Could selling your car get it stolen?

After 5 years’ solid service, the time had come for Abby to sell her trusty Mazda Atenza. With her eyes on a hybrid, Abby needed to recoup every penny she could from the sale, so rather than using a licensed dealer, she sold it herself online. Three weeks later, her car had been stolen.

“I live by the sea and the car was starting to rust a little bit. I wanted to sell it while it still had value and I just thought it would be better for someone else – probably with a garage – to own it,” Abby says.

Abby wanted to get on what she calls the “hybrid ladder”, which meant getting the best price, for the lowest fees, so she could put the money towards a hybrid. Rather than using a licensed dealer, she advertised it for sale on Trade Me and Facebook Marketplace.

Abby did what most people would do. She furnished the listing with the details of her 2003 Mazda Atenza, and notified potential buyers that it had two brand-new tyres. That should nudge the price up nicely. When would-be buyers got in touch, she let them know the address to arrange a viewing.

Within a month, it had been stolen, and one of the first questions Abby’s insurer asked was whether it had been for sale.

There’s no way of knowing for certain, but Abby believes that listing her car online contributed to its theft.

“When I look at the whole picture, my gut instinct is that it’s because I was selling it online.”

Advertising your car to buyers is also advertising it to thieves

Advertising your car online can make it vulnerable to theft, with particular makes and models increasing the risk. Vehicles from the mid-2000s, including Mazda Atenzas, are among the most frequently stolen vehicles in the country. For criminals, private online sales make them easy to find.

Senior Sergeant Roy Appley is a police officer based in Christchurch. He says that while selling your vehicle does not necessarily make it more likely to be stolen, it does afford would-be criminals the opportunity to browse the market and identify vehicles worth stealing.

“Criminals are often referred to as being lazy or opportunistic, but there is actually a fair bit more planning that goes into some crimes than people might expect. In the case of stolen cars, because there are cars that are much more likely to be stolen than others, you can be certain that some criminals are actually identifying the target. They’re not just turning up to your place hoping that the car you’ve got is one they can steal.

“If somebody can legitimately come to your place and view your car, and if it’s their intent to steal it all along, then getting an idea of where it is, how it’s parked, and how it’s configured can certainly give them a heads-up,” Appley says.

What can you do differently if you’re selling your car?

Senior Sergeant Appley does not want New Zealanders to be fearful of selling their vehicles or using services like Facebook Marketplace or Trade Me. He also wouldn’t avoid buying a car just because it is among the types most frequently stolen. In fact, he’s about to buy his daughter a vehicle that he knows is among the most frequently stolen in the country.

He does, however, recommend taking some precautions to reduce the risks if you’re selling your vehicle privately.

“If you’re selling your car online and people are coming to your house to view it, then you should control where they are and where you do the viewing. This might be in front of a security camera that you have installed at your property. If you can do it away from your house, that’s good because you’re not exposing your property.

“You might also want to consider having a support person if you don’t feel that you can deal with someone if they become upset or angry on your property,” Appley says.

Check viewers’ identities and report suspicious behaviour

The nature of online sales platforms, like Trade Me and Facebook Marketplace, means that people can create relatively anonymous profiles, which can then be used to arrange vehicle viewings.

“Because of the anonymity that goes with those sorts of things, I think people have to be extra cautious that the person that they think they're dealing with is actually the person they are…people just have to be super careful,” Appley says.

He recommends notifying a potential buyer at the outset that you will be checking their ID before allowing them to view the vehicle, or even taking their photo to hold onto until the deal is done. This might make your vehicle riskier to steal for would-be thieves – or just more hassle than it’s worth – compared to the next car they see online.

“If you’re at all suspicious during a sale, such as after someone has taken a look at the vehicle, report it. You can report to 105 a number of ways now, such as by calling 105 or by reporting it to the police online. It’s better to tell the police something and let us have a think about it than find the next day that your car’s been stolen,” Appley says.

Use a licensed dealer

Services like Facebook Marketplace and Trade Me might feel like the most cost-effective way to sell your vehicle, but they could leave you vulnerable if a transaction goes wrong, or if your car is stolen.

Ultimately, the safest way to sell your vehicle is to use a licensed dealer, Appley says.

“There are a huge number of licensed motor vehicle dealers who can legitimately buy and sell vehicles. It might be that you can make a little extra if you sell privately, but I think people might be surprised how minimal that margin can be. If you wanted to be completely safe, go through a licensed motor vehicle dealer.”

Make your car more secure

This is important, whether you’re selling your car or not, and is particularly important if your car is more desirable or was manufactured in the 2000s.

Cars produced between 2004 and 2008 are significantly more likely to be stolen than vehicles made either before or after that date range. There are a couple of reasons for this according to Appley.

“More modern cars are fitted with immobilisers as standard. They are far less likely to be stolen, and certainly much more difficult to steal. If Toyota Hilux trucks are in demand somewhere in the world and an organised crime group in New Zealand decides they’re going to steal some, you have to be quite organised to do that.”

Cars made prior to the 2000s just aren’t worth stealing.

“The earlier cars are not so desirable, probably because they don’t go fast enough, or because they’re not as easy to throw around if they’re being stolen for joyriding…they’re also just not as desirable if you’re trying to resell them.”

It’s the cars in the middle – which hit the sweet spot of high desirability but low security – that are particularly vulnerable.

The importance of car insurance

Abby had car insurance, which provided some protection against her loss.

“Thankfully I was insured, or I would have been out of a car and out of pocket,” Abby said.

You can check out the Consumer NZ car insurance buying guide to find the best insurer for you.

Buying a car that’s on the top 10 most-stolen list is likely to mean you’ll pay a high-theft excess, although adopting some extra security measures can help reduce the cost. Having an alarm fitted and parking the car in a garage can keep your premiums down.

Senior Sergeant Roy Appley strongly recommends taking extra security measures, particularly if your vehicle is desirable, or easier to steal.

“If you’ve got something that’s desirable, such as a Holden Commodore, or Japanese sports cars from the early 2000s, you need to take special care,” Appley says.

“If you’ve got something with less security measures installed from the start, then there are additional security measures you can put in place. If you have to leave your vehicle on the street, an after-market immobiliser or kill-switch is an absolute must these days.

“A simple and very effective one is a steering wheel lock. If you put a steering wheel lock on every one of those cars, the numbers of thefts would drop dramatically. Just that one simple thing.”

Consumer’s tips for selling your car online

• Think carefully about where to sell your car: You might save some
  money by selling your car privately, but using a licensed dealer is
  likely to be safer and less risky. By all means, sell your car
  privately, but if you do take extra precautions.

• Research people before you meet them: Look at people’s profiles
  before divulging any personal information. If their profile has been
  created very recently, they have very few friends, or their life
  doesn’t quite seem real, don’t interact with them. It’s better to be
  safe than sorry.

• Host viewings away from your property: If you can, host viewings –
  and take pictures of your car – away from your home. Doing this means
  a potential criminal doesn’t know where your car is usually located.

• Take photos of the IDs of people who view the vehicle: Lots of people
  use false names online, so tell people when you arrange a viewing
  that you’ll be taking a picture of their ID before they can view the
  car. This will act as a deterrent and could help recover your car if
  a person who views it subsequently steals it.

• Secure your vehicle: An immobiliser will make your car more secure if
  criminals attempt to steal it, and a steering wheel lock might mean
  your car isn’t worth their trouble.