[ArvindMaveric]

Hello, I’m not sure if this is the right sub-forum to post this on. I tried searching for a similar post but couldn’t find it.
I am planning to buy an XUV500 (2014) from a foreigner who was working in India for the past 3 years.

He is a French national and is going back after finishing his project here. So would it be advisable to buy the car from him? If yes, would the procedure be the same as transferring from a Indian national? The car is KA registered.

Any inputs would greatly help. Thanks in advance!

[IshaanIan]

Generally speaking people from 1st world countries that come to India and then leave to go back, are ethical and not as interested in looting you out of every paisa possible, so yes, follow up on this car. Contact an agent about the legal proceedings, but most importantly, based on my generalization, don't buy the car without properly inspecting it. If you follow every step properly and all goes well and the car is good, just the fact that you got to deal with a French national would make for a good experience overall.

[sparky@home]

Originally Posted by ArvindMaveric

Hello, I’m not sure if this is the right sub-forum to post this on.

My advise is be very careful in these dealings, i know of a person who dropped the whole deal because it was a kind of scam, he was being offered a Honda City at rock bottom price. You can see a lot of these on olx, foreigners offering cars at throw away prices.

[ArvindMaveric]

Originally Posted by sparky@home

My advise is be very careful in these dealings

Yes, I will keep my guard up. Thankfully this person is not quoting a rock bottom price and I have insisted on meeting face to face. Also, the car is registered in his name itself. Thank you for your opinion.

[ghatotkatch]

I would suggest doing all possible due diligence on this. Having gone through two used car deals recently, I had come across scams on these lines and had steered clear of them.

Please cross check the RC on RTO website to ensure it's not fake. Also if possible do some background check on the guy you are buying it from, just to make sure he is who he claims he is.

More importantly, don't make the full payment before transfer. Pay the bigger sum via a post-dated cheque, and keep the date after at least a month from ownership transfer application. If he is to leave before transfer happens, better skip the car altogether. I find such deals a bit too risky.

[doxinboy]

If he wanted to sell it, he could have easily sold it to a dealer. If he is not your acquaintance or someone who is not known to your friend raises a flag. That being said, lot of North Africans, the place frequented by scamsters, claim to be French Citizens. Make sure you cross check the service history with the authorized service center. If everything is in order I don't think transferring to your name is a hassle.

[pedrolourenco]

As long as the documents are clear there should be no problem. But the question is how did a foreign national manage to register a vehicle in his name. The last time I checked foreign nationals were not allowed to register vehicles in India. Check if it is registered in the company name or in someone else's name.

Regarding the scamsters, their style is usually to sell a car at a rock bottom price citing the reason that he has move back to his home country from India and due to lack of time he was not able to sell the car. He was forced to take the car with him and it's presently in UK or France so you won't be able to inspect the car. Then he'll ask for money to ship it back to India. Of course you'll never see the car nor your money after making the transaction.

In this case if the vehicle is available for inspection, it won't be a scam.

[VKumar]

Since I have been doing the purchase / sell of premium cars for profit, I have once and only once come across one such car. It was a Fortuner and the price quoted was quite low (very low in fact) but it was confirmed that this guy was in real hurry of selling off everything (some people are habitual of procrastination and then last moment they are surprised, that type guy) and since I was ready with cash, so I didn't let the deal go.

All the UP RTO guys needed was:
Passport copy
RC
Insurance
And some sort of application that stated about the nationality etc, affidavits etc all were managed by the broker / agent at RTO

In other words, if the car is clean and so is the owner, then there is absolutely no issue in purchasing the car.

[GTO]

You need to do proper due diligence & also follow all the steps mentioned in our Used Car Buying Article.

You need to be even more careful with a foreign national as he / she can flee away to their home country , whereas an Indian would be easier to trace in case of any issues. Also ensure you get ALL the paperwork completed. Once a person flies abroad, co-ordinating will be tricky (if at all, he / she responds to your messages).

I'd put some weightage on what the person was doing in India. If he was working with a corporate / MNC in a senior position, that's a plus. On the other hand, if he / she claims to be a freelancer or similar, it would raise some flags.

[ArvindMaveric]

Originally Posted by ghatotkatch

I would suggest doing all possible due diligence on this. Having gone through two used car deals recently, I had come across scams on these lines and had steered clear of them.

Please cross check the RC on RTO website to ensure it's not fake. Also if possible do some background check on the guy you are buying it from, just to make sure he is who he claims he is.

More importantly, don't make the full payment before transfer. Pay the bigger sum via a post-dated cheque, and keep the date after at least a month from ownership transfer application. If he is to leave before transfer happens, better skip the car altogether. I find such deals a bit too risky.

I crosschecked the RC on the Vaahan website and it was genuine. I did a background check as well, he’s not on Facebook, but his LinkedIn creds matched what he said. I will definitely not make the payment before the transfer. Thank you!

Originally Posted by doxinboy

If he wanted to sell it, he could have easily sold it to a dealer. If he is not your acquaintance or someone who is not known to your friend raises a flag. That being said, lot of North Africans, the place frequented by scamsters, claim to be French Citizens. Make sure you cross check the service history with the authorized service center. If everything is in order I don't think transferring to your name is a hassle.

Will do the due diligence and visit the service centre. Post that I’ll make a decision.

Originally Posted by VKumar

Since I have been doing the purchase / sell of premium cars for profit, I have once and only once come across one such car. It was a Fortuner and the price quoted was quite low (very low in fact) but it was confirmed that this guy was in real hurry of selling off everything (some people are habitual of procrastination and then last moment they are surprised, that type guy) and since I was ready with cash, so I didn't let the deal go.

All the UP RTO guys needed was:
Passport copy
RC
Insurance
And some sort of application that stated about the nationality etc, affidavits etc all were managed by the broker / agent at RTO

In other words, if the car is clean and so is the owner, then there is absolutely no issue in purchasing the car.

I will check the history of the car documents, if they are clean, I will proceed.

Originally Posted by GTO

You need to do proper due diligence & also follow all the steps mentioned in our Used Car Buying Article.

You need to be even more careful with a foreign national as he / she can flee away to their home country , whereas an Indian would be easier to trace in case of any issues. Also ensure you get ALL the paperwork completed. Once a person flies abroad, co-ordinating will be tricky (if at all, he / she responds to your messages).

I'd put some weightage on what the person was doing in India. If he was working with a corporate / MNC in a senior position, that's a plus. On the other hand, if he / she claims to be a freelancer or similar, it would raise some flags.

That is definitely true, GTO. Even With an Indian national, it’s tricky and risky. I think this person works with AIG at a senior level (at least that’s what his LinkedIn bio said) and he’s been here for over 3 years.

[aghate]

Originally Posted by sparky@home

My advise is be very careful in these dealings, i know of a person who dropped the whole deal because it was a kind of scam, he was being offered a Honda City at rock bottom price. You can see a lot of these on olx, foreigners offering cars at throw away prices.

I know about this City. It was advertised in Pune and some city in Tamil Nadu (probably Chennai) I can't recall, the pics were exactly the same. I had actually called that number in Pune and the guy had an English accent like he had choked on some pan masala. Never called him again.

[sparky@home]

This chap told that he wanted a deposit before he would allow vehicle inspection, dropped like a hot cake. Another case a couple of years back, a Scorpio 2010 model, for 320,000 and being shipped freely from UK. Wow, what a deal.