So I got a weird phone call on Saturday

[aces67]

As part of our BK we let dh's truck go back. Before we let it go we cleaned everything out of it and made sure not to leave any personal info in it.

The truck was listed just in dh's name and my name was nowhere on it. Our home phone is listed just in my name and dh's is nowhere on it.

So Saturday this guy calls and leaves a message. He says he lives 4 states away from us and recently bought dh's truck from a dealership there. He was convinced he had the right number. There was no question in his tone whatsoever. He said he's having problems with the truck now and wants to know if dh can help him.

What? How do you think he got our home number and should we talk to him? He's called 3 times since then but I haven't answered.

[wantout]

Not your problem, guy is fishing.

[justbroke]

Wow. I don't even know what to say. Perhaps he looked up the Bankruptcy and you used your home phone number on it.

[liz417]

Weird...I would answer the call and ask him WHY he thinks it okay to call the former owner of a vehicle?!? What nerve.

[pookieny]

I bought a repo car once from a dealer and in the glove box was the owners manual still there with the name and address written on there of the previous owner.

Are you sure everything was cleaned out? People can find out people's address so fast now on the internet.

[aces67]

Yes we couldn't even find the owner's manual. When they picked it up the glove box was empty.

[HakunaMatata]

If this was a legitimate call, my best guess is this person managed to find some type of personal information in the vehicle (in the owner's manual or on a receipt of some type...my name, address, and phone info are listed on oil and tire receipts). I recently purchased a used vehicle from a dealership and discovered information on the former owner in the owner's manual. Within the owner's manual exists a maintenance record which documents the original owner's name and address along with dealerships that serviced the car. Understandably, your husband's name isn't on the phone. Perhaps this person found your address and this led him to your phone number?

Regardless, I'd feel uncomfortable. Three phone calls? No good!!

[Chowder]

As part of our BK we let dh's truck go back. Before we let it go we cleaned everything out of it and made sure not to leave any personal info in it.

The truck was listed just in dh's name and my name was nowhere on it. Our home phone is listed just in my name and dh's is nowhere on it.

So Saturday this guy calls and leaves a message. He says he lives 4 states away from us and recently bought dh's truck from a dealership there. He was convinced he had the right number. There was no question in his tone whatsoever. He said he's having problems with the truck now and wants to know if dh can help him.

What? How do you think he got our home number and should we talk to him? He's called 3 times since then but I haven't answered.

This is an opportunity to really have some fun.

Ask him if the corpse smell has cleared up.
Ask if it still makes all that noise from the time you mistook the oil fill cap for the radiator cap and filled the engine with water while on that road trip.

[mom2three09]

This is an opportunity to really have some fun.

Ask him if the corpse smell has cleared up.
Ask if it still makes all that noise from the time you mistook the oil fill cap for the radiator cap and filled the engine with water while on that road trip.

Exactly what I would do too!

[RainMoM]

This is an opportunity to really have some fun.

Ask him if the corpse smell has cleared up.
Ask if it still makes all that noise from the time you mistook the oil fill cap for the radiator cap and filled the engine with water while on that road trip.

LOOL thats a good one, If you were to talk to him, act like he has the wrong (number) person... then let the games begin

[debtprison]

It might have been found based on carfax or something. I would only talk to him via phone if you want to be very nice to him. I definitely would not meet in person with the guy. I would definitely ask him how he obtained your number.

I MIGHT notify the trustee (or at least your attorney) of this in writing stating the callers number and the dates and times of the calls just to help cover your butt in case there is something fishy going on. I can't tell you what that might be now but doing this might protect you just in case. You never know about some people. Could be something innocent all the way to a trap or someone offering to sell it back to you.

[lrprn]

The very fact you feel so uncomfortable with this situation should be your cue to not talk to this individual again.

If he bought a car that is now having mechanical trouble, he has to go back to the dealer for resolution. Your responsibility for the truck disappeared the instant it was surrendered.

And who said that this truck is actually yours? You aren't the only couple to surrender trucks just like it in bankruptcy. Even if it is your truck, you owe this individual nothing. Sounds like he's trying to find a sucker to pay for the repairs, and you aren't a sucker. Don't answer if he calls again.

[OhioFiler]

We purchased a vehicle once that had been repossessed and found information that the original owner had purchased a transferable extended warranty. I contacted him to ask if he would mind allowing me to transfer the warranty coverage. He was happy to do so for me.

I doubt the guy is looking for you to buy the truck back or pay his repair bills. He probably just wants some history on the maintenance.

[lookingforward]

It's possible he doesn't even know it was a repo. He may have bought it from a dealer who got it at auction. Probably OhioFiler is right, he just wants to ask you about the vehicle's history. At any rate, there's nothing that he can get from you financially, so I would be the proverbial cat, and my curiosity would win out to find out what he wants.

[Rahaton]

It is super easy to get all that information via CarFax. Just by doing my due dillegence as a buyer I know that the people had our car before us lived in Michigan, their names, address and everything. I could easily find a phone number from the phone book with all that.

Funny aside, when we were cleaning it one day I took the back seat out to get at some random kid stain when I found the cutest letter. A little girl had written a note about how much she wanted a puppy and had drawn little pictures and the like on it, it was way cute. I can only assume it was the previous owner's daughter, I am really curious if she ever got her dog. Unfortunately for my curiosity there is not a way to find out that is not deeply creepy.

For a maintenance question though I might ask, like in a case where the dealer said the previous owner had the timing belt changed and I started to think he was fibbin'. On some trucks that is a $2k operation and a simple call can save you a useless expense or a blown engine.