Wanted to tell the forum of my recent experience buying a low hr used mini off of Craigslist. Saw a 2012 303.5 on Craigslist for a decent price and agreed on price and ran a lien search that came up clean. Then I ran the serial number at the local CAT dealer to get the service history and whatever else they would tell me about and the machine came up stolen. So the lien search wouldn't have saved me on this on. I will never buy a machine again from individuals or used equipment dealers without calling the brand's dealer and running a lien search. I did the lien search through a company called Ground Clearance and it cost about $90.
I'd ask for a refund of $90. What happened with the stolen machine? Did CAT notify the police?
I would set the guy who sold it to you up to get him arrested
A lien search only finds liens, which are financial instruments. A few years ago, there was an industry association that was trying to get a stolen machine registry up, but I don't know what became of it. Be thankful you only lost $90, time, and aggravation. A man I know bought a 3 or 4 y/o 426, ran it a little over a year, then took the serial number to the Cat house to get parts. It had been stolen several states away. The next day, the sheriff's dept brought a lowboy. He had to go through some mess to convince them he didn't know it was stolen. He was out over $30,000.
Thieves don't worry about serial numbers. Neighbor just had his big Ford tractor stolen right out of the hayfield. They un hitched the round baler and loaded it up on a lowboy. Put the screws to haymaking which is why mine is only half done so far. They do need to get a stolen equipment registry going. Even if you had to pay a fee for a search it would be worth it.
A guy from an insurance institute or association that investigates this type thing called and asked me questions and the contact info of the guy trying to sell it to me. The guy that was trying to sell it to me called me back and said the machine had been impounded. Apparently an insurance company had already paid the claim so they now own it. My point in telling this story is how a lien search doesn't address whether the machine has been stolen.
The National Equipment Register, http://www.ner.net/ is a voluntary service which will for a fee register you machine on their data base. They got law enforcement and insurance companies to report stolen machines which can be matched by serial number later on. Never used them yet but I think it is a good idea.