Vehicle Crime
Vehicle Ownership Checks
Cutting car thieves off from their market
The Home Office campaign to reduce car crime is achieving significant success through its strategy of raising public awareness and encouraging the use of high-tech solutions like immobilisers and vehicle tracking systems.
Anything that makes the life of a car thief more difficult is to be welcomed. But criminals have an unfortunate knack of learning very quickly, and they somehow manage to keep one step ahead of the latest technology. In just a few seconds, a determined and skilled criminal can crack even the most advanced systems.
Manufacturers can and will continue to find smarter ways to beat the thieves. In the not-too-distant future, this may lead to approaches that seem like science-fiction today – for example, retina and fingerprint recognition is just around the corner. But sadly, while there’s a thief about, and a ready market for stolen cars, there will never be such a thing as perfect car security.
So while we should all try to use the best technology we can afford to protect our property, we must also look for other ways to reduce car crime.
A staggering 350,000 cars are stolen every year, and up to half of these are never recovered. Organised gangs export some, others end up as burned out wrecks - a major environmental issue that is currently costing taxpayers a fortune. The rest – an unknown number, but certainly many thousands of vehicles - end up back in the marketplace, offered for sale to unsuspecting buyers looking for a bargain.
Most bona fide used car dealers are completely reputable, and go to some lengths to ensure that the cars they sell are fit for purpose in every respect. However, over 3 million used cars change hands privately every year, mainly through advertisements in local papers and specialist magazines.
As the Office of Fair Trading says, anyone looking for a used car will probably get a better deal from a private seller. But the downside is that buying privately involves taking a real risk, and not just the possibility that the car may give up the ghost a few miles down the road.
If a privately-purchased ‘bargain’ turns out to have been previously stolen, there is a good chance that the police will eventually identify it. The hapless buyer will lose the car, and the hard-earned cash they parted with for it. There will probably be little point in going back to the seller, who is likely to be an innocent party who originally bought the car in good faith. And the bad news doesn’t end there - stolen cars are not the only problem lurking in wait. Many cars have outstanding finance and other skeletons in the cupboard. Then there are the potentially lethal cut-and-shuts. In fact research shows that as many as one in three used cars on sale have some kind of hidden problem.
The solution is relatively simple - before money changes hands, the car's history should be checked properly. It's easy to do so quickly and cheaply, either by telephone or on-line. All the buyer needs is the registration number and the car's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), usually found on a small plate within the engine compartment. The AA provides a service called Car Data check, and the RAC and others offer similar products. The cost is around the same as a tank of fuel. A few minutes thought, and a few pounds spent, could save the buyer a small fortune.
Ultimately, there must be a strong case for legislation to make every seller prove that the car they’re selling is clean and fit for sale. After all, why should the buyer take all the risk? Until that becomes a reality, it’s a case of buyer beware – there's a simple way to make sure you don’t become another victim of car crime
If everyone checked, it would be much harder for car thieves to convert their ill-gotten gains into hard cash. And that surely has to be one of the quickest and cheapest ways to cut car crime.
Last update: 12/09/03