How does one protect themselves when buying used equipment? I'm not aware of any nationwide equipment registry so how does one go about ensuring the machine they intend to purchase is not stolen?
UCC filing is one way. Any lien or a party that has an interest in the machine will file. At least the smart ones do. In the past I've called the local sheriffs office to see if anything similar had been reported stolen. I'm not aware of a one stop shop to check for liens and stolen iron. Not as easy as cars and whatnot.
Major brands keep a list of reported stolen machines, or at least they used to. CAT, Deere, etc. just call your local dealer and ask they should be able to at least check it's not on their list.
That's my biggest worry. Ending up out thousands of dollars because it was stolen. Thanks guys!
Go with the " Gut feeling " . You can generally tell when the deal is getting funky . Machine is simply out of place in it's existing environment . Seller is giving to much information that don't pertain to the machine for sale . Seller freaks out when you mention the serial numbers on the machine . Go with " Gut feeling " Chances are you are better off paying a little more buying locally where you have some knowledge of the owner & equipment .
easiest way to try and spot the scammers is to ask for the machine or equipment serial number and tell them you want to check a few things out, if they give you a song and a dance then a good chance its a scam and if they offer it right up, most likely its legit..
http://www.ner.net/ironcheck.html These folks will do a check for you...I highly recommend doing a search on ALL equipment unless purchased from a dealer. My old boss did the brokerage business for 15 years on his own before coming back to the dealership world. He said he bought and sold several stolen tractors over the years. Never on purpose, but there were no services like this at the time. Used equipment is a tough racket and not for the faint of heart. I've posted on this before, I'd be just as concerned about auction items, even at large auctions. Not for ownership, more for the fact that much of it is there for a reason. ; )