Sorry its quite lengthy
Approx 2 years ago now, hubby was looking to purchase a dual cab 4x4 after an uninsured driver failed to give way and slammed into him riding our former ute off.
An Aside
We were already wounded from the insurance payout. 2 weeks before the accident we paid to have the ute put on gas (2k after rebate) - we did not update our insurance company. We also paid the insurance renewal without reading the small print. It was the first time we went agreed value and not market value. The ins co changed the 'agreed value' to 5k when 12mths ago it was 8800 when we had purchased the car. Becasue I paid the renewel I agreed to that 5k value. Lesson learnt!
Police think justice is the driver getting a $300 fine for failing to give way.
Back to the purchase
8mths later hubby is still looking. So this ute comes up on car sales. Hubby takes mate down to test drive and check it out (normally I go). Seller does RWC, hubby catches trains to pick up (3.5hrs away) and hands over the cheque and collects the paperwork - gets home really late.
Next morning I check out the ute. Big rips in seat underneath the car seat covers, big dint in the side. Previously unoticed by hubby (it was dark when he looked at it with his mate he says). I read through the RWC and see that some items did not have the box ticked. I asked hubby and no he did not check this at handover. I said Vic Roads are not going to allow the transfer if this is not complete.
By this stage hubby is mighty cheesed off with me. He has his new pride and joy and I am the big bad negative wolf who is nit picking at everything and I was told "next time you buy the car!" But my 6th sense was on fire! We get in the ute to head down to VicRoads to do the offical transfer when I read that the name on the paper work is different to the seller hubby dealt with. I am feeling sick at this stage. I look for the log books - none! The manual is in there but it has a different rego written on it. Hubby still shity thinks I am just being a b**ch. And he was mighty p*****d off.
Still fossicking through the little compartments I find a stack of business cards the name matching the paperwork. While hubby is driving us in to town I text the number on the business card asking if he had a Triton Ute rego XXX. He rings back - yes he did own the ute but he sold it 4mths earlier for 1/3 price we had just paid - that name was different again from the seller. I asked how may k's and it was in 400's. Clock said 180's. I said thank you very much and then turned to hubby and said. Go straight to the bank. The cheque was handed over at 6pm the night before it was 9.30am if we were lucky he hasn't banked it yet. We went to our normal branch but hubby organsied cheque from the other branch so we had to head across town. Short version we stopped the cheque and money was transferred from holding account back to our savings.
Next stop Police station - becasue if the guy goes to bank cheque and it bounces he may report his car stolen. It may not even be his car. Police were not interested in the crime of altering a spedometer becasue they wouldn't waste their valuable time trying to prove the exact culprit. Becasue we stopped the cheque no crime / fraud had been committed and anyway it was a civil matter - not a Police Matter. We were gobsmacked!
So still in the Police Station hubby rings the seller and tells him that we have stopped the cheque because the speedo has been altered and he mislead us. He gives hubby the spiel about selling the ute for a friend whose name matched the one given to us by the last real owner. Hubby told him that was not the story he had when he test drove the car. Hubby told him he could collect his car from the Police Station where we reported the incident and we want the cash deposit returned also.
Not wanting to pick the car up from outside the station he agreed to meet at local Hungry Jacks. Interestingly a tow truck driver met us there and gave us our cash deposit, loaded the car and off he went. He also mentioned that the seller owned a car yard (Ringwood area).
We actually could have done the transfer at Vic Roads(unless the RWC was an issue) and kept the ute. He would have had to prove he owned the car and take civil action. But better to wash our hands of it.
I was so damn relieved that we had not lost our hard earned money. Still no thank you or apology from hubby. He blamed his lack of DD on the fact he was tired of looking for a ute.
3 weeks later
Ute is on ebay. It has a spiel about the incorrect odometer - something about him having to put in a new dash so the odometer is incorrect. In the Q&A at the bottom someone asked about the condition and left a mobile number. The response from the seller said that it was in excellent condition. I sent a text to the interested person suggesting that they physically look and test drive the ute before buying as it was almost sold to us a few weeks earlier.
Lesson Due Diligence!
It took us 16mths to get a ute. There were several other suspect cars we came across which our DD picked up. A lot of them were from the same areas in outer Melbourne.
The one we did eventually buy - I gave the seller a bit of a hard time. He wanted payment, we could take the car and bring it back the next week when he could get the RWC done and then the transfer. I said no deal - yes hubby was sh*ty again. I said it is not even in name. I don't want to take the risk. The seller said his mechanic couldn't do it before Christmas. I rang Holden and they could do the RWC that afternoon. The seller didn't want to pay Holden's fees so another call to his mechanic and it was slotted in for its RWC. We paid and picked up the next day with RWC and in our name when we drove out the yard (It was a car wholesaler). We get to the end of the street and I realised I had not got the insurance. A phone call later and we were set to go.
I am not looking forward to the next time we have to buy a car. I try my hardest to be an optomistic person but life experience says you have to do your DD.
