Hey guys, I bought my first ATV yesterday from a guy on Craigslist, and I’ve heard of all the horror stories so no need to fill me in, lol. In any case I ran the VIN and it didn’t come up as stolen and the guy who I bought it off has had it for over a year now.
He told me the guy who he had bought it off also bought it used (it’s an ’05 Honda TRX350FE) The battery is dead so I had to boost it from my truck to get it running which is does just fine. However after bringing it home I noticed the ignition switch has the key casing removed. And here’s where I’m somewhat torn –
Is that something to be concerned about? I mean you can see the plastic place where you can turn the machine "on" or "off" with something like a screwdriver, which in it’self seems fishy. However I can also see someone who owned it not really caring when they lost their keys and just popped the top off and started it with a screwdriver rather than order new keys or find theirs. It needs some work as the ES doesn’t currently work and I’m fairly sure it’s the solenoid that needs replacing among other things. It runs but it’s a project I want to fix up for my fiancee.
Last but not least, that being said – Is there any way to actually take complete ownership? I have a bill of sale but in the back of my mind what if someone comes out of the woodwork in the foreseeable future claiming it’s theirs? The guy seems like an upstanding guy but you really never know. Sorry I’m just new to this and may be over thinking it but I don’t wanna dump money into it if there’s any chance it’s not fully mine.
*I printed 2 bills of sale (he has one, and I have one) and have all the information his name, number, address, license number, I also paid by check etc.
Hey guys, I bought my first ATV yesterday from a guy on Craigslist, and I’ve heard of all the horror stories so no need to fill me in, lol. In any case I ran the VIN and it didn’t come up as stolen and the guy who I bought it off has had it for over a year now.
He told me the guy who he had bought it off also bought it used (it’s an ’05 Honda TRX350FE) The battery is dead so I had to boost it from my truck to get it running which is does just fine. However after bringing it home I noticed the ignition switch has the key casing removed. And here’s where I’m somewhat torn –
Is that something to be concerned about? I mean you can see the plastic place where you can turn the machine "on" or "off" with something like a screwdriver, which in it’self seems fishy. However I can also see someone who owned it not really caring when they lost their keys and just popped the top off and started it with a screwdriver rather than order new keys or find theirs. It needs some work as the ES doesn’t currently work and I’m fairly sure it’s the solenoid that needs replacing among other things. It runs but it’s a project I want to fix up for my fiancee.
Last but not least, that being said – Is there any way to actually take complete ownership? I have a bill of sale but in the back of my mind what if someone comes out of the woodwork in the foreseeable future claiming it’s theirs? The guy seems like an upstanding guy but you really never know. Sorry I’m just new to this and may be over thinking it but I don’t wanna dump money into it if there’s any chance it’s not fully mine.
*I printed 2 bills of sale (he has one, and I have one) and have all the information his name, number, address, license number, I also paid by check etc.
