Used car sale - Am I getting cheated?

[nirmalts]

Hi,

I booked an Aveo and would be getting delivery within a week. I wanted to sell off my current car (Santro) before that. Since I do not have time to sell for private parties, I thought of selling it off to the dealer's used car showroom or some other used car showroom. My dealer gave the contact of their used car section (which I later came to know that, they are not directly part of the dealer but they are just offloading some business to him).

The used car agent and another guy (Mr.X) came to my place to inspect the car and took a test drive. Mid of that, the agent told me that the guy with him is the prospective buyer. The bargaing sessions then started. All the while the agent was mostly supporting me (making me believe that what I am asking for is reasonable). Mr.X was a middle aged guy. He said the vehicle is for his private use and he is only a civil enginner. All the while I was getting a feeling that Mr.X is an auto expert. He immediately noticed the repaint on my car, estimated how much he will have to spent on repairs etc. I was getting an insecure feeling and I asked them for one more day to tell my decision. But they pressurised me and made me take an advance from them. Mr.X also had a printed form with him which talks about the advance, balance amount, date of delivery which he made me sign. They left saying they would pay me in cash and take delivery in a week. The RC transfer the agent said, he would get it one in 10 days time and give me a photocopy.

After the guys left and I thought about the whole incident and was wondering if there is a plot here. Could Mr.X be the agent's guy and they made the drama to make me feel I am making a direct sale and getting a good deal? Could it be that,

1. They take the car from me, put it on sale in their showroom and sell it off to someone else, get the RC transfered in the new person's name and show the RC to me. I have no issues with this, if during the sale they would have told me this (rather than making me feel I made a direct sale)

2. They do not transfer the RC and use the car for some more time and sell it off for a better price (as ownership hasnt changed in between). Any issues that happen during this period due to the car would direct it to me as I would still be the owner as per RC (I dont know if the delivery note they give me would hold value here)

Thinking about this I called up the agent and said we will do all transactions and RC transfer on the same day. I said I would accompany them to RTO office. The agent's reply was, transfer will take a while as he has to get the repairs and painting done on the car. I asked why this is required for RC transfer and he had no answer. I took this as a confirmation that they plan to do the repairs and put it on showroom. Also I asked the name of the prospective buyer once again and the agent first said he is Mr.Y and immediately said Mr.X. I asked is it Mr.Y or Mr.X and he said it is Mr.X (again a bit fishy). I told the agent to call Mr.X or Y and tell that I would like to do the RC transfer with the deal and call me back. He would call me back today hopefully.

I am in a dilemma. Could things go bad as I think or should I just ignore all these? If Mr.X is a geniune buyer he will be interested in RC transfer at the earliest. If he says no, should I come out of the deal. Should I also keep the dealer informed about this?

Hoping for your advice on this.

Nirmal

[ajmat]

Frankly, taking an advance reduces your power in a way especially when you have an easlly saleable car.

For the time being - stick to your guns - keep your papers and your car secue until they pay the full amount and do not release anything until the money is in your had/ cheque cleared.

Next time around, stick to your price, if someone commits to it, be a gentleman and give a verbal agreement and wait for them to meet a reasonable deadline.

My gutfeel is that they might try and negotiate further downwards saying this or that is defective. Tell them that they should have factored this in when agreeing the price and don't budge. Least you can do is give them the money and get them to rip the agreement.

Stick to your guns !

[Zappo]

I don't know if you can call it a con job. But it is white lie for sure. As you suspected they just plan to pick up the car dirt cheap and then sell it off at a premium. I have seen this happen so many times I have lost count. And the ruse is always the same. They get a guy to pose as a buyer and land up at your place. The reason they do this is because mostly sellers are leery of selling their vehicles to a used car dealer. They would rather sell it off to a direct buyer. Its the same trick that real estate brokers employ to get the house owners number from the neighbours by bringing in a guy to pose as a would-be tenant.

If I were in your place and felt that I am not entirely comfortable doing a deal with the guy (very imp for me) I would scrap the deal. An advance does not mean the deal is through. Its just that he booked the car in advance. If I change my mind thereafter I can always say the deal is off. There are lot of buyers out there who will happily offer you at least 10-20k more than what the dealer will offer you.

