Motoring | Be aware of bounced cheque by selling a car

Are You Going to Sell Your Car?

Be aware of bounced cheques!

Sooner or later we start thinking about selling our car. Maybe it starts having too many problems or we just want to have something new. The buyer seems to like it, but if he is going to pay with a cheque – beware!

Dubai Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) warn residents of handing over possession of their ‘sold’ vehicles before encashing the cheque.

Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, head of the CID, warned the public: “Many people sell their cars in the summer and some buyers pick up the car in the afternoon and give the seller a cheque.”

“When the seller tries to encash the cheque the next day, he finds that it is worthless because the buyer has no funds in his account, but it is too late to act because by that time, the sold car would be smuggled to a neighbouring country,” – he continued.

Police advises against accepting personal cheques as payment when selling your vehicle. The reason is a number of reports of people who received no money and lost their car as a result of bounced cheques. You should encash the cheque before the vehicle is registered under the new owner’s name.

Dubai Police have also warned drivers against leaving their cars unattended with the engine on, and revealed that 45 such cars were stolen last year when drivers left the engines turned on and went nearby to run errands, while another three were stolen in the first three months of this year.

“The negligence of car owners is the main reason behind these crimes, as they leave their cars running to keep them cool until they return, especially in the summer months,” added head of the CID.