Contacting the former car owner, or contacted by a new owner of your car

[Fla]

In some states it is actually illegal to contact the former owner of a used vehicle. In many states it is illegal for a dealer to provide the name or any other information about a former owner.

Source?

 

[JMJNet]

It looks like it depends on how cooperative the other side will be.
In the case of OP, the other side may not be that cooperative because OP is asking for another key which I don't think they have it.
If OP is only asking about the condition of the car or service record, then that is a different story.
That key may be part of the sale and have long lost along the way.

 

[raaizin]

I have never done it with a regular car but in 1999 I purchased a 1971 Corvette 454 and four-speed factory air condition convertible with both tops in very original condition on the original owners manual and protecto plate had the original owners name. I believe he was a doctor or a dentist. I’m not sure it’s been a while anyway I sent him a letter and he responded with the history of the car which was pretty cool. seems he owns some oil wells because he was from Texas as well, it was quite interesting to hear anyway, I kept the paperwork and when I sold the car, I passed it along to the next owner one picture is my dad and the other is my daughter who is 28 now

 

[FordFETruck]

I did it once, just trying to learn more about the vehicle's prior ownership history (not the person I bought it from) there was an old school for sale ad printed out on a piece of paper obviously from a stationary shop before household printers were common, with a phone number and name on it tucked under the seat. I looked the name up and figured the phone number was long out of service and wound up finding the guy on Facebook and sent him a message asking if he ever owned it. He never owned it, but he was the one that helped sell the car for the original owner in the early 90's. I think he was surprised the car is still in existence and taking people to work on a regular basis.

 

[macarose]

I have owned a dealership for over 20 years and let me tell you, I can write several book about this topic.

Some of my best friends in the automotive part of my life came from just contacting a stranger about their traded-in car which was at a dealer auction.

Volvo owners back in the day were incredibly helpful when it came to conversations. Something about owning a classic Volvo brick (240, 740, 940, 960) makes an owner actually want to share information to make it easier for the next owner. Longevity mattered to Volvo owners back then. I was also a fairly well known car guy back due to my Craigslist ads and that certainly helped with breaking the ice.

I always introduced myself politely, and simply told them I was interested in buying their old car. That's it. Most owners usually offered a lot of solid information and often times would save me from buying a rolling turd.

Unpleasant experiences? Definitely a few. One lady who bought my wife's car at an auction decided not to register the vehicle and it ended up impounded. She asked us to help. We did, and within a few minutes of my going out there to get her vehicle out from the tow yard she turned into a nasty jerk. About a month later she called again and asked us to help, and I told her no thanks with a few unique Jersey mannerisms.

Franchise car dealers can be the worst. The large ones such as Autonation won't allow current owners to have access to the maintenance records of the prior owner, and certain companies like Carvana will put the title in their name and remove all the glovebox information. I get the privacy thing for some car owners. Some want to kick that bucket before it's full and not get wet. But a car dealer intentionally not sharing prior maintenance records with the new owner strikes me as a really bad way to do business.

 

[Fla]

I have owned a dealership for over 20 years and let me tell you, I can write several book about this topic.

Some of my best friends in the automotive part of my life came from just contacting a stranger about their traded-in car which was at a dealer auction.

Volvo owners back in the day were incredibly helpful when it came to conversations. Something about owning a classic Volvo brick (240, 740, 940, 960) makes an owner actually want to share information to make it easier for the next owner. Longevity mattered to Volvo owners back then. I was also a fairly well known car guy back due to my Craigslist ads and that certainly helped with breaking the ice.

I always introduced myself politely, and simply told them I was interested in buying their old car. That's it. Most owners usually offered a lot of solid information and often times would save me from buying a rolling turd.

Unpleasant experiences? Definitely a few. One lady who bought my wife's car at an auction decided not to register the vehicle and it ended up impounded. She asked us to help. We did, and within a few minutes of my going out there to get her vehicle out from the tow yard she turned into a nasty jerk. About a month later she called again and asked us to help, and I told her no thanks with a few unique Jersey mannerisms.

