Used Vehicle Purchase, Opinions Please.

[masoncgy]

Normally, I have no problems in purchasing a used vehicle as I have done it many times in the past, so I was believing that this time around would be no different... but at any rate...

We are in the midst of purchasing from a fellow in Crossfield. Everything on the vehicle has checked out okay as I have driven it more than once, pulled all possible dipsticks & checked over all the fluids in addition to getting underneath and giving it a good check over.

So... we negotiate a price and I ask for a copy of the registration so that I can get the details to my insurance company, but now he is saying he has no registration as he has never insured it. So then I ask about that, and he says that he bought it for his wife from Michener Allen Auctions but she decided she wanted something else, so he is selling it off.

Immediately, I am now leary about buying this vehicle, simply because I believe it's probably been purchased to flip and because of that, I'm concerned about the vehicle's history.

All in all, the vehicle is in great shape, runs & drives excellent, and is exactly what my wife wants... carfax comes out clean (that doesn't always mean much though) and no liens on the vehicle either.

So... Beyond... in all of your infinite wisdom... what would YOU do?

[Jeremiah]

Hes probably trying to make a quick buck off of you, see if you can negotiate the price a bit better.

What is the sellers ethnicity?

[masoncgy]

Yeah, I figure it's a flip, but for some reason that's making me wonder about the vehicle's history... but I have checked it over carefully and cannot find any reason to believe it's been badly crashed or abused... it checks out very nicely.

He's a white dude, works for an oil & gas company in Crossfield. Nice guy actually.

[psi_klops]

If you haven't done so run a lein search on the vehicle.
There was a guy trying to sell an SRT8 300C. Everything was great, but then he had the same issue...car wasn't registered for 2 years.
Turns out he had a car company that went bankrupt and has like 20-30 vehicles that are up for collection.

[corsvette]

There are a ton of nice cars that go through Michner Allen,mostly franchised dealer trade ins,if it checks out good then go for it,not all auction vehicles are junk.

[dj_rice]

Run a Carproof, Carfax doesn't catch everything since its mainly for USA vehicles.

[jonnycat]

A lien search "should" show a bailiff's lien on it, if its up for a repo.

[davesparky6]

Originally posted by dj_rice
Run a Carproof, Carfax doesn't catch everything since its mainly for USA vehicles.
+1

[Weapon_R]

If the car checks out, looks and runs great, and is priced right, what's the big deal? Dealers and fleets all run their well-maintained cars through Michener Allen. Get it inspected and buy it if its what you want.

He could have lied to you and said he lost the registration, he's owned it for a year and wants to buy a minivan for his growing family...and you wouldn't have questioned it much :)