Is an ex-Stolen car a good deal?
September 18, 2007 1:04 PM   Subscribe

I'm considering buying a used car on Craigslist, but the seller disclosed to me over the phone that the car had been stolen, then recovered. If everything else checks out, would you buy the car? If so, are there any pitfalls I should look out for?

1994 Saturn Wagon - book value $1800, selling for $1000. She disclosed that the car had been stolen then recovered when I asked her why she was selling. Said that now it was "extra" and she has no way to store/park two cars here in Portland.

What are the pitfalls here, assuming there are no unknown mechanical issues with the car? (She disclosed a couple in her Craigslist Ad)
posted by anastasia to Shopping (9 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Well I'd definitely get it checked out with a mechanic now that you know it's been stolen and go over it with a fine toothed comb. I've heard some pretty bad horror stories about what happens to stolen cars.

I'd also check the Carfax.
posted by wangarific at 1:17 PM on September 18, 2007


...And I would call the police with the VIN in order to make sure it's an ex-stolen vehicle, and not a currently-stolen vehicle, of course.
posted by Orb2069 at 1:53 PM on September 18, 2007


I'm not saying this story isn't legit, but it could also be a cover story for why the car has a salvage title, with the truth being worse. Definitely get it checked very, very carefully. Also, given the value you probably weren't planning on doing this anyway, but you may not be able to get collision/theft/etc. coverage for the car.
posted by phoenixy at 2:02 PM on September 18, 2007


My old car was stolen and recovered. It took about a week and we had already resigned ourselves to the fact that the car was gone. I'm lucky enough to be able to bike to work, but I can imagine if someone had a crappy commute they could suddenly end up with two cars if the stolen one was returned.

Our car had no real damage to it, the back seat had been yanked out, but we had a mechanic put it back in place.

We were having some key problems with the ignition switch. The way the thief gotthe car started by jamming a close-but-not-quit-the-real-key in it, actually made it work better.

Silver lining.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 2:08 PM on September 18, 2007


The car will only have a salvage title if it was stolen and stripped or otherwise damaged badly enough that their insurance company totaled it. Then the owner would have had to buy it back in "totaled" condition from the insurance company, at which point they would receive a "salvaged" title. Check with the DMV or Carfax to make sure that isn't the case. If not, it's probably in pretty decent mechanical shape. Normally they total a car when the repair cost exceeds 2/3 the value of the vehicle. For something this old, it wouldn't take much to reach that. Either the seller got a bit lucky or there's more here than meets the eye.

If it were me:

1. Salvage title? Don't buy it.
2. Stolen and recovered? Have it checked out _thoroughly_ by a mechanic. Your main concern is that the thieves broke things in very annoying ways that will piss you off for as long as you own the car. Hard to start, heater doesn't work, smells like urine forever, etc etc. It'll probably be pretty obvious if there's a glaring problem. Then again, she's asking $800 below blue book for a reason.
posted by autojack at 4:37 PM on September 18, 2007


As for the name of the insurance agent and call the agent to confirm. Or, ask for the police report or date & name of the officer. If the insurance paid out, wouldn't they take the car? Or if no comprehensive, which makes sense on an older car, there would still be a police report. In any case, discussion will help you get a sense of the seller's honesty level.

I wouldn't let this stop you. I've had pretty goos luck w/ private sales, even with unusual provenance.
posted by theora55 at 4:40 PM on September 18, 2007


good.
posted by theora55 at 4:41 PM on September 18, 2007


Make sure the car is not in any other state's/municipality's stolen car database.

My car got towed once by the City of New Orleans while I was out of town. Not knowing what happened, my roommate called and told me my car was gone, so we reported it stolen. Even though we later found out that it was only towed, and recovered it from the impound lot, I had tons of trouble later after I moved to Tennessee and tried to renew my tags. It was still flagged as stolen, to my surprise, and I had to get a cop to come out to my house and verify the VIN, call the N.O. police and have them remove the flag before I could get new tags.
posted by sklero at 6:39 PM on September 18, 2007


My street parked car was also stolen for a 'joy-ride' then recovered a week later some years back. Portable contents (spare tire, owner's manual, etc) were gone, battery was missing, one of the rear view mirror was left dangling, and ignition key holder was mangled from 'hot-wiring.' I was told by mechanics at the time, that it suffered no mechanical damage, and it did run fine for years.

My title was not labeled as 'salvaged' by this incident. And the police report was full of inaccuracies, if you're considering gathering that info.

Just my experience.
posted by MD06 at 7:27 PM on September 18, 2007


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