Part IX: Walt Sells a Car with Bogus Airbags

by Driveway on Thursday, May 1st, 2014

I was getting good at this, so I purchased a used vehicle in the U.S. and imported it.

It didn’t have any airbags, so the warning lights were on. But I wasn’t picky.

I knew, based on my other tricks (please link to another story), I could solve that before I had it inspected and registered.

You just couldn’t be too worried about the truth.

I Googled airbags. I saw I had three options. Get certified replacements installed at a repair shop. Buy some and install them myself. Or, override the warning light.

I called and found that the first option was out of the question. Way too expensive.

But, option two had some promise. There were cheap ones online.

Of course, there were some warnings about dangerous fake airbags.

Option three, overriding the warning lights, went too far – even for me.

You can find how-to videos about anything on the web. So, I ordered cheap ones and had them sent to my U.S. mailbox. I used a buddy’s garage and put them in. Bingo! The warning lights went off and I was on my way.

Soon, I had an ad up on several classified websites:

Great car for sale. Moving out of the country and need to sell fast! Good condition. Recently inspected. Call cell. I’m flexible on price!!

I couldn’t believe how many calls I had.

I found my buyer not long after. A nice man about my age; divorced with three kids. That’s all I know about him – I don’t like getting too personal.

I was actually honest about the vehicle this time. I told him that the car had been in an accident and was from the U.S. I asked if he wanted a vehicle history report,* but he declined. He appreciated my honesty, as he’d gone through a few bad deals. With the transaction done, we parted ways.

*Vehicle History Reports –  CarProof https://carproof.com/products/why-carproof/why-buy-a-report and ICBC http://www.icbc.com/registration-licensing/buy-vehicle/buy-used/vehicle-history vehicle history reports provide detailed information about the registration and accident history of a vehicle. CarProof Verified BC reports also include a lien search.  These reports can’t tell you everything a physical inspection will, but they require the seller to Prove it! and not just say it.

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Check it out online: WatchOutForWalt.com

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The Vehicle Sales Authority of BC, CarProof Vehicle History Reports and ICBC are combining forces to help keep car buyers safe. Follow our series on Walt the Curber to learn how much you risk when you buy a used vehicle without proof of its history or condition. The price of buying a car from a curber can turn out to be much higher if you have nowhere to turn. Learn what you can do to protect yourself.

Part VII: Walt Sells a Motorcycle with a Lien

by Driveway on Monday, April 21st, 2014

I guess you could say I was addicted. Only my drug of choice wasn’t coke or meth. No – it was the thrill of getting away with it all. And the easy cash, of course.

Throwing the camper into that last deal was a great marketing idea.

And, like last time, I decided to branch out again. There’s so much more than just cars! This time I decided to go with a motorcycle.

I purchased it off the internet – I guess you could call it a curber-to-curber transaction.

Oh, of course I knew every trick in the book by now. The seller gave me my old story and said that he was the real owner.

Did I care? Not a chance. It was a nice Harley. And it was a steal. I knew I could flip it for more.

Why? Because I was a better marketer.

But I needed to do it fast. And, I had to make sure I had a buyer that was naive enough not to do a lien check through CarProof or the province!

As usual, I put up a generic, one-line Craigslist ad. With a price like mine, I had a buyer within an hour.

I made sure the Harley looked its best. I polished it until it sparkled and filled it with gas. Hey, what’s a few bucks?

Then I ran into a small problem.

I found out that my seller was the real owner. Wow. But he sold me a vehicle that was about to be repossessed.

Fortunately, he was in such a hurry that he didn’t make me do the transfer – so it was still in his name.

No big deal. *Bridging was my friend.

I just used his name and hoped my buyer would never ask me for ID.

And I was right. The buyer smelled a bargain and took the bait like fish. He thought I was the fool!

No lien check, no ID check. Just cash.

I was home free, again.

And the best part? When the bailiff came for the motorcycle, he didn’t even know my name.

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*Bridging – A trick that curbers use to keep their identity secret. Curbers will pay more for a vehicle from an unscrupulous wholesaler or broker if they are not required to immediately put the vehicle in their name. This keeps their name out of the vehicle registry and makes them impossible to locate when deals go bad. Breaking the law is never a concern for them.

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Check it out online: WatchOutForWalt.com

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The Vehicle Sales Authority of BC, CarProof Vehicle History Reports and ICBC are combining forces to help keep car buyers safe. Follow our series on Walt the Curber to learn how much you risk when you buy a used vehicle without proof of its history or condition. The price of buying a car from a curber can turn out to be much higher if you have nowhere to turn. Learn what you can do to protect yourself.

Part III – Confessions of a Curber: Watch Out For Those Liens, Walt

by Driveway on Monday, March 24th, 2014

My next vehicle came from a used car wholesaler.

There was nothing wrong with it, but he couldn’t find a dealer who wanted it. I gladly took it off his hands.

