The car itself is not the issue. .

When I went to look at the car the first thing I noticed when I arrived was the sellers apartment had a SOLD sign up. I rang the buzzer. No Reply. I rang several times with no reply. I then phoned her mobile number and the seller said she'd be right down. She in the car park much too quickly to have come from the apartment. Might be innocent enough, I've no way of telling.

The V5 address was some 20 miles away. She said she doesn't use her home address as her official address. Her Driving License address matched the address on the V5 and therefore wasn't her home address either. Again might be innocent enough but again I've no way of knowing.

She couldn't supply an insurance certificate for me to verify the car was insured at that address because she'd cancelled the insurance when she got her new car, which was parked outside the gates. When I mentioned that I'd need to do an HPI check she told me the dealer she bought it from had done an HPI check when she bought the car two years ago. I looked through the documentation (there was loads of it plus a fully stamped service book) but no HPI report. It was then she said I have a receipt that shows I paid in full. I asked to see it but told her that didn't prove there wasn't outstanding finance on the car.

The receipt was nothing more than a hand written piece of paper. Her name wasn't on it, the price wasn't on it. No headed paper, no vat reg number, nothing you'd expect from a dealer receipt. Just the make, model, reg of the car, miles, a signature and the words Paid In Full. It's hard to imagine someone accepting it as a receipt for a private sale, never mind a receipt from an independent dealer. When I pushed her on details of the dealer she was vague, couldn't name them and quickly started talking about how people were accusing her of being a dealer, and how ridiculous she found it.

Anyway between the Sold sign, no answer from the apartment itself, the address issues and the dodgy dealer receipt I'm a little hesitant about the whole affair.

Am I just being over cautious or would that ring alarm bells with anyone else, and does anyone have any suggestions how I could put those concerns to rest?

Cheers