This is a rather incredible story that David tells us via the orange Alert Us button. The new owner of a Peugeot SUV, he registers and insures his vehicle only to be stopped by the police a few months later. The vehicle is in fact reported because it belongs to a leasing company.
After having his car stolen, a Peugeot 5008 SUV, David, originally from Brussels, decided to buy a new vehicle to accommodate his three children. He turned again to the same vehicle that he found second-hand in a professional garage.I liked it, I took out a loan to buy it and I registered it“, recalls David. With a lighter wallet of around €36,000, he used his vehicle for a few months without any worries.
I went to the police station
Everything changed in mid-June, when he was arrested by the police. The car turns out to be flagged. “They suspected me, so I went to the police station“, explains the Brussels resident. That’s when he learned the news: the vehicle belonged to a leasing company that filed a complaint after six months.”The person rented the car at the beginning of January and, I don’t know how he did it, he passed the technical inspection and sold it to the garage.“, the forty-year-old is surprised.
Cold shower
“I can’t use it anymore, it’s in front of my house“, laments David, who fears the worst: “If someone hits me, I lose everything since it is not insured“. The Brussels resident is considered an injured party in the case. He hopes to be able to drive his vehicle as quickly as possible: “With three children, it’s not easy, especially since they are in two different schools“, he regrets.”It could take months, according to my lawyer.“
Losing your vehicle overnight is also a big question mark for the summer vacation of the family who wanted to go to the south of France: “My lawyer advised me to rent a car, but it costs €2000“, laments the forty-year-old who can always count on his wife’s small city car to help out during short trips.
Deposit sale
We tried to understand how such a mess could happen. First stop: the garage where David found the SUV. Mehdi, the salesman at this professional garage in Sombreffe, is surprised by our call: “I was completely unaware of the problem.“, he asks. “It was a car on consignment from another garage, a colleague with whom we were used to working, we are professionals, we work with transparency.“
We sell 500 vehicles per year
A garage, which does not have enough storage capacity for example, can decide to sign a consignment contract with another garage to entrust it with the sale of a vehicle, for a commission. We were able to verify the existence of this contract. It is indeed the wording of the professional from Floreffe who is named in the sales contract.It’s been two months, two and a half months since we stopped collaborating with them. They didn’t pay one then two bills“, assures the seller. He regrets that the customer did not contact the garage directly, even if he understands David’s delicate situation: “We have been in the business for over 15 years, we sell 500 vehicles per year, we have a storefront, we can put pressure on the dealer to compensate the customer“, continue Mehdi.
Origin of the problem
According to Patrick Piret, lawyer at Traxio, the most plausible explanation would be that an unscrupulous seller took advantage of a loophole in Belgian legislation. “There are two types of leasing, operational leasing and financial leasing. In the case of operational leasing, the vehicle is registered in the name of the leasing company, never in the name of the user. In the case of financial leasing, the vehicle may be registered in the name of the user.“, he explains. It is in this second case that flaws can appear.
I wouldn’t say it’s common
To better understand, you must first know that a registration certificate is issued in two parts, one part to keep at home and another to keep in the car. When selling, both must be presented. When leasing, the leasing company only issues the car part of the registration certificate. The home part remains within the company.If the user is dishonest and wants to present the vehicle for technical inspection before reselling it, he can go to the police and say that he has lost the registration certificate. He then receives a duplicate with both parts of the registration certificate, which will allow him to go to the technical inspection with the vehicle and resell it. points out the Traxio lawyer.
This is where a professional garage must be extremely vigilant. It is customary to require all the vehicle documents, including the purchase invoice, but if it is limited to the registration certificate, it could be fooled.I wouldn’t say it’s common, but these are cases that are still regular.“, comments Patrick Piret.
The second-hand market, not secure?
Good practice as a consumer remains to require a concrete sales contract: “It must include a checklist and information that is required by law according to the Royal Decree of 5 April 2019. Make sure you also receive the Car-Pass“, explains Patrick Piret, who also provides reassurance on the second-hand market.”You don’t have to be afraid though. When the professional is not attentive enough, it happens, but when the professional has doubts about the origin of the vehicle, he will not sell it“, he concludes.
Immediately after our call to the Sombreffe garage, David was contacted by Mehdi who promised him compensation within the week: “I contacted the other garage (the dealer garage, editor’s note), they will come to my house to discuss it.“, the salesman from the Namur garage assures us.
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