a look at it when I bough the car, just to cast my eye over it but all I saw then was a thing from Mazda UK (he bought it when he lived in the UK and imported it himself when he moved back) with his UK address on it.

Must dig into that and find something more recent.

Thanks for jogging the memory!

smcgiff

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/buying_or_selling_a_vehicle/change_of_ownership.html

You can download the relevant pdf form on the website...

Replacing lost/misplaced documents

It is possible to obtain replacement documents associated with changes to vehicle ownership. List of documents and the cost of their replacement is as follows;

Document Replacement cost
Registration book/certificate €12
Vehicle licensing certificate €12
Tax disc €6

To obtain replacement documents, download and complete form RF134 (pdf) and have this form witnessed by a member of the Garda Siochana at a Garda station. Forward your completed form with the appropriate fee to your Motor Tax Office.

ironclaw

Hoop66 wrote: »

No, he came out to me, as I wanted my mechanic to take a look at it.

Did you back up his claim of ownership? Or proof of address?

For peace of mind, I'd wander down to the Garda station and ask has it been reported stolen. I'd also be checking the VIN and license plate match. Unlikely anything suspect given the time elapsed, could have been genuinely lost in the post and the seller emigrated.

Worst comes to it, you can make a statement under the Commissioner of Oaths and get the logbook that way. Complicated though.

tossy

There is a certain value and age of car below which i wouldn't expect to be brought to a sellers home,nor would i expect a seller to want to come to my home, i must add i've never sold a dodgy car and have always sold cars in very good condition.

I would put that value at around 3/4k or so (not hard and fast) but when you buy a car of a certain vintage for that amount or below you are taking a risk no matter how well maintained it is. I don't want the hassle of a seller who feels he or she was hard done by showing up at my house - at 3/4k and over a certain number of years old it's 100% sold as seen.

chrysagon

U know that happened me last yr with a very prominent garage..after a few weeks waiting i rang them back after finding on tax site that the vehicle didnt change ownership..the mistake was sorted as the sales man presumed he sent the apt information via email..ended up he didnt.. prob sorted very quick.

Moneymaker

It may have been a genuine oversight. It can happen.

darragh o meara

Ring the dept office in Shannon that's in charge of vehicle registration, they'll tell you if its been sorted or not. Its not uncommon for post to go missing either to or from them.

If its not been sorted, I'm pretty sure you can get a form signed by a oath commisioner ( could be called something else ) to say that you legally and lawfully bought the car.

Failing that, you could ask a guard, if you knew one, to have a look and see who its registered too and give them a visit. Not exactly legal,but if your being messed around, he she might help out.

Hoop66

Result! The car is in my name, and the cert was sent out in August.

So I'll need to get a replacement. I can live with a €12 fee, rather than a stolen car!

Thanks for all your help.

goz83

tossy wrote: »

There is a certain value and age of car below which i wouldn't expect to be brought to a sellers home,nor would i expect a seller to want to come to my home, i must add i've never sold a dodgy car and have always sold cars in very good condition.

I would put that value at around 3/4k or so (not hard and fast) but when you buy a car of a certain vintage for that amount or below you are taking a risk no matter how well maintained it is. I don't want the hassle of a seller who feels he or she was hard done by showing up at my house - at 3/4k and over a certain number of years old it's 100% sold as seen.

I wouldn't care if it was being sold for €100. My view is that an honest sale is conducted at the sellers home address and not at a Topaz garage, or Tesco car park.

I recently sold my brothers Mondeo. It was sold from my house. It turned out that during his ownership, a friend of one of his work mates got a fake nct for the car. My brother hadn't a clue. The seller was able to to contact me and tell me the disc was fake. He was offered his money back, or €100 back, for the inconvence. He took the cash. Car was genuinely in excellent shape and was only sold for €800, but the buyer was able to come back to us to rectify it. The lad that done the fake disc has since skipped across the pond to England, the scum bag. He was sneaky enough to pretend to bring the car to the centre himself, to get it tested by a mate. My brother didn't even know that you are supposed to get a full cert and test sheet, so was totally fooled.

So, I would always insist on a private address. If the seller won't do that, then I am not a buyer.

mgbgt1978

goz83 wrote: »

I wouldn't care if it was being sold for €100. My view is that an honest sale is conducted at the sellers home address and not at a Topaz garage, or Tesco car park.

I recently sold my brothers Mondeo. It was sold from my house. It turned out that during his ownership, a friend of one of his work mates got a fake nct for the car. My brother hadn't a clue. The seller was able to to contact me and tell me the disc was fake. He was offered his money back, or €100 back, for the inconvence. He took the cash. Car was genuinely in excellent shape and was only sold for €800, but the buyer was able to come back to us to rectify it. The lad that done the fake disc has since skipped across the pond to England, the scum bag. He was sneaky enough to pretend to bring the car to the centre himself, to get it tested by a mate. My brother didn't even know that you are supposed to get a full cert and test sheet, so was totally fooled.

So, I would always insist on a private address. If the seller won't do that, then I am not a buyer.

Are you sure your Brother should even be allowed to drive Goz ????
Only Kidding, but it does go to show that there is always a dodgy guy around every corner when it comes to Motoring.

Cheensbo

I totally understand when a seller doesn't want to meet at their house (all I ever buy/sell is cheap) because, you never know who is coming to view a motor, I much prefer to meet at a neutral venue when selling anything myself, not because I'd be hiding anything, but because you could be dealing with someone who's eyeing up much more than just the car for sale.

Also comes from the point of people who think that a private sale comes with a warranty, a friend of mine sold a car via private sale from his house about a year ago, the car had a major mechanical faliure after about 2 months. The buyer arrived to the house with his surly mates demanding money back and threatening violence.

Yes you'll say call the guards etc etc, but all of that nonsense can be totally avoided by not showing people where you live when you don't need to.

Carry I.D to show who you are and to match with the vlc, there's absolutely no need to show a buyer your house.

ION08

Cheensbo wrote: »

I totally understand when a seller doesn't want to meet at their house (all I ever buy/sell is cheap) because, you never know who is coming to view a motor, I much prefer to meet at a neutral venue when selling anything myself, not because I'd be hiding anything, but because you could be dealing with someone who's eyeing up much more than just the car for sale.

Also comes from the point of people who think that a private sale comes with a warranty, a friend of mine sold a car via private sale from his house about a year ago, the car had a major mechanical faliure after about 2 months. The buyer arrived to the house with his surly mates demanding money back and threatening violence.

Yes you'll say call the guards etc etc, but all of that nonsense can be totally avoided by not showing people where you live when you don't need to.

Carry I.D to show who you are and to match with the vlc, there's absolutely no need to show a buyer your house.

I would tend to agree with what youre saying but would your address not be on the VLC anyway for any potential buyer to see!?

Cheensbo

ION08 wrote: »

I would tend to agree with what youre saying but would your address not be on the VLC anyway for any potential buyer to see!?

It sure would be, and it would be up to buyer to make a note of it before the deal is done and the seller sends it off. This way they don't have a hands on opportunity to have a skulk around the place or check out the other toys one might have about the place.

For me, it would be extremely difficult to ascertain where my house is just by my written address, unless the postman is buying it off me :pac:

mickdw

ION08 wrote: »

I would tend to agree with what youre saying but would your address not be on the VLC anyway for any potential buyer to see!?

Not when small time dealer has got his hands on the cert direct from last owner.