[dockap]

hey man i dont think u should be bothered about mr x or me y as long as u are satisfied with the price u get for the car and about the transfer all u have to get is a note from them saying that u have sold and handed over the car to them on this date and the amount has been recieved on the same date then u dont have to worry what they do with the car cause if anything goes wrong u have the note with u and u are not responsible for the car even if they dont transfer it for some time

[rahul_intlad]

Nirmal the most important thing is are you satisfied with what the guys are offering you for the car.The second hand guys are always going to sell it at a higher price that what they bought it from you after all its the way they earn their living.

But don't these guys help you in disposing off your old car faster.

[humyum]

Yeah exactly..if ur happy with the price and getting what u wanted why should u bother whatever they do after the car is sold?
If u get the money u have anticipated ur happy and thats more important.

[headers]

Yeah..once the money is accepted..to your terms..then dont bother..just ensure you take a delivery note signed from him..That will make you NOT responsible for the vehicle after that time..though it may still be in your name.

cheers

[nirmalts]

Thanks guys for your valuable advise. One doubt I have here can I just take the money and delivery note and forget what happens with the car. Incase, they meet with an accident, the charge would still come in my name (bcos address in RC would be mine). I can prove in a court of law that I am not responsible with the delivery note. But again I have to go through all that. This is all perhaps worst case scenario.

Even if the deal is good, I have a bad feeling because they go it from me by lying. This is forcing me to pull out of the deal even though it is not that bad. :(

Nirmal

[esteem_lover]

If you are happy with the amount that it has been settled for, go ahead with the deal, BUT

1. Ensure that you have the entire amount in your hand (Wait for the clearance of the cheque).

2. While signing the papers, there is a delivery note which they have to sign & give back to you, make sure the date & time on that note is filled up properly. This way, you disown the car that minute onwards.

3. Make a proper receipt in one of the persons' name (Check his DL or ID or something).

[ajmat]

Also

Make copies of the transfer documents and write to your RTO registered/ acknowledgement due that the vehicle has ben sold.

[LLL]

along with a sale agreement & delivery letter from them accepting the delivery of the car, also make sure you take a government photo id (should have a recent picture and address) of the person claiming to be the buyer (Mr X or Mr Y or Mr Z- or whatever).

As soon as you get the final payment, you may inform the RTO that you have sold the car and provide copies of sale, delivery letters and ID of the buyer. That way, even if they are upto some mischief, you would have protected yourself.

[raghutk]

I sold my Zen to one of the dealers in Bangalore. One fine day I received the ticket for parking violation from the police that I need to pay Rs100/-. Then I called up the dealer and told him the situation. He told me to ignore it. But I went to police station and showed the delivery note which was duly signed by the dealer. So the police said they will take care and took a photocopy of the delivery note and sent me.
till now I have not faced any more problems as its been 3 years.
So I recommend you to be bit careful.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Also

Make copies of the transfer documents and write to your RTO registered/ acknowledgement due that the vehicle has ben sold.

I don't think you need to go that far. Let's be fair. He is probably a dealer or even if he isn't, the fact that you have proof that you have sold the car & it is no longer your responsibility should be enough.

Maybe, to call his bluff about this X being the buyer, you can insist on filling up the T.O forms with the name & address of this Mr.X. He can repair, shepair do anything he wants & then go to the RTO for transfer. This way you are in stronger grounds. Actually, this is the right thing to do.

[risga]

The question is, are you happy with the price? or did they force you under pressure to accept a lower price?

As regards misuse, take a signed form with date & time of delivery so that you are protected. Additionally, take photos of these people with your mobile etc. so that incase there is any issue, easy to provide details to police.

Take full payment before handing over delivery of the car. If its a cheque/ draft, let the instrument get cleared and sight funds into your account. There have be instances of forged cheques and even drafts.

To call their bluff on the indentity of the buyer, insist of writing down the name of the buyer on the RC transfer form rather than signing a blank form (as suggested by esteem_lover). That should force them to disclose that they are indeed car dealers.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Also

Make copies of the transfer documents and write to your RTO registered/ acknowledgement due that the vehicle has ben sold.

Every sale needs to undergo this route. But none of them are following it. We had sold our Company car to agent (very well known), who inturn has sold it to a different vendor.

Six months later, we got legal notice stating that the "x" has received the advance (which was cleary written in detail in reverse side of the RC book copy) & disappeared. Not sure about the transactions between those two.

Then came to know that every sale needs to be intimated to the RTO office. Signed delivery challan is of little use & we resolved it through the agent to whom we had sold initially.