Be careful out there when selling a car...

Good evening all. A friend was abducted yesterday when he allowed a couple potential buyers to take his truck for a test drive. They haven't been seen since, and the police suspect foul play. Be careful out there.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2555433-hamilton-man-missing-police-seek-help-locating-tim-bosma-32/

In reply to Nathan JansenvanDoorn:

If this is real, I hope it turns out OK. Good rule of thumb when letting someone test drive is to be carrying and only let 1 go with.

He is in Canada - we don't make it a habit of "carrying".

Nathan, I hope your friend is found safe.

Wow. Very sorry to hear this. I hope he's okay. Especially troubling, given that I just sold a car and went on a test drive myself. I'll be handling that differently in the future.

I hope this ends well for your friend.

Wow, sorry to hear this.
I don't carry, but I think from now on I'll make a photocopy of the I.D.'s of anyone involved and leave them at home with my wife.

I'm sorry, and I'm hoping very hard it's not as bad as it looks from here.

Spooky. Hopefully your friend turns up okay...

I have a habit of keeping a lug wrench under the seat for general bludgeoning and stabbing if need be, I'll remember to move it to the passenger side when selling.

Unfortunately, no significant news. I am at a total loss as to why you'd take someone or, God forbid, kill someone to get a pickup truck/vehicle.

Makes me wonder if there is an alternative reason.

I hope it turns out OK

What a scary situation. I hope for the best for your friend. I've put myself into so many situations that would have been dangerous if the other people weren't honorable. I'm sure we all have. 99.9999% of people are honorable, but it only takes once to make it all fall apart I guess. Yikes.

A 6 year old Dodge truck isn't worth killing someone over. I hope this turns out OK.

Very, very sorry to the OP. Local financial whiz on the radio recommends meeting at the local police station to keep everybody honest.

spitfirebill wrote: A 6 year old Dodge truck isn't worth killing someone over. I hope this turns out OK.

a pair of sneakers aren't worth killing over either ... but it's been done before

You know the story behind rapper 50 Cent's name right? Well a few miles from my office a dude was stabbed to death for the equivalent of 12.5cUS so I'll play the world's tiniest violin for Fiddy.

Very sorry to hear of this and I hope it all turns out for the best. My rule of thumb for a sale is to be in a very public place like a Wal Mart or etc parking lot and if I don't like something I leave, no explanation needed.

Heard this on the news driving in to work today.

I bet there is more to the story.

My first thoughts were drug business. Was the truck actually advertized and if so, then there has to be a record of a phone call to set up the meet.

Nathan hasn't updated it so I will.

The fellow is still missing and an arrest has been made. So far no sign of the Owner of the truck. The same two guys reportedly test drove at least one other truck.

So far it does not sound good.

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/toronto-man-arrested-in-tim-bosma-disappearance

I have had some interesting experiences trying to sell cars. I think we all have, but never like this.

Very scary.

Most of my family trades in cars - I tell them they are crazy as you lose too much money - sell it outright.

After this it makes me think....

Datsun310Guy wrote: Most of my family trades in cars - I tell them they are crazy as you lose too much money - sell it outright. After this it makes me think....

Anymore I'd rather trade in than prep n sell to the general public, what a PITA they can be. Prolly not a bad idea to carry when dealing w/ CLers.

I will say that when having a cl'er come to the house, like selling a washing machine, I always work in how my next door neighbor is a cop to the pre purchase coversation. It always raises some eyebrows.

NGTD wrote: Nathan hasn't updated it so I will. The fellow is still missing and an arrest has been made. So far no sign of the Owner of the truck. The same two guys reportedly test drove at least one other truck. So far it does not sound good. http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/toronto-man-arrested-in-tim-bosma-disappearance

Thanks for the update - I was going to post something tonight as well. One of the posters mentioned drugs or some other possible issues - Tim was simply not that kind of guy. I have no idea what transpired that night, but it seems that there isn't much hope of a safe return. The local community has really pulled together as far as searches and posting notices.

http://www.citynews.ca/2013/05/09/wife-of-missing-hamilton-man-makes-agonizing-plea/

Heartbreaking.

Whole thing is scary as hell...