Follow our buying tips to make sure you end up with your dream machine, and not a nightmare on wheels.
One – Location: If you’re buying privately, make sure you view it at the registered keeper’s address (as shown on the V5/logbook).
Two – Provenance: Always check the history of the car. One vital check the buyer can do is to find all the VIN/chassis numbers on the vehicle to make sure they match each other, and then use the HPI Check to ensure they tally with the registration number of the vehicle.
Three – Documents: Check the vehicle’s V5/logbook. Stolen V5 documents are currently being used to accompany cloned vehicles but the HPI Check includes a unique stolen V5 document check as standard. This will confirm whether or not the document is one that the DVLA have recorded as stolen. The vehicle should also be accompanied by a service history and MOT certificates if the vehicle is over 3 years old – make sure you see these too.
Four – Price: Know the car’s market value. No genuine seller will want to lose money on their sale. If you are paying more than 30% below the retail market value, then be on your guard.
Five – Payment: Don’t pay with a substantial amount of cash, particularly if the car is costing you more than £3,000. Some cloners will take a bankers draft as part payment, because the cash part is sufficient profit without ever cashing the bankers draft. Most crooks selling cloned cars would rather walk away from a sale than take a payment that could be traced back to them. Despite strong advice to buyers to pay via the banking system, HPI still hear of many buyers who go on to pay in cash and subsequently find out that the car is a clone, and that they’ve lost both their money and the vehicle.
HPI plays an active role in working with Association of Chief Police Officer’s Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service to help solve vehicle crime, and is the only vehicle provenance check provider to include clone cover within its guarantee (terms and conditions apply). If you follow HPI’s buying advice, this can provide up to £30,000 financial reimbursement in the event of the car not being everything it seems – including a clone. For full details of our terms and conditions, click here.
All, Buying advice, Cloned vehicles, Insurance write-offs, Miscellaneous, National Mileage Register, Outstanding finance, Scam alerts |
