Community Chat

[CatsyCline]

@Kachina624  buyer needs to look at the VIN (or service records if the seller kept them)   some people will say anything.

if a seller will not provide the VIN, pass.

[Linda0215]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

@Linda0215    Why?  If you were buying a used car, wouldn't you want to talk to the last owner?  How could doing so possibly endanger you as a former owner?

People have become paranoid to the point of being riduculous.

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@Kachina624  No, it would never enter my mind to talk to the previous owner if i bought the car from a dealership.  It's not a private sale, you're going through a third party.  Once that car leaves the previous owner it is the property of the dealership and I would deal with them.  The previous owner has nothing to do with it at that point.  It's up to the buyer to do their due diligence when purchasing an expensive item.  If something doesn't seem right, walk away from the sale. 

[chrystaltree]

I don't understand how something like that could happen. Did your husband accept a Friends request from someone on FB he didn't know? Why? I'm pretty sure we can't DM people we are already FB friends with. And then there's the dealer disclosing such information to the buyer. I don't see any reputable car dealer doing that.  

[Venezia]

@Kachina624 - A lot has changed since 1993.  Back then, I might've sold a car privately and expected to chat with a potential new owner.

Like it or not, 30 years of increased technology, identity theft, hackers has changed the world we live in.  It's not being paranoid - it's called being careful.

Once my car goes to the dealer, it is no longer my property or my responsibility and releases me from any liability.  Any new buyer should ask the dealer about any concerns, before purchasing.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

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@chrystaltree wrote:

I don't understand how something like that could happen. Did your husband accept a Friends request from someone on FB he didn't know? Why? I'm pretty sure we can't DM people we are already FB friends with. And then there's the dealer disclosing such information to the buyer. I don't see any reputable car dealer doing that.  

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No, @chrystaltree, he did not accept a friend request.  It's totally possible to DM people who are not "friends".  Facebook Marketplace is a good example of that.  The dealership didn't disclose anything.  Our info was on the title and I'm pretty sure ownership history is public record on VIN's

[hckynutjohn]

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@JeanLouiseFinch wrote:

We bought a new car in November, trading in our current vehicle at the time. The other day, my husband got a DM on Facebook Messenger from the guy who purchased our old car from the dealership.  He wanted to know about the history, maintenance, tire age, etc. of the vehicle. He complimented my husband on the great shape the car was in too.  My husband was fine with answering him. It was just kinda weird because

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"prior to social media that kind of thing didn't happen. At least to my knowledge anyway"

@JeanLouiseFinch 

It did happen before social media, and it happened to me. With cars? No, I sold all of the cars I owned, myself. Thus no questions were left unanswered, before/during, or even after the sale.

Until the buyer has used every option on certain vehicles, how can they question it!

In my case it was our Townhome sold by a Real Estate Company. And also to the previous owner of our present home. I spoke with him both before and after the sale, and after we moved into our home. No social media, over the phone, and face to face.

I won't go into details unless someone asks. Just wanted some to know that these things were happening long before social media became people's total lives.

hckynut 🇺🇸

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[SilleeMee]

One time I had an insurance investigator show up at my door asking if I was the owner of a car which was involved in a crash. It was a car I sold to a car dealer who didn't transfer the title to the new owner so my name was still on the records. Have no idea how that happened but things were taken care of so I wasn't responsible for anything that happened in the crash.

[meem120]

It happend way before social media. My son was selling his car and a man was buying it for his daughter to commute back and forth to college.   Understandibly he wanted something that was in good shape for her daily commute.  He called my son which was fine, because the dealer had made a good deal and wanted to know why my son had traded it in. I know dealers are not suppose to give out that info, so we dont know how he got his info.  That was probably around 1991 or so.  Now a days I would be very leery if this happened.. you just never know anymore.

[riley1]

Dealership should never have given out that information. They sold the car - it's their responsibility to give the maintainence list to the buyer, not your name/phone number.

If it were me, I would call the salesperson or Manager and tell them this information should not be given out.

[Kalli]

@JeanLouiseFinch , living in a small town, I once had someone I already knew call and ask about a truck dh owned that he'd traded at a dealership.  The salesperson told her our name in an effort to sell the truck.  She bought it for her son thinking that since she knew me from work and my cars were kept nice, it would be a good one to purchase.

After a short time her son started having trouble with the truck and that's why she called me.  I felt bad for her son.  The dealership had talked the vehicle up but didn't tell her about its former use.  Dh had used it to plow snow.  There were several locations he plowed.  This meant that the truck wasn't just a pretty thing to look at, it was a work truck.  And we had some pretty "active" winter events over the time we owned it. I was honest with her and wished she'd called us before purchasing. The truck was working fine when we traded it but apparently over time, it started needing work.