Franchise car dealers can be the worst. The large ones such as Autonation won't allow current owners to have access to the maintenance records of the prior owner, and certain companies like Carvana will put the title in their name and remove all the glovebox information. I get the privacy thing for some car owners. Some want to kick that bucket before it's full and not get wet. But a car dealer intentionally not sharing prior maintenance records with the new owner strikes me as a really bad way to do business.

What I bought my F-150 back in 2010 I looked at a used one at a VERY large Ford dealership in central Florida. It was nearly new, only about 3 months old so I was very curious about why the PO had traded it in. Of course, the sales droid didn't know so I asked for them to put me in contact with the previous owner so that I could ask questions. Note that I said contact, I didn't ask for the name or the phone number of the PO and the dealer could have made the call and then put me on the line. Well you would have thought that I had asked to see naked pictures of the droid's wife! I got stern lecture about privacy. I finally hung up on the guy and a few minutes later he called back and my wife answered and he said that we had gotten disconnected. She said no and that I had hung up on him and that we were done talking to him and not to ever call us again. But he couldn't figure out why! I bought my 150 somewhere else and to this day I have not been back to that dealership. That lecture costs them between $35,000 and $40,000 at the time and possible a lot more over the years.

And some people in the auto sales business just can't understand why people in that industry are so despised!

 

[Hall]

I wonder how many dealers have to fib when prospective buyers or buyers ask for details on the previous owner ? Maybe they all just need to say "the previous owner insisted that we not share their name or contact details".

That lecture costs them between $35,000 and $40,000

They never sold the truck ? Ever ?

 

[Slow Car Sport Mode]

Well, if anyone knows who owns VIN# WBAAB5402G9673364 - a car that played key part in my early life, if it's not at a scrap yard after possibly last seen at a car dealer in Irvington NJ after it "left my ownership".... I'll ask if I can buy the car back.... that number is ingrained on my brain, as I try to close the door on the years of my life that were my 20s............

Late to this thread, but. I would think that the information would be kind of the same as license plates, and visible only to DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles. Not Delaware Maryland Virginina. MVC, RMV, BMV) officials.. much like the only way that can see a name and address off a license plate are police officers and other law enforcement with a computer in their vehicle on patrol, or maybe dispatching. Just seems like common sense.

The whole "public info vs private" thing rears its head again. Yeah, you can see a clearly displayed license plate, but beyond that what "rights" do you have with it. Rights vs privileges. You have a "right" to know the name and address behind a VIN number or a license plate? I don't see how this isn't clear, what "right" do you have for that information except, again, possibly law enforcement example.

 

[WeyounDS9]

I bought a car from a sleazy Florida car corner lot ("stealer" in BITOG parlance) but it came incomplete with no remote, Owner's Manual and just one (chip) key. (When asked where they were, the salesman said "I dunno.") I contacted the former owner in the hope he had those and send to me and I'd pay the postage. No response and I suspect it was a dead man's car; stealer bought the car from a local wholesale outfit, not the previous owner.

Have you ever contacted the former owner of a car you have bought and how would you feel about being contacted by the new owner of your previously-owned car? Of course, we are not talking about a private sale.

In my lifetime I have been contacted twice by new owners of my previous car.
The first time it was a car I had totaled and the owner called me about a spare key.
I dont remember all the detail but he came off pushy from the get-go.

I suspected he either did not know it has been a totaled car and he may have only found out when it came out in our conversation as I told him the insurance company had picked up the totaled car in the middle of the night as if it was a repo not giving me any opportunity to clear out my personal belongings.
Or he was the guy fixing/flipping it.
Maybe the latter since retail customers tend to me more respectful.
It was a late model import so I would not be surpised it someone fixed it up and tried to sell it to an unsuspected buyer.

Anyway this conversation was years ago and I remember being annoyed at the phonecall mostly because of it pushyness and tone.

The 2nd time It was smooth sailing and the man asked some questions and I told him.