JoH,

If a car is stolen, it still belongs to the original owner. If the thief sells the stolen car, it can be confiscated and returned to the original owner.

The buyer of the car has legal recourse against the thief, but in most cases loses his money.

You can phone the police and find out whether a car is stolen before buying it.

Jackofharrassment

OLO Legal Advice Services are $200 hour payable to the site owner Graham who drops in when he's bored. If the seller or agent represented that the title was clear then you should be able to keep it and whack the cop under his ear.

So.. turns out the vehicle isn’t listed as stolen with Qld transport.
So in effect.. police shouldn’t be able to touch the vehicle or return it to
Me as there is no justifiable excuse why they towed it or are
Even holding it ?

Yes agree Foxy, my thoughts come from the days I had two jobs, one tow truck driving , that took me in to stolen cars and stuff
But in the end he seems to have posted in pain and not come back
Unfortunately for him the first owner owns the car, thousands have suffered by buying a stolen one
Every step from rego transfer to insurance would have uncovered its true owner

The car was unreg with clear title. The Qld site says"‘Clear title’ means something that is free from unpaid debt. If a person has a car loan, the company that lent them the money has an ‘interest’ in the car. The car does not have ‘clear title’, because the person does not fully own it. If you buy a car without clear title, and the previous owner defaults on their debt, the lender may repossess your car to recover their costs. Never purchase a vehicle that does not have clear title."

Did you check the PPSR to confirm clear title?

There is obviously something missing in the story or question.
If the car had clear title it still can be reported stolen and the police can tow it.
It has nothing to do with clear title, it was reported 'stolen'.
If once the true owner can prove clear unencumbered ownership (clear title?), the police should begin the process of releasing the car back to the owner, unless the car had outstanding warrants or similar.
It seems strange they would go through all that if there was nothing to justify towing it in the first place.
I know it doesn't take much for cops to jump to conclusions first, then check the story out after.
Just seems as though we're not getting the FULL story.