How hip was I?  I had a new source of newer vehicles that would come right to me.

Two-year-old car for sale. No previous accident history reported, only 35,000km on it. Call with offer.

Shortly after, I got a call from a young man. His car had just broken down, and he needed a new one fast. He agreed to meet me at the local construction site where he worked.

He was just finishing up his lunch when I arrived. He was wearing his construction uniform and I immediately noticed his tired eyes.

I felt bad for the poor fellow, and I was glad that I was selling him a reliable vehicle. He didn’t need another headache on top of everything. I even knocked $500 off the price I wanted.

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*def’n Wholesaler – Vehicle sellers may call themselves auto brokers or wholesalers to sound legitimate and cheaper. But if they’re selling to private buyers, they must be licensed as a dealer. Like any curber – an individual posing as a private seller but selling vehicles as a business – wholesalers and brokers offer none of the protection the law provides for purchases from a Vehicle Sales Authority licensed dealer. Walt learned that lesson, but his buyer paid the price.

Check it out online: WatchOutForWalt.com

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It was a smooth transaction. The guy looked happy and thanked me immensely for all the help. I beamed back at him.

Around 5:00 a.m. the next morning, I got a call. It was the construction worker, yelling so loudly that I could barely understand him.

“THEY TOOK IT AWAY,” he said over and over again.  “REPOSSESSED!”

I hung up on him and tried to make sense of the situation.

Why would the car be taken away in the middle of the night? Who’s “they”?

Liens. Of course. The car had a lien on it. That’s why it wouldn’t sell on a lot. The bank must have seized it due to an unpaid balance.

As before, I panicked. I didn’t want to get involved in this right now. Sure, I sold him the car, but how was I supposed to know it had a lien on it? I realized the wholesaler had scammed me! If that fellow had asked for a CarProof history report or even a provincial lien search, I’d be the one screaming.

Over the next several hours, I kept letting my phone go to voicemail – I couldn’t bear speaking to the young man. I knew I had to switch phones again.

I felt a bit ashamed. But I needed to be selfish about this. At this point, the best thing for me was cash.

And lots of it.

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Check it out online: WatchOutForWalt.com

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The Vehicle Sales Authority of BC, CarProof Vehicle History Reports and ICBC are combining forces to help keep car buyers safe. Follow our series on Walt the Curber to learn how much you risk when you buy a used vehicle without proof of its history or condition. The price of buying a car from a curber can turn out to be much higher if you have nowhere to turn. Learn what you can do to protect yourself.

Part I – Confessions of a Curber: Walt Sells a Flood-Damaged Vehicle

by Driveway on Monday, March 10th, 2014

I remember my first time. It was so easy. So thrilling. And I walked away with a couple thousand bucks in my pocket.

It happened after the summer flooding in Alberta and southeastern B.C. Basements filled, streets were running with water, and cars were left to float and sink.

One day, I walked past a private home and saw, what I thought, was a relatively normal car for sale cheap.

Apart from a couple of scratches and damp seats, it seemed road worthy. I asked about the car. It was found full of flood water. It wasn’t insured at the time of the flood. And the owner wanted nothing to do with it.

I bought the car for a few hundred bucks. Originally, I had no intent to do what I did. I planned to sell the car for parts. But it must have dried out as it sat. The engine still ran.

Suddenly, I had an idea. Since the car looked fine, no one had to know its history. I was a genius.

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*What is a Curber? – An individual posing as a private seller, but selling vehicles for profit as a business.  A curber often misrepresents the history and condition of a vehicle.  Curbers offer none of the protections the law provides for purchases from a Vehicle Sales Authority licensed dealer.

(Check it out online: WatchOutForWalt.com)

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After a night in the garage with a heater and a little scrubbing, I posted an ad on Craigslist:

“Car for sale. Bought new car – no room in garage. Need to sell ASAP!!! Scratches, but in great condition. Call cell and we’ll talk price.”

Minutes later I got a call from a sixteen-year old kid – a little younger than my son. I told him to meet me at the local mall at 6:00 p.m.

I arrived at 6:20, telling him I was in a hurry to pick up my son from soccer practice. Turns out he played, too. After some soccer gossip, we got down to business.

I knew a kid his age just wanted a ride to show off to his friends, so we spent very little time on the details. I just told him the car was in perfect condition and was never in any accidents.

“No problems as far as I know,” I said.

The kid was sold. He trusted me. I never gave him my full name, and he never gave me his. He gave me the cash, I gave him the car. I had never registered it in my name. Smart. All was good.

Later, I learned about flood vehicles. Flooding can damage the computer system, which control things like the brakes, and rots the vehicle from inside out. And flood vehicles don’t qualify for on-road licensing or use in B.C. or anywhere in Canada. Who knew?

My mind went to the kid I sold the vehicle to. I felt a twinge of guilt. I hoped it wouldn’t fail while he was driving. Then my eyes darted to my stash of cash…

Check it out online: WatchOutForWalt.com