A small note of caution

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

Some of you may have seen my 205 gti that was for sale on ebay and in the for sale section of this forum. All went well, the car got up to 750 and i was ok with that. The guy who 'bought' it then came round, went over the car with a magnifying glass and a toothpick and decided he didnt want it and buggered off. That pissed me off obviously, but not too much as i had 3 or 4 people that wanted it if the sale fell through. One of the guys, who really knew his stuff about the cars, suggested that it could be a 1fm (only 25 ever made, worth over 10k now), turns out that it was. Happy days i hear you cry, er, no. Someone else came over for a look and after us going over the car for about an hour, we both came to the conlusion that the number plates and then VIN were actually from a different car altogether, just another black GTI which is why the reg docs etc are all ok. The main giveaway was that 1fm's were only made on a K plate and mine is a G, the seats were wrong for 1fm's and so were the wheels but i always just assumed it was another kind of special edition or a normal car that someone had put different bits on. So the outcome of this is that i now have a car that is potentially worth over 10 grand thats actually worth close to fuck all and i obviously cannot sell. Not renault related but it could happen with any car.

The thing that i will say, is that however much you are buying a car for (mine cost me 50 quid as it was a non runner, and for that sort of money i didnt think it was worth trying to pick holes in it or going over it in any kind of detail), ALWAYS check the small but important details like the condition of the VIN or chassis number and if anything strikes you as odd about the car, for gods sake just walk away even if it seems like the buy of the century. I have spent well over 500 quid getting this car up and running well and now thats all gone.

Gutted? Er yes!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

such is life mat ebut surely you'll get something for it.

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

Depends really. The only thing i can do is sell it for spares which it going to take a shitload of time and hassle as if i try and sell it as a whole car a: that it a totally wankerish thing to do and b: when the person tries to sell it and/or someone points this out to him guess who's going to be getting the phone calls or knocks on the door, me, and that is something that i cannot be dealing with. I think i'll be better of just cutting my losses!

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

how did he think it was one of them?

from the vin?

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

A 1fm you mean? Or a dodgy car?

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

1fm.

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

Just because of the spec of the car. Air con, ABS and PAS arent common on 205's and neither are grey carpets, most are red. The main one was 1fm's have a star shaped badge on the bootlid and on mine you can see (although you wouldnt notice unless you were looking for it) glue residue in exactly the same shape.

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

but the vin etc show other wise?

so basically you have one but cant prove it?

also

oh my god thats the 205 iv been looking for, how much u want for it??????????? please dont say ur going to leave it on e bay, price price price???

that was on your ebay questions.

was that the guy who came to see it? and told you about it?

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

Yeah kind of. The VIN and plates indicate that the car is a black GTI but the spec would suggest that the car is a later model than the numberplates which turned out to be the case exactly. Its not really a case of proving that its a 1FM its that to make it of any kind of value or interest you would need to source the parts that have been taken off (badges, seats and wheels) and try to find out the actual identity of the car to get the original numberplates as i think its clear that the car i have has been stolen at some point and someone has just taken the identity from a crashed (or whatever) GTI changed it all over and removed any unusual features. And after going through all that trouble the insurance company that settled the theft claim in the first place (who the car would technically belong to) will more than likely have the car destroyed.

I cant remember if it was the same guy or not to be honest mate, i had about 40 questions on the car so kinda lost track!

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

hmm, dose suck indeed,

you going to try and find out about it?

if there is a way?

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

The only way is if there is another VIN somewhere that hasnt been tampered with. Or, if i can find a register somewhere of all the reg numbers of the 25 1fms that were made and then try to trace them all until i (possibly but unlikely) eliminate them all and then i would have my original numberplate. But as soon as i try to re-register it with the DVLA they will more than likely get on to the police and i still reckon it will end up with the insurance company wanting the car back so it will be a big waste of time and effort. All i will get out of it will be ill be able to say 'i had a 1fm, could have been worth a small fortune but it was a ringer and basically i got fucked'!

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

there nothing at all that was printed on them?

beacuse of them being so limited?

have yu managed to insure it yet?

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

I never actually legally had the car on the road. It spent most of its life at my brothers garage with him working on it when he had the time. The only time ive really driven it was when my other car broke down and i needed to be somewhere or a few naughty B road blasts on a sunday afternoon (not a good idea everyone!) But insuring it wouldnt be a prob as everything matches up.

There was in fact the number of the car (1 - 25) on a brass plate on the inside of the drivers door but obviously that has gone along with the exterior badges.

There is still people interested in buying it even knowing its a ringer including the guy who viewed it the other day. Someone else is coming over tomorrow. The thing is i will be selling it witha clear conscience as they know all about it and if they want to get involved with the DVLA police etc then thats up to them.

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

well if there is no problems insuring it, i cant see a problem as selling it as a noraml GTi

just sucks you wont get what its worth if its an original.

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

Yeah i know what you saying mate and i did have the same idea but theres just so many things that could go wrong with me doing that plus you have to bear in mind, its not taxed, MOT'd and still needs work. The only reason it got up to that amount on Ebay is because its a rare spec and anyone who is going to be after it is also gonna know its a ringer as soon as they come round to look at it. As a normal GTI with the work that needs doing to it its prob worth 200-300 quid which is not really worth it for the grief it could potentially cause. Ya get me?

Level 10 User Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 621

I think you should find out more, even if the insurance company have paid out on it you might still be allowed to keep the car, might depend on how long ago it happened. What have you got to lose? What might you gain?

Site Subscriber Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 2929

is there no way of doing a chasis number search to identify the car?

When it comes down to it your stuck with a car that you cant sell, if it was stolen the worst that can happen is that they take the car away and that will save you paying to scrap it.

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

why not get an offical GTi, and exchange all the parts over then sell that one?

still work to be involved tho.

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

Well, the whole reason for me selling this car was to generate money so the last thing i really want to be doing is going out and buying more cars, plus my mum would absolutely kill me! I cant do a chassis number search unless like i said there is another one somewhere that hasnt been touched as the chassis number i have is the wrong one, ie the one that matches up with the plates. If any of the people who are still interested in the car offer me a half decent amount for it then im going to take it, if they do manage to get it back on the road re registered etc then i'll take my hat off to them. I think its highly unlikely though i have to say.

Site Subscriber Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 2929

Chasis numbers are all over the car. Unless they have all been rubbed off?
Your fairly happy that your vin is wrong so discount what that says, have a look for a chasis number under the carpets, internal pannels and in the engine bay. If you take the number to peugeot they should be able to source the ID of the car.

Level 6 User Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 154

Yeah i might give that a try. But surely you can apreciate my position? Its been good news, bad news, good news, bad news for about the last two weeks with this F ing car and a big part of me just wants to see the back of it.