Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 16:39
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - mynameisluke99

Hi guys - First post here following a pretty rubbish day!

I am not here looking for people to judge me or tell me I am stupid as I already feel pretty crappy about the whole situation.

Two days ago I bought an Abarth 500 which was advertised on Facebook Marketplace. I am not going to go into the details of the transaction but I was obviously fleeced and he did a pretty good job at making sure I had no concerns.

The car was advertised as CAT S and advertised at a lower price to reflect this. The guy had some paperword for the car but not much, and explained that the car was from a Salvage Auction hence not having any service history.

When I cleaned the car yesterday I came across a bunch of business cards in a hidden cubby hole. I text the number on the cards thinking it might be the previous owner and they might have some of the service history, or at the very least be able to tell me when things like the cam belt was changed.

I got a call around an hour later from a guy with the bad news that this was their car and it was stolen from their driveway 8 weeks ago. The car was on false plates so the HPI check I did prior to purchasing was worthless. The guy explained they have already been paid out from their insurance company and bought a replacement vehicle.

He has been a really nice guy and has said he is going to speak with the loss ajuster to see if there is anyway I can purchase the car from the insurance company.

I understand that the car may just go back to the insurance company to be sold at auction but I didn't know if anyone had any dealings with this at all? The car isn't actually a CAT S vehicle, the previous owner confirmed it has not been in an accident but I now understand the car will be registered as Stolen / Recovered so the value has been impacted. I paid a 'good price' for the car on the understanding it was damaged and repaired so I might be willing to buy it from the insurance company so I am not completely out of pocket.

Again, please don't come at me with 'You i****' as I already feel like one.

Thanks - any help appreciated!

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 16:44
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - FP

I can't answer your question, but another point occurs to me. It sounds (from the lack of detail, if nothing else) that you are not pursuing the person who sold you the car - but this, if successful, would mean you would not be out of pocket so much.

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 16:57
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - daveyK_UK
To clarify - you purchased the car 2 days ago? On Christmas Day? Or do you mean Christmas Eve?
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Mon 27 Dec 2021 17:00
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - mynameisluke99
*3 days ago. 24th Dec.
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Mon 27 Dec 2021 17:08
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - Terry W

Having alerted the original owner who will probably tell his insurance company, you cannot put your head in the sand and ignore the problem. If you try and sell the car on, you will knowingly be selling a vehicle you believe to be stolen - not an attractive option.

My first call would be to the vendor. Immediate return of cash or will involve the police.

If there is no immediate response - get police involved. If you have copies of the original advert, documentation, invoice, payment details (cash or bankers draft etc) so much the better as they will be evidence.

Finally - if you did an HPI check, do you have any recourse to them for compensation.

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 17:28
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - daveyK_UK
Did you pay cash?
Did you buy it outside the same address as the V5?
Are you really the vendor acting as the buyer?

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 17:36
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - mynameisluke99
Yes I paid cash.

It was not outside the address on the fake log book.

No I am not the vendor acting as the buyer. Please do not comment further if you are unable to offer anything helpful.
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Mon 27 Dec 2021 17:29
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - mynameisluke99
Hi Terry,

Thanks for your response.

I am absolutely aware that the car belongs to the previous owners insurance company and would never try and sell the car to make it someone elses problem.

The guy who had the car stolen from him is going to speak with his insurance company and see if they will allow me to buy it back as he has already been paid out and purchased a replacement.

I am nervous about approaching the seller as he has my address from the imitation log book.

The HPI check is ‘correct’ against the fake registration so they are not at fault.

Cheers.
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Mon 27 Dec 2021 17:47
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - catsdad

HPI include a check against the VIN as standard. Did that not show an issue?

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 18:42
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - daveyjp

If you have purchased in line with all the HPI terms and conditions they are your first port of call.

If you purchased outside of the conditions there is no HPI guarantee, so you are down to the vendor and then the police to investigate.

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 21:34
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - sammy1

You have been sold a stolen car. Your first port of call should be the police

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 22:31
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - johncyprus

You’ve bought a stolen car and you have knowledge that it’s stolen. Be careful not to fall foul of the law yourself. Would suggest you approach the insurance company with a view to buying the car with full title and contact the police in order to safeguard your actions, you are in possession of stolen goods albeit innocently. Don’t contact the vendor, you’ll get nowhere with him and lose your credibility.
Be prepared to lose the car and have to buy it from the insurance company.

