I had a guy ring up wanting to buy a motorbike I was selling. He watched my house and then called me. I saw a car parked outside and assumed it was his. ( Was someone visiting my neighbour it turned out ).
Long story short, He took it for a test ride and never came back.
Wonder if this is what happened here.
apollo11,
Aug 9, 7:24am
Might be ay. Insurance won't pay out if the keys were voluntarily handed over. I'm planning on selling a bike soon, think I'll be a bit more cautious, maybe ask for car keys before test ride or something.
supern0va,
Aug 9, 7:45am
Car can be stolen. I think I would ask for the cash first. and I will refund it back on return if youre not happy with the test ride. on the understanding once you agree its for you and you ride off home, their is no going back.
I sold a Harley on Trademe and luckily the buyer was from the North Island and paid for it sight unseen and got Bike Tranz to pick it up. Test rides could have been dodgy for that possibly.
marte,
Aug 10, 9:24am
I have heard of people putting oil in the coolant while out on a 'test drive', Then claiming it's got a "Blown head gasket" & offering scrap value.
A couple of trademe adds have mentioned 'headgasket problems' that have happened after the cars have been put up for sale.
On the other hand, I have recently bought 2 cars with "Blown head gaskets". One had a broken coolant pump belt ($12). The other, a broken oil cooler. I pulled one off a scrap car for free. Or its $105 ( Chinese) - $350 (factory) + oil\filter\time\radiator flush\coolant\ dH2O ($150)
reb53,
Aug 11, 4:50am
There was a scam in the UK where the potential buyer would turn up, and ask for a test drive. As surety he'd leave the keys to his Audi, Merc, whatever, and point across the road to it. Trouble was the only thing he owned were a bunch of keys. Guess that wouldn't work if the potential seller recognised the pointed out car as his neighbours !
socram,
Aug 11, 4:56am
Ask for the driving licence. Take a photo of the person. Hang on to the licence.
I have a jar with about 100 car keys in it. Admittedly, many are pre remote.
apollo11,
Oct 30, 9:18am
But in the case of this guy who lost his bike, he knew exactly who the guy is, and seeing a licence wouldn't have changed anything.
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