So last year, around October, I nearly bought a cloned Range Rover Sport.

I saw it on autotrader and thought, i should not miss out on this before it goes. It was a 2006 4.2 V8 Supercharged one with around 45k on clock. The rest with similar spec were around the £20k mark. However, this one was £15k and I still managed to haggle with him to bring the price down to £13k cash.

I did all the necessary check like hpi, with the vin etc. all came back fine. (with the details supplied by phone once i left)

I initially met him at a petrol station (u shouldnt do this, always go to their trade place/home)

Everything looked fine, honestly, however when i looked at the guy i did think he could have wore better shoes as they were falling apart, so i thought that will be the first thing he gets sorted once he sells it.

Cutting the long story short, the next day when i met him, (to pay for it), he did not have any handbooks with the car, so i got worried here thinking how do i know if this car has really got full history with it. I asked to see the log books (which apparently he gave me the details from) were scans. And he said they are on their way as a private registration was on it and the transfer was in place. Luckily (good job I did this), I rang Hpi and asked them what i need to know if the car is genuine, the lady made me confirm the log book number, vin etc and it came back to be that that specific set of log book numbers were stolen? and she advised I do not make the purchase as it will not be covered under their hpi guarantee.

I managed to walk away this time.

BUT ADVICE TO ANY PERSON WHO DOES A HPI.
- DONT JUST HPI THE REG, DO A FULL CHECK AND TAKE A MECHANIC IF YOU HAVE TOO! OR BUY FROM A TRADER!
- NEVER MEET UP AT PETROL STATIONS
- DONT BUY FROM A GUY WITH TORN SHOES

I WANTED TO SHARE THIS BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE GETTING TRAPPED INTO THIS MESS!

CHEERS FOR READING (IF YOU DID READ THIS BORING STORY) LOL

Valuable advice

You were lucky  RRS gone
Audi SQ5...Gone Audi Q7 S-Line 240 3.0TDI Gone
Audi A6 Allroad Sport 270 3.0TDI

Wow! That's quite a story, and thanks for the tip.

I'm off to buy a new pair of shoes as I didn't realise that my current ones made me look so untrustworthy and shady.......

Jim

also, take someone who is alert with you when seeing a car, not like a mate of mine who just kept repeating the fact i was ''getting a bargain''

ONE MAJOR TIP HERE:

IF A CAR IS HPI CLEAR, IT DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN IT HAS NEVER BEEN IN A COLLISION/BUMP BEFORE. WHEN A CAR IS WRITTEN OFF, ITS BECAUSE THE INSURERS DECIDE NOT TO REPAIR. DON'T ALWAYS RELY ON A HPI. USE COMMON SENSE IF THERES FILLER ALL OVER THE REAR QUARTER, INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT YOUR HPI.

Did you inform the police about this chap? Sounds like he should have his collar felt... 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Did you not call the police or anything? Or did you walk away and leave it at that

Sounds very lucky, the price difference would have started bells ring for me

RRSTDV8 wrote:

Did you inform the police about this chap? Sounds like he should have his collar felt...

So you let someone else run the risk of been ripped off

npinks wrote:

Did you not call the police or anything? Or did you walk away and leave it at that

Sounds very lucky, the price difference would have started bells ring for me

Quote:

the price difference would have started bells ring for me

Nick, these scams work because people get greedy - either they want more than they can afford or they think they're getting something for nothing. If you look at a vehicle and think "wow, that's cheap, I'm getting a steal here" then you're almost certainly being scammed. Sure, there are the occasional genuine bargains out there because someone just wants to clear out their garage etc., but they tend to sell it from their house.

As the saying goes: if it looks too good to be true then it is too good to be true!

Or, for the classicists hereabouts, caveat emptor  2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

npinks wrote:

So you let someone else run the risk of been ripped off

RRSTDV8 wrote:

Quote:

the price difference would have started bells ring for me

Nick, these scams work because people get greedy - either they want more than they can afford or they think they're getting something for nothing. If you look at a vehicle and think "wow, that's cheap, I'm getting a steal here" then you're almost certainly being scammed. Sure, there are the occasional genuine bargains out there because someone just wants to clear out their garage etc., but they tend to sell it from their house.

As the saying goes: if it looks too good to be true then it is too good to be true!

Or, for the classicists hereabouts, caveat emptor

I'm meaning that you didn't bother ringing the police regarding the RRS con

npinks wrote:

I'm meaning that you didn't bother ringing the police regarding the RRS con

Stryke wrote:

npinks wrote:

I'm meaning that you didn't bother ringing the police regarding the RRS con

Even if he would have called the police, they wouldn't have done anything. The OP has no proof, there is no solid evidence, and info from a civilian isn't worth anything to the police these days.

I will say, the fact that you thought you could get a 20k car for 13k speaks volumes, this should have rang alarm bells, before the petrol station meeting and the shoes.

If something is too good to be true....