After suffering a couple of jerks coming out for a "test drive and tyre kick session" I am considering getting anyone who wants to test drive my car before buying it, to sign a "responsibility for damages agreement". This assumes that at best they will only be covered for third party cover under their own policy. Something like:

 

I agree to compensate the owner of Nissan 300zxTT, registration number: A8JVN in full for any direct, or indirect, damages caused and accept full responsibility for all third party claims whilst I am driving or in control of the vehicle.

 

Name .........................................

Address .........................................

Signature ........................................

Date ........................................

 

What do you think?

Any budding lawyers out there?

You also need the signature of the ower of the car and an independant witness.

I agree with my signature as owner, but why an independent witness? And that is kind of unlikely to be able to get if we assume that they come to my house to see the car. It would be me and him/her plus anyone they brought along with them.

For legal reason a witness who has no benefit from the contract and is not a family member of either party is requred by law to bind the contract (sister and bro in law are in the game).

I'm a million miles from being an expert on the legal side but I can't make things worse.

 

More importantly, it makes them think. Excellent idea.

Only other problem is that if you know that they are not insured to drive your car then you are also aiding and abetting to a crime which of course is driving without insurance, so if the worst comes to the worst, you could get fined.

 

Its very hard to actually make a contract that sticks. Lawyers will always find holes in the contract.

You need to make sure you cover everything. It's not easy.

Not that im a lawyer but would this read better if this was this!!!!

 

I agree to compensate the owner of Nissan 300zxTT

 

I agree to compensate the owner of Nissan 300zxTT IN FALL

 

Or perhaps specify what you want compensating on. E.G to simply repair the damage, or if you damage it in any way what so ever you have got to come up with 9 K!!!!!! in exchange for this broken car!!!

Weismi01, I already specified "in full".

 

"I agree to compensate the owner of Nissan 300zxTT, registration number: A8JVN in full for any direct, or indirect, damages caused and accept full responsibility for all third party claims whilst I am driving or in control of the vehicle."

 

Also it is difficult to cover all areas and agree a level of compensation before an event occurs, but what I am trying to do is to make them aware that whether they are insured or not I expect them to compensate me for any damage they cause. At least it "might" make them think about the consequences of driving like a loony. It may not stand up in a court under contract law but as a written agreement it might hold some standing and is better than nothing as they have shown "intent to compensate" by way of signing it in the first place.

Fair enough!!!

you want something a bit like the shops use...

 

if you break it, then you have bought it.

 

When they arrange to visit, ask them to bring their insurance along for you to see that they are insured 3rd party at least to cover yourself as described earlier.

Bearing in mind the sort of car it is, I think YOU should drive it only, perhaps on the first occasion on meeting a prospective buyer.

Second time you see them and you (maybe) have sussed they're serious, then they get to take the beast for a spin (not literally with any luck).

When I bought mine, the guy said I could only drive it if I brought a cash deposit equivalent to the cost of the car (hmm, mine was much cheaper than yours, so maybe that wouldn't work)... sounded reasonable to me.

 

He ended up driving around a bit, then saying "sod it", and giving me the wheel - basically, I guess, he saw I was serious about buying, and maybe thought I looked responsible (*ahem*).

 

My point: if the tyre kickers are easy to spot, make it clear there's no test drive without a hefty deposit or something. People are unlikely to buy a car like this on a whim, you should be able to tell who's serious. Likewise, serious buyers should respect that you want some sign of commitment before they can test drive it, right?

 

Sorry, bad headache... grammar not flowing properly :/ And I've just seen that james300 is saying basically the same thing, but more concisely :S

Most garages do (as craig says) operate a 'if you break it you buy it' policy. Be very carefull with legal stuff as it also binds YOU to the same contract..... don't believe me??? Read this :D

 

This is the best lawyer story of the year, decade and probably the century. A Charlotte, NC, lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against fire among other things.

Within a month having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason: that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The lawyer sued....and won! In delivering the ruling the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The Judge stated nevertheless, that the Lawyer held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also

guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire," and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000.00 to the

lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."

 

NOW FOR THE BEST PART... After the lawyer cashed the check, the Insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!! With his own Insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, The lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000.00 fine.

 

This is a true story and was the 1st place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

 

 

So, be carefull..... be VERY carefull ;)

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

LMAO - a lawyer arrested = heaven! But I take your point.

Andy, mate, that story has just bought a smile to my face...

 

Mr JV, when I was selling my CRX I had absolutely c*** loads of people coming along only to take her for a spin, with no intention what so ever to buy.

 

I don't think there is much you can do to stop these b*ggers other than try and scan them to see if they are serious or not.

 

If in doubt just tell them that they can't drive it.

 

Or, a more sly way round this problem is this... The majority of tyre kickers and test pilots are pretty dim and slow - so when they come over and ask to drive the car get them to sign a "legal document" which states that if they damage they buy. This'll scare them a lil and chances are that they'd be more than happy to just let you drive.

 

If they're serious they'll sign away happily on the dotted line :-D

me personally wouldnt let them drive it, unless on a private road with no trees cars or ditches. if there serious about buying im sure spending that amount of cash on a very specialised car they can afford a professional check over.

I would not let a total stranger drive,NO WAY I would take them and If they did not like tough!

When i bought mine, the seller a very nice bloke in his fifties gave me the keys for a test drive and when i asked if he was coming with me he told me he was selling it cos it scared him, we left him my mates brand new astra cabriolet (with his girlfriend inside) to show we were genuine, but he would of been perfectly happy to let us go without having done so.

 

As the car was only 1/2 mile from my house i took it home, showed the family, and returned to him with the cash.

 

i think when you are selling a car you have to be very careful, there are alot of genuine people who may be put off by someone being overprotective of their car, on the same note their are a few dodgy gits that are only out to thrash or nick it.

 

Good luck with it.

Thanks Alps, the format of the legal document is actually what we are discussing, see my first post.

I think we all got a bit side tracked but it's all good ! :D

another point is to see how much they know about the zed. serious buyers have usually done their research, so a few searching questions should flush out the joyriders.

cheers

steve