Edited by johncyprus on 27/12/2021 at 22:32

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Mon 27 Dec 2021 23:20
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - Andrew-T

I can't answer your question, but another point occurs to me. It sounds (from the lack of detail, if nothing else) that you are not pursuing the person who sold you the car - but this, if successful, would mean you would not be out of pocket so much.

What a nasty pickle. I don't know about being 'out of pocket' but if you were to reach an agreement with the owner's insurers you would have effectively bought the car twice. But if you don't take this to the authorities (police?) you will just be encouraging these scrotes to carry on stealing pricey cars. I hope you get lucky.

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Tue 28 Dec 2021 14:45
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - Gerry Sanderson

Middleman might confirm this.........

Go and report this to police

AS stolen property police should seize. car,

We now have ownership dispute. Buyer, Insurance Co and old owner.

Application under these circumstanes can be made under Police Property Act

to Magustrates for them to decide who is the actual owner. May come down on posters favour?

dvd

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Tue 28 Dec 2021 15:55
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - thunderbird

We now have ownership dispute. Buyer, Insurance Co and old owner.

Not a legal expert but I see it as quite simple.

Its not the old owner because as the OP states in a earlier post:

"The guy explained they have already been paid out from their insurance company and bought a replacement vehicle."

Its not the buyer (the OP) because they bought a stolen car which the person they bought it from had no legal title.

So that leaves just the insurance company. They have paid out on the car and the car (if recovered later) becomes their property. Its theirs to sell for scrap if its totalled or sell for spared/repair if not that bad. Any monies are theirs since the car is theirs. I have known cases where the person who has been paid out has been offered the car back for ££££'s but in every case that person has already replaced the car. Anyway, why on earth would they want a stolen recovered vehicle.

If it went to court which party has the most money to pay for legal representation, one guess its not the buyer.

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Wed 29 Dec 2021 03:33
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - expat

How was it paid for? If it was cash then that is surely gone but if it was by card or bank transfer it is worth trying to stop the funds going through. Contact the bank or credit card company and explain the situation and give them the police report number. It isn't likely you will get your money back but it is certainly worth a try.

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Wed 29 Dec 2021 09:13
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - thunderbird

How was it paid for? If it was cash then that is surely gone but if it was by card or bank transfer it is worth trying to stop the funds going through. Contact the bank or credit card company and explain the situation and give them the police report number. It isn't likely you will get your money back but it is certainly worth a try.

Do you seriously think that people selling stolen cars on a false identity would use traceable methods of accepting payment?

Cash is the only method these scum use. Unless the OP went to an actual address where the seller actually lived there will be no way of ever finding them.

But

Is there a way that Facebook could help? Surely whoever placed the advert had to use an e-mail address or mobile number. Plod may have a way of tracing activity on either account (if they are interested of course - probably too busy having parties in the station at present).

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Wed 29 Dec 2021 09:33
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - Andrew-T

<< Do you seriously think that people selling stolen cars on a false identity would use traceable methods of accepting payment? >>

In any case the OP has already told us he paid cash !!!

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Sun 26 May 2024 10:30
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - Elissa1111

hi there, I know this was 3 years ago but currently I'm in the process of this happening to me as I bought a fiat 500 and a month later I got a letter from dvla saying someone has put in an application for my vehicle so I'm not sure if the original owner is trying to get it back or something else. We called over some friends that are good with cars just to find out we were sold a cloned fiat 500. The plate was fake and popped right off and the numbers on the windows and boot didn't add up. Not only that but the fiat is a sport itself but when you go to check the insurance it comes up as a pop but we thought that could just be a mistake. But now that I know this has happened to someone else, do you happen you know who the person was that you bought it off and did you buy it near Starbridge?

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Sun 26 May 2024 10:40
Abarth 500 - Found out the car I bought two days ago was stolen - leaseman

The OP from the original thread has not contributed to the Forum since then, so I don't think you'll have any luck there.

My advice would be to speak to the Police, before they come knocking on your door.

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