Stolen RX spotted for sale on Autotrader

[ColinBarber]

3 hours ago, Spock66 said:

Surely the VIN would be an instant give away there is a problem with the car and it's on just about every panel so very hard to change I would have thought?

They would peel those off (so people that didn't know they should be there would be none the wiser), but the VIN in the windscreen and under the seat are more difficult to tamper with without notice.

[Spacewagon52]

The car is advertised as a 2017 model - but it is younger! 

 

Why would you try to sell a younger car as an older car?  Does not look like a personalised plate either?

[PRT68]

Do interior plastics still have a little 'date clock' in the moulding? Normally gives month and year the item was made, but doesn't always coincide with the month of the body, but near enough.

[DavidCM]

3 minutes ago, PRT68 said:

Do interior plastics still have a little 'date clock' in the moulding? Normally gives month and year the item was made, but doesn't always coincide with the month of the body, but near enough.

It's easier to look at the white label attached to the base fixing of the seatbelt.They all have the manufacturing date on them...usually very close to the date the car was manufactured.

[ColinBarber]

No need to look for dates. The MOT history shows the vehicle was registered in 2017 however it is a MY20 vehicle - unless the previous owner has spent £10,000+ on a new dashboard, centre console and touch pad, screen, heated steering wheel and button, lights, front and rear bumpers etc.

[Mossypossy]

So....it is a bargain?

[ColinBarber]

1 hour ago, Mossypossy said:

So....it is a bargain?

Until one day when the police take it away. 

[Ken R]

Number plate could be cloned???

[rayaans]

I have strong suspicions that this is a cloned car - I have reported it to the Met Police online so will see if anything comes of it. 

It looks like the dealer has bought it from an auction as the previous pictures before the dealer ones are all auction pics

[Spock66]

You would like to think that the systems in place with DVLA would make it very difficult to clone and sell a car in the UK through legitimate channels.

Hence most stolen cars are broken up for parts or exported to countries less diligent on the provenance of a vehicle.

[John Walker]

6 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

You would like to think that the systems in place with DVLA would make it very difficult to clone and sell a car in the UK through legitimate channels.

Hence most stolen cars are broken up for parts or exported to countries less diligent on the provenance of a vehicle.

Trust what i m gonna say, not the system. My friend has bought many years ago a CT200h which he used it for more than two years. When the time came to sell it to a dealer, he discovered that it was a cloned car. Dvla has released a logbook for a cloned car without any fuss. 
 

So before trusting “the system” (any system) or any dealership you d better do your own research on how to check properly that you’re buying a genuine car. 
 

My friend’s car was taken by the police and he asked the officer if they will look for the guilty ones. He said the case is now closed as they found the stolen car. This is a lesson on how to lose over 10k. 

[John Walker]

28 minutes ago, rayaans said:

I have strong suspicions that this is a cloned car - I have reported it to the Met Police online so will see if anything comes of it. 

It looks like the dealer has bought it from an auction as the previous pictures before the dealer ones are all auction pics

100% it’s a cloned car. I have reported it as well but nothing yet. Trying to call the dealership but it always says “the person you re trying to call is on the phone, please leave a message” 

[John Walker]

Only someone who lives close to the dealer that can go and have a quick look at the car and then call the police. 

[John Walker]

Or someone innocent will buy and will lose almost 30k. Because the dealer will say he bought it from somewhere else and it’s not their fault. I ve heard a similar story before. 

[Barry14UK]

I had a close call when I nearly bought an Aristo many years ago.  It was a very nice car with a better spec than the equivalent UK Lexus as I am sure any Aristo owner will confirm.  However, several things rang alarm bells.  It had been imported from Dubai from whence a number of stolen cars, (particularly Skylines but not exclusively them) had made news at the time, even on TV. There was a problem with the driver's door or window, possibly through forced entry and the grey colour where the vehicle identification number was stamped under the bonnet was very slightly different to elsewhere.  The seller had bought the car from an importer some time previously and it had been serviced at a Toyota/Lexus dealership in the UK without  comment.  I checked the aforementioned stamped  identity and registration with the Police and DVLA and they said nothing was untoward.  Finally, I checked with Lexus/Toyota who got back to me saying that there was no such identity number!  

I don't know whether the seller knew this was not a legitimate car - he was selling it to fund extension of his business, he told me and appeared to be genuine.  I told him the situation and left it with him to decide how to proceed as no way was I taking this on.  Perhaps in hindsight I felt sorry for the man who I think decided to just keep it but with the benefit of hindsight perhaps I should have told the Police.

Anyway, just goes to show you need to take care when laying out your hard earned.

[b4u2]

You can do a hpi check to check if it's been stolen.

[steve2006]

22 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

You can do a hpi check to check if it's been stolen.

I think the advert says it has been hpi checked, the problem is that if the legit car shows clear the cloned one with exactly the same details will also show clear on checking

[John Walker]

14 hours ago, steve2006 said:

I think the advert says it has been hpi checked, the problem is that if the legit car shows clear the cloned one with exactly the same details will also show clear on checking

Exactly 

[John Walker]

Police doesn’t seem to care much as the car is still up for sale. 

[Danny Cowell]

On the 14th of February My Mercedes AMG E43 was stolen. It was fitted with a Scorpion S5, tracker Immobiliser. The tracker was showing it was in Newham ( Not far from Ilford)for two days. The Police did not attend. That is how serious the Police take car theft in this part of greater London. Hence  I am now the owner of a Lexus RX450    

[steve2006]

4 hours ago, John Walker said:

Police doesn’t seem to care much as the car is still up for sale. 

The buyer will get the V5c green slip and a crime number from the dealer 😀

[John Walker]

12 minutes ago, Danny Cowell said:

On the 14th of February My Mercedes AMG E43 was stolen. It was fitted with a Scorpion S5, tracker Immobiliser. The tracker was showing it was in Newham ( Not far from Ilford)for two days. The Police did not attend. That is how serious the Police take car theft in this part of greater London. Hence  I am now the owner of a Lexus RX450    

Hopefully i m not offending anyone but East London seems to be one of the worst places to buy a car, a lot of crime (theft) going on in there. This is also where they seem to take the stolen cars. 
 

How did they manage to bypass the immobiliser and the alarm? 
 

Carefull with your RX, try Pandora security, a good package is around 1.5k but well worth it. Try a good steering lock as well. 

[Danny Cowell]

I don't know for sure how it was stolen. It was never investigated. It seems they may have lifted the car. There were marks on my drive.

I wont go in to the security I have on the RX. I don't want to tempt fate. Or challenge to Scrotes 

[Paul Brooksbank]

It's also got a breakdown warrant, should that be a search warrant? 😂

[hockeyedwards]

Still for sale, have I actually got to go buy this and then hand it over? 😂