Approx 2 years ago now, hubby was looking to purchase a dual cab 4x4 after an uninsured driver failed to give way and slammed into him riding our former ute off.
An Aside
We were already wounded from the insurance payout. 2 weeks before the accident we paid to have the ute put on gas (2k after rebate) - we did not update our insurance company. We also paid the insurance renewal without reading the small print. It was the first time we went agreed value and not market value. The ins co changed the 'agreed value' to 5k when 12mths ago it was 8800 when we had purchased the car. Becasue I paid the renewel I agreed to that 5k value. Lesson learnt!
Police think justice is the driver getting a $300 fine for failing to give way.
Back to the purchase
8mths later hubby is still looking. So this ute comes up on car sales. Hubby takes mate down to test drive and check it out (normally I go). Seller does RWC, hubby catches trains to pick up (3.5hrs away) and hands over the cheque and collects the paperwork - gets home really late.
Next morning I check out the ute. Big rips in seat underneath the car seat covers, big dint in the side. Previously unoticed by hubby (it was dark when he looked at it with his mate he says). I read through the RWC and see that some items did not have the box ticked. I asked hubby and no he did not check this at handover. I said Vic Roads are not going to allow the transfer if this is not complete.
By this stage hubby is mighty cheesed off with me. He has his new pride and joy and I am the big bad negative wolf who is nit picking at everything and I was told "next time you buy the car!" But my 6th sense was on fire! We get in the ute to head down to VicRoads to do the offical transfer when I read that the name on the paper work is different to the seller hubby dealt with. I am feeling sick at this stage. I look for the log books - none! The manual is in there but it has a different rego written on it. Hubby still shity thinks I am just being a b**ch. And he was mighty p*****d off.
Still fossicking through the little compartments I find a stack of business cards the name matching the paperwork. While hubby is driving us in to town I text the number on the business card asking if he had a Triton Ute rego XXX. He rings back - yes he did own the ute but he sold it 4mths earlier for 1/3 price we had just paid - that name was different again from the seller. I asked how may k's and it was in 400's. Clock said 180's. I said thank you very much and then turned to hubby and said. Go straight to the bank. The cheque was handed over at 6pm the night before it was 9.30am if we were lucky he hasn't banked it yet. We went to our normal branch but hubby organsied cheque from the other branch so we had to head across town. Short version we stopped the cheque and money was transferred from holding account back to our savings.
Next stop Police station - becasue if the guy goes to bank cheque and it bounces he may report his car stolen. It may not even be his car. Police were not interested in the crime of altering a spedometer becasue they wouldn't waste their valuable time trying to prove the exact culprit. Becasue we stopped the cheque no crime / fraud had been committed and anyway it was a civil matter - not a Police Matter. We were gobsmacked!
So still in the Police Station hubby rings the seller and tells him that we have stopped the cheque because the speedo has been altered and he mislead us. He gives hubby the spiel about selling the ute for a friend whose name matched the one given to us by the last real owner. Hubby told him that was not the story he had when he test drove the car. Hubby told him he could collect his car from the Police Station where we reported the incident and we want the cash deposit returned also.
Not wanting to pick the car up from outside the station he agreed to meet at local Hungry Jacks. Interestingly a tow truck driver met us there and gave us our cash deposit, loaded the car and off he went. He also mentioned that the seller owned a car yard (Ringwood area).
We actually could have done the transfer at Vic Roads(unless the RWC was an issue) and kept the ute. He would have had to prove he owned the car and take civil action. But better to wash our hands of it.
I was so damn relieved that we had not lost our hard earned money. Still no thank you or apology from hubby. He blamed his lack of DD on the fact he was tired of looking for a ute.
3 weeks later
Ute is on ebay. It has a spiel about the incorrect odometer - something about him having to put in a new dash so the odometer is incorrect. In the Q&A at the bottom someone asked about the condition and left a mobile number. The response from the seller said that it was in excellent condition. I sent a text to the interested person suggesting that they physically look and test drive the ute before buying as it was almost sold to us a few weeks earlier.
Lesson Due Diligence!
It took us 16mths to get a ute. There were several other suspect cars we came across which our DD picked up. A lot of them were from the same areas in outer Melbourne.
The one we did eventually buy - I gave the seller a bit of a hard time. He wanted payment, we could take the car and bring it back the next week when he could get the RWC done and then the transfer. I said no deal - yes hubby was sh*ty again. I said it is not even in name. I don't want to take the risk. The seller said his mechanic couldn't do it before Christmas. I rang Holden and they could do the RWC that afternoon. The seller didn't want to pay Holden's fees so another call to his mechanic and it was slotted in for its RWC. We paid and picked up the next day with RWC and in our name when we drove out the yard (It was a car wholesaler). We get to the end of the street and I realised I had not got the insurance. A phone call later and we were set to go.
I am not looking forward to the next time we have to buy a car. I try my hardest to be an optomistic person but life experience says you have to do your DD.
