GWC

Out of the last batch of six cars I bought from BCA there are two which, had I physically been at the sale so that I could have inspected them, I would not have bid on them at all. Not good. The days of spinning for a car with £100 to the loser have gone for good.

Thank you to everyone who has responded. It is weird how we are all in the same trade yet we all have different experiences. I am often asked by a potential buyer to see the V5 before they commit to buy. In the past I have never given it a moment's thought and have let them examine it. Not any more. Incidentally, I spoke to Action Fraud regarding this incident. The bod I spoke to told me that most weeks they see about one hundred and fifty cases of this happening. He said it is unusual to see it happen to a motor trader, almost all cases are private people who have their cars advertised on Autotrader or ebay. That would make sense because even if it did happen to a trader he wouldn't know about it because it is rare for the car to be registered to him so he would not receive a confirmation letter. He also told me that DVLA are well aware of this flaw in the online system, it being open to this type of fraudulent behaviour, but they are not particularly bothered by it. If the cloned car is taxed they are receiving double bubble for one VRM. One other problem I foresee is when it is eventually sorted and I have sold the car, my customer might get some grief due to the behaviour of the driver of the cloned car. It is possible my customer will receive parking or speeding fines through the post , get fed up with it, come back compaining to me and ask for a refund. I suppose I can't complain. Considering how long I have been trading, I was probably on borrowed time before I had a customer pull a fast one.

Hello to everyone, newbie here. New to the forum that is, I have been trading since 1982. My question to you all is: do you show prospective purchasers the V5 if they ask to see it? I always have in the past without any problems whatsoever but a "customer" has just managed to scam me. Someone phoned to make an appointment to view a car and turned up on time with a couple of friends. They made all the right noises and I was pretty confident the car was sold. One of them asked to see the V5 so that he could check the VIN at the base of the windscreen. No problem, I let him check the number against the doc. He gave the doc back to me and then said he was going to collect his wife from work so that she could view the car and, if she liked it, they would do a bank transfer. They left to collect his wife and were never to be seen again. Wine Tasters I thought. Luckily the vehicle was registered in my name. If it had been a different stock vehicle I would be unaware I have been scammed. Six days later I received a letter from DVLA confirming I was no longer the RK. Apparently what he had done was to go home and, using the doc ref number, do an online transaction declaring himself as the new keeper that day. I assume he sneakily photographed the number while making out he was checking the VIN. I am guessing their intention is to clone the car. The viewing was just a ruse to obtain the doc ref no. No doubt they have an identical car ready. This is a serious flaw in the online system. With a doc ref number you can apply for, and get, a V5 for any unsuspecting owner's car. The owner will have no knowledge of it until after the new V5 has been issued and they are on the system as the previous keeper. Obviously the police are not interested. I asked them if I happened to see the clone advertised for sale should I let them know. Their response was no. They told me they would take no action against the seller. DVLA appear to be unconcerned if there is a clone floating about. They advised me to return the V5 to them and request they open an "investigation" and after eight weeks or so I would probably be reinstated as the RK and they would issue me with a new V5. They said they would take no action against the bogus buyer. They told me to remove the vehicle from sale until this is sorted which will probably run into next year. Thankfully it is not a high value vehicle, (I had it marked up at £9995) so this is not an issue and won't cause any hardship. But, how do you avoid this happening again? If a customer does ask to see the V5 and you refuse, they are likely to walk away. If you keep hold of it in your hands and refuse to let them handle it themselves they will probably think you are trying to hide something. Has anyone else had this type of experience and modified their behaviour as a result of it? I have considered copying all V5s with the ref numbers obliterated and showing that to customers, explaining why and they can see the original V5 when they have paid their deposit. But that seems clunky and I doubt it would instill any confidence in a buyer and might put them off. Any suggestions?