42 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | January 2025 its value to a bank. We went and looked at the SUV. It was kept in an immaculate shop, and it was in wonderful condition. The man and his wife (I assume) introduced themselves by first names and showed us the SUV. We started to make the deal, and I brought up the lien on it. The gentleman looked at his wife and didn’t know anything about the lien. “Oh, we’ll just pay that right off.” He said. After several days and several phone calls, it was not paid off. I asked him to forward paperwork to show it had been paid, but that never showed up. Finally, he got a bit upset and accused me of not trusting him (I didn’t) and that he was a fine, upstanding businessman in the community. He had never told us his last name, but we knew it because of the VIN check through ISC. Needless to say, we didn’t buy it. We wasted a day out of our lives going to look at it – plus numerous phone calls. And other questions surfaced in my mind later. The car was in his wife’s name, but he wanted the cheque made out to himself. Why couldn’t he pay off the small loan? We could’ve made the cheque out to him and the bank, but that wouldn’t work for him either. My dear wife later found us a nice SUV at a dealer that has worked out well. Not exactly what we wanted, and it had more kilometres on it, but it was 40 per cent cheaper and still runs well. And no hassles with liens. If you are buying something used – whether it’s a car, truck, tractor, or collector car – always check for liens. Lots of times, people won’t say anything if they get hooked on a bad deal, but it happens all the time. A bunch of people down east just got their collector cars repossessed because of a crooked dealer (CBC News). Dealer issues Watch out for the dealers as well. As a licensed dealer in Saskatchewan, we, by law, have to provide certain information to the customer when we sell a vehicle. When we bought our SUV, I was curious to see how the dealer would handle the sale. This was a used SUV we purchased from a well-established new car dealer. When we went to sign the deal, they provided only one of the two required pieces of paper. The SGI VIN search was provided, but there was no disclosure list as required by law. Then they wanted to add on another $1,800 or so for “extra services” above the advertised price. We informed the dealer that we would pay the advertised price only, and that is what we did. They weren’t happy with us, but if a vehicle is advertised for a certain price, you are, by law, able to buy it for that price. Out-of-province treasures Beware of out-of-province vehicles that need inspection. In Saskatchewan, every out-of-province vehicle needs to be inspected before it can be licensed. One of our customers bought a nice little treasure that looked fine. However, when he took it in for inspection, he found out it had been severely modified by “Backyard Bob” and it needed many parts replaced. The repairs were probably more than he paid for the vehicle. Well, these are a few things to watch out for in this wonderful world. Enjoy the treasures you buy, but always check the details before you buy. BF Tractors, Trucks & Growing Grain RON SETTLER Ron has farmed for over 45 years in Lucky Lake, Sask. In addition to grain farming, he and his family also operate a mechanical repair shop. Enterprising crooks can doctor cheques to change the payee to steal your money. Ron Settler photo
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