Im in the process of offloading my current car before its time to pop over to Germany to collect the new BMW.
However, a thought came to me which someone here may know the answer to.
What actions can (should) you take to reduce the risk of a potential buyer who's having a test drive in the motor you are selling, going past a speed scamera above the limit and setting the thing off?
You'd expect people to slow down especially if you told them to but what if they don't? Anyone any ideas \ hints etc?
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We would ask for potential customers to produce their licience, before a test drive.You then have full details of them, should anything unforseen transpire.
Good idea to check your/their insurance is OK too.
We were informed by the local constabulary, that the registered owner could, in theory,acquire 11 penalty points, without even getting into the vehicle. Now that WOULD be a scary test drive!!
Mark
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You may also want to bear in mind the insurance question. Third party only and suddenly your picking up 6 points for allowing a person to drive your car uninsured. Get them to produce the insurance schedule/certificate.
dan
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All good info but whats to stop them borrowing someone else's license \ insurance certificate? Would telling plod they produced such evidence satisfy them?
Crikey, this is raising more questions than I thought. Perhaps I should just take it to the dealer's and ask them to give me a cash price for it?
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All good advice above.
Put yourself in Plod's shoes when weird stories/excuses are trotted out even if true. He has to deal with facts proving beyond any reasonable doubt. Where is your evidence which would seal the truth once and for all? OK you PC guys a blokes word is gospel. Wrong in today's society. So collect the evidence before hand or as you go along.
The Insurance point is very valid. Owners allow every Tom, Jack and Harry to jump in and drive without checking hard evidence that they are Insured.
Get a witness, preferably not connected to you.
Want to be super safe? Give the bloke a glass of water and a fag. Preserve the glass for fingerprints and the fag end for DNA testing.
Get the wife to take a photo of the two of you together.
Easier still if they cannot prove who they are, you drive and let them listen the engine etc.
DVD
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When purchasing a 206 for my son recently one prospective seller asked for all drivers details so he could be insured on the sellers insurance. The guy said it cost about £8 per driver. He also wanted to see his driving license before he would let him drive the car.
Although this is not infallable he can then take the extra check of taking the reg of the car we turned up in and if a photo card license is used you can obviously see if the driver is as per the photo.
I think the guy took all reasonable precautions and would have a good case if a prospective purchaser either got flashed or pranged the motor on the test drive.
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Whenever I've sold cars I've simply said the car isn't insured any driver, and I'm not prepared to allow them to drive on their insurance, which would be 3rd Party only even if they have Comp. on their car. I ofer to do any reasonable checks they want (hard braking, pulling away at low revs etc) and I've never had anyone walk away yet!
Also, when buying privately, I don't drive. I find being a passenger makes it easier to listen and look about, plus you find how they've driven the car - eg do they give it a hard time, slip the clutch or whatever. You can do a few checks on their drive, like checking the feel of the controls, checking the clutch biting point etc, and I've found that's been OK. I've often been offered test drives without any questions being asked about insurance.
Regards
John S
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So true John,
I was offered a test drive when we went see a private sale Mondeo which we subsequently bought.
I refused, as my insurance only covered driving other cars on a third party basis. The owner took us for a spin and all seemed fine. No problems in the last year.
On a previous occasion some years ago I was being driven (too fast) under the same circumstances in an Audi 100 with 60K on the clock.
As the owner was concentrating on his driving, I took the opportunity to look in the glove box at the service schedule. It said, Next 6000 mile service due at 100,000 miles.
( figures from memory but may be wrong, get the gist?)
The owner seemed genuinely surprise to find his car had done so many miles. Someone had given it a haircut. (the trade term for clocking)
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