I bought a 2002 Accord EX in Sept.2004 with 41K miles from a lady. Now a year later I decided to sell it as I moved and I can walk to work, and I can rent a car cheap on the weekends. I couldn't figure why for the past two weeks people would never call me back after I gave them the VIN number. Finaly somebody told me today what he saw on carfax about my car. I did check the VIN on carfax before I bought it last year and the history looked clean, no inconsistent odometer readings. I'm attaching the present carfax report below. Could someone explain what might have caused the jump from 39K miles to 72K and then back to 40K??? Is there a way for me to verify this, can I report it somewhere? Any advice on what I should do next will be highly appreciated. Thank you, slava. -----------------------carfax report follows--------------- CARFAX searched more than 3 billion records from over 5,300 sources and found 12 record(s) for this 2002 HONDA ACCORD EX (1HGCG56662A077939) Date: Mileage Reading: Source: General Comments: 01/30/2002 5 Service Facility Vehicle serviced State inspection completed 04/03/2002 Dealer Inventory Virginia Vehicle sold 04/03/2002 Virginia Motor Vehicle Dept. Bristow, VA Registered as personal vehicle 04/25/2002 11 Virginia Motor Vehicle Dept. Bristow, VA Title or registration issued First owner reported 05/30/2002 7,700 Service Facility Vehicle serviced Air conditioning serviced 04/15/2003 39,865 Service Facility Vehicle serviced 04/17/2003 Virginia Motor Vehicle Dept. Bristow, VA Title or registration issued 04/10/2004 72,656 Virginia Inspection Station Gainesville, VA Passed emissions inspection 04/21/2004 73,365 Service Facility Vehicle serviced 04/22/2004 Virginia Motor Vehicle Dept. Bristow, VA Title or registration issued New owner reported 08/19/2004 40,750 Virginia Motor Vehicle Dept. Haymarket, VA Title or registration issued New owner reported POTENTIAL ODOMETER ROLLBACK CARFAX AdvisorTM The readings causing this rollback were collected by a DMV or other verifiable source. Please verify the mileage with your dealer or a qualified mechanic. 09/13/2004 41,050 Maryland Motor Vehicle Dept. Chevy Chase, MD Title #34805328 Registration issued or renewed Loan or lien reported
looks pretty clear to me - there was rollback. the two high mileages are only 11 days apart and have nearly 1000 additional miles accumulated in that time. that's consistent with a car that was in heavy daily usage that allowed it to rack up 30+k extra miles in just a year. if the odometer had been replaced due to defect, it would roll back to zero, not 40k. you can call dmv to see what your options are, but it's probably best to sell it as a higher mileage vehicke rather than have it look like /you/ are the one attempting to perpetrate the fraud. you'll take a hit on the price, but at least you'll succeed in selling it if the buyer knows what they're getting.
I would consider hiring a lawyer or bringing suit in small claims court. You got significantly burned. Maybe you're entitled under your state's law to triple damages etc. That could make it worthwhile, and you'll be doing a public service to boot.
looks pretty clear to me - there was rollback. the two high mileages thanks for your reply. I checked the the same VIN at Autocheck.com and here is what I get (i had to type the whole thing as somebody faxed it to me): 04/18/2002 Bristow, VA Motor vehicle dept. Registr. event renewal. 04/25/2002 Bristow, VA 11 Motor veh. dept. title 04/17/2003 Bristow, VA Motor. veh. dept. registration event/renewal 04/10/2004 Gainesville, va independent emission source inspection 04/22/2004 Bristow, VA motor veh.dept. registration event/renewal 08/19/2004 Haymarket, VA 40,750 motor. veh.dept. title 09/13/2004 chevy chase, md 41,050 mva title As you can see the mileage is consistent. The mileage is simply not recorded at all check points. Should I trust CARFAX or Autocheck? Thank you for you help, slava.
Just curious - is there any way the person who perpetrated this fraud could be nailed by the law - this "lady" maybe a front for a band of crooks. Hope there is a way to nail this crook.
Look at the dates and numbers again. Autocheck doesn't record the mileage for 4/10/04 or 4/21-4/22/04, when the high mileage shows up in Carfax. Think of it this way: Carfax got the info from somewhere, right? Either the info is wrong (check with Carfax) or there's a scam. Someone else already observed: how likely is it that this car only had 800 miles put on it in 16 months?
I spent some time investigating the matter yesterday. The lady I bought the car from had me make the check to some dealership, the same dealership was on the title. I guess I was so excited to get my first car, and being new to this country I didn't suspect much. I checked with my bank and they gave me the name of the guy who cached the check, some turkish name. I found the number for the dealership on the net in a directory listing, called them up, turnes out it is somebody's cell phone. The guy, not a native English speaker, sounded as if I just woke him up, I asked if he knew the turkish guy, he said yes. I explained the situation and he promised to get a hold of him, and that he would call me back. He never did of course. I called the lady up a few times, she pretends she doesn't remember what happend a year ago, then I ended up talking to her boyfriend who insulted and threatened me, and by the way he had a very turkish accent I don't know if I want to pursue this matter any further at this point. I reported the odometer rollback to NHTSA, Odometer Fraud dept. The person I spoke to didn't sound very promising, she said they will mail me some information about my rights. vr.
Wow what a scam operation - suggest you contact the police where this "dealership" is located. If it is a big enough town, they have a "Bunko" or fraud squad. This sounds like a practiced squad of crooks - if the feds are not interested - try the local city, county or state police. When I lived in VA I remember the state cops being very active. You might share the name(s) of the dealer, any other people involved and it's location. These people have to be put in jail - hopefully the males involved get a room mate wearing a pink jump suit.
I take back everything I said, you probably don't want to sue them. This could be dangerous and unproductive, as you sort of hinted at. I've been there myself -- had a guy's probation officer tell