Car buying...what are your thoughts on this......

[tobz.]

I've arranged to view a car on thursday which ticks all the right boxes of my long search. However the guy has only just taken possession of the car himself, now he's been told he has a company car coming so he has decided to sell, he therefore hasn't received the logbook in his name yet.
If he has the new keeper supplement can I simply take that off him and send it off with the relevant form to register it in my name?
If the car is a good 'un should I leave a small deposit and tell him to call me once he recieves the logbook and I'll go and pay in full then?
Should I trust him and buy the car and have him forward on the new keeper supplement and send off the logbook to be registered in my name? (baring in my mind I will be going to his house to view the car and I'll know where he lives, surely a shady character wouldn't do that)
Should I forget it and ask him to call me if it's still for sale once he has the logbook?

Lots of questions but I don't wanna get mugged for over ?3k

Toby

[Gambit]

he probably is genuine but i wouldnt part with any money till you have the log book in your hand & HPI'd it also

[gibby]

I agree with Gambit, just the little slip wouldn't be enough for me, but you could leave a small deposit though of say a tenner (as good will) and arrange that he gives it back only if he sells the car to someone else in the mean time. I don't know if you can get the logbook by using the slip as that's the proof of ownership until the full V5 comes through. If the guy is really genuine he'll understand. It's a lot of money to take a chance with with someone you don't know.

Just as a guidline, it took just over two weeks for my camper V5 doc to come through so his could be on its way at any time. Why not give the DVLA a call and ask their advice.

[jte]

If he is genuine he will be fine with waiting for the V5.  I agree, leave a small deposit and complete the deal when the V5 comes.

[tobz.]

I gotta phone him again tonight to see if he managed to get hold of the previous owner for an update. I guess if I ask him what the plate is then I could phone DVLA on wednesday and see what they say.
Yeah I think you're all right that any genuine seller would be fine about taking a deposit and waiting for the V5.
I've never had an HPi check carried out, I've looked at their website and it says an online report is available immediately. However if I'm standing on the guys drive and I've just arranged a check using my mobile how do I actually get the info there and then in order to make an immediate decision whether to buy it or not? If anybody has experience with hpi checks that would be apprieciated.

[Gambit]

get the reg & HPI it before you go view it. that way you have all the details in front of you

or ring these ones when your standing in his drive! they are not as detailed as HPI but will cover everythin you need to know! and they are cheaper

http://www.carwatchuk.com
0845 3303303

[tobz.]

Cheers for the link gambit that may come in handy.
I've just been looking round the hpi site some more and they offer a more basic check designed for if you have a few cars lined up to look at. It's only ?20 and it just covers the important stuff like vehicle identity, previous accident damage, has it been declared a total loss. You then have the option to upgrade to the full check for the remaining cost at a later date. I think I'll get one of these carried out before I go and look at it.

[Overseer]

i'd wait for the v5 myself..  it shouldnt be long coming..

[tobz.]

Ideally I'd wait until it arrived before even going to view the car. However the guy seems to have quite a queue of people waiting to view (I know I know all sellers would claim that anyway) and in the case of a j plate 3door oak green valver I'm inclined to believe him. He says he already has somebody who will be viewing on saturday if I don't buy it and he had another couple of answer phone messages to reply to.
I hate being under pressure when buying a car but I have already missed a couple this year through not acting quick enough.

[tobz.]

Well.......I spoke to the guy selling the car again last night and he was happy to give me the reg plate, VIN number and a landline number etc. He also said he would be happy with a deposit until the V5 turns up, he had spoke to the previous owner and it has been sent to dvla. I ran the plate through that rac plate checker and it came up last change of keeper as july this year so it looks as if it been processed.

I also carried out the HPI check today, the only thing that showed up is that tha plate was changed for a while during its life (it wore AMG 16T for a while about a year after new). The only thing this threw up was that the car has actually had 2 more owners than it currently states on the logbook. Everything else came back clear no accidents, finance, mileage discrepancy etc etc.
Although I was a little bit dissapointed by the extra owners should I be concerned about it really???

Toby