I need a car

Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by OurJud, Aug 3, 2016.

  1. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    Did your keyboard stop working or was there an emergency somewhere?
     
  2. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

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    Hi,

    Sadly this site seems to run glacially slow some days. I posted a full post with probably another whole dozen words and that's as much as the site was able to upload in three minutes. It's almost as bad as Goodreads.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
  3. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    Mmm, dunno what the problem was, but I don't recall the forum ever being less than acceptable in terms of speeds. At least not for me.
     
  4. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    @Greg's in New Zealand: a wire goes under sea, Tasmania to Auckland, via Perth, so bound there, to be delays in the digital relay function. When he types Tuesday, we receive Friday, so no bother, swings and roundabouts, he has mountains, and the fjords, remember.
     
  5. doggiedude

    doggiedude Contributor Contributor

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    Last few times I bought a new car, it came with a special "valet" key which did everything except unlock the trunk & the glove compartment. I had a bad habit of leaving that key in the center console & forgetting about it until it was time to sell the car.
     
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  6. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    I realise this comes under research, but it is related and it seems silly to start yet another thread when I have this one.

    1. What would a used car salesman require form someone wanting to buy one of his cars, with cash?

    2. Do 'no questions asked' car dealers really exist thee days?

    3. Would a private seller entertain a 'no questions asked' sale?
     
  7. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    1. He would require cash.

    2. Definitely, some people never ask questions. Maybe they demand answers, but that is all.

    3. 'Hey fella, check out my manboobs,' works every time.
     
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  8. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

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    Hi,

    A licensed used car seller would require details so that the forms changing ownership of the title of the car can be filed. And I suspect he'd want some ID. But there are plenty of people who wouldn't care if they were selling a car privately. More fool them of course if the car remains in their name. Every traffic ticket on it still gets posted tothem, and as too many have found out, debts registered againstthe car come back to them as well.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
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  9. Mumble Bee

    Mumble Bee Keep writing. Contributor

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    Step 1: sell car for cash under the table
    Step 2: report call stolen
    Step 3: collect insurance on 'stolen' car
    Step 4: buy another car with insurance money
    Step 5: go back to step 1
     
  10. NobodySpecial

    NobodySpecial Contributor Contributor

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    Obscured plates can get you pulled over in the states too.
     
  11. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Judging from various court shows (I'm ashamed that I watch them but I do), sloppy private car sales happen all the time, at least in the US. Cash exchanged, title handed over (or not), title eventually submitted to the DMV (or not), sometimes the title missing altogether.
     
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  12. ddavidv

    ddavidv Senior Member

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    Different states have different legal requirements for car titles. In some states when a car becomes a certain age titles are no longer issued. Transfers happen via a 'bill of sale' which I think can be self-generated by the seller.
     
  13. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    I suspect its easy enough to buy a no questions asked car on the street in some areas (it certainly is in the uk) - however theres a strong likelihood that the car will be stolen or unroadworthy or both.

    if you don't want to go the 'buying from criminals' route , your next best bet is a confused old person who might well be trusting enough to let you "take care of the details for them"

    Dealers wise - if they are legit they are going to want to see some ID even for a cash sale ... of course your backstreet independent garage might be less particular where cash is involved, but then you are back to the car being stolen/on false plates/an unroadworthy heap of fail
     
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  14. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    Brilliant! However, I would have to have a rather convenient and contrived scenario pop up for this to happen.
     
  15. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I'm guessing that this may be more of a UK thing. In the areas where I've lived in the US, a private sale of a fairly used car is not at all unusual. I'm not saying that it will be sparkling with a manufacturer's warranty or that the owner will be faultlessly honest about its condition, but it's not a "something must be wrong" situation. If I wanted to privately buy a car right now, I could probably walk out, look for cars with "FOR SALE" signs taped on them, and buy one within a few hours.
     
  16. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    @ChickenFreak I think @big soft moose was referring specifically no a 'no questions asked' type sale. Private car sales in the country are just as common as they are in the US, but if the seller is looking for a no questions asked exchange, then that should set the alarm bells ringing.
     
  17. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Yeah that - lots of private sales on ebay, on the street, on auto trader and so forth , what i was reffering to was finding a seller who's happy not to do the paperwork properly in return for abundle of used notes - if its 'all not quite legitimate' (to quote the arctic monkeys) then the chances are high that theres something wrong with the goods as well .
     
  18. Earp

    Earp Contributor Contributor

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    In my state, 'the paperwork' consists of the owner signing the title so I'm not sure what questions would be asked anyway. I have bought cars from private owners who never knew my name. What the buyer does with the title after the sale is up to him, and if the owner keeps his license plate, the buyer would pretty much have to transfer the title to register the car. Even if the buyer stole a license plate and committed a crime with the car, I can't see where the previous owner would be on the hook. Only parking tickets are issued to the vehicle, so there wouldn't be any liability beyond those (we have no 'red light cameras' here).
     
  19. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    The paperwork in the US is very, very limited, and it's the buyer who has to do most of it. I think(?) that it's pretty much a matter of the seller producing the scrap of paper that is the title, perhaps showing that his driver's license shows the same identity that's on the title (which I suppose could count as "questions asked"), a couple of signatures may be applied, and it's done. It's then the buyer's job to get the title transferred and pay tax on the sales price. (The "pay tax on the sales price" is a fairly frequent area where people lie.) The seller can somewhat protect himself from liability by sending a document to the DMV relinquishing responsibility for the vehicle.

    If you're referring to not having the title, OK, that's an extra level of "no questions asked." But since it's the buyer that turns in the title to be changed, a character could be driving around for a while in a car that probably doesn't show as registered to him in any databases.
     
  20. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    In the UK we have a document (the V5) for registered keeper - when you sell a car you give the buyer the tear off strip which they send to the dvla to get a new V5, and send the V5 in yourself recording that you've sold the car and removing it from your name - licence plates remain part of the car they arent changed with sale like they are in the US.

    so if you want to buy a car in the Uk and not have it recorded to your name you need to either give the seller a false name (and bear in mind that they might want to see ID - a legit dealer definitely will ), or find someone who isnt bothered about filling in the v5 (indicating that they arent bothered about the name on it being associated with a crime which would mean that the V5 is probably stolen or a forgery anyway), or someone naive enough to let you promise to post the v5 for them

    A relatively common trick particularly with older cars is "I'm buying the car for my son/daughter/wife etc can we put it in their name " - the seller should say no, but a lot of people will be trusting enough to say yes
     
  21. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    The tear-off part of the title is probably also true for the US; my memory is fuzzy. I'm realizing that I assumed that we were talking about the car being semi-untraceable for just a few days, not indefinitely.
     
  22. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    If i wanted a car that was untraceable for a few days I'd either steal it from airport ong term parking, or clone the plates of one of the same model and stick them on a hire car (In the UK you arent meant to be able to get plates made without a V5 , but a lot of garages will do it no questions asked "yeah mate i need them to go oa trailer/bike rack whatever, V5 ahh shit dude i've no idea where that is do us a favour"
     
  23. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Ah, but then eventually it's going to be a definite crime, whereas "I paid for it! Oh, that's just my nickname; am I required to use the whole formal three names on my license?" might be survivable without criminal charges--if the car is even traced to the character, given that it wasn't stolen and therefore wasn't highlighted. Getting it mostly-legally feels like an extra layer of obscurity.

    I'm not intending to argue. At this point, I'm just quibbling and thinking about what I'd do if I wanted a semi-untraceable car in a story of my own.
     
  24. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    cloning an existing car is a 'get away with it' exercise if you don't do anything that will bring you to the attention of the police ... mind you if you arent going to do anything illegal why bother with an untraceable car anyway ... most things you might need an untraceable car for are going to be a sight more serious than a minor bit of plate cloning or car theft

    also in terms of theft, if you've nicked a car and you want to get rid of it quietly your best bet is to dump it in a bad neighbourhood and leave the keys in - it will get stolen again and the secondary theieves will either get rid of it for you, torch it somewhere notorious for twockers dumping cars thus obscuring your involvement, or get caught and find themselves implicated in your crime since no one will believe they found it on the street with the keys in the ignition
     
  25. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    Never mind.
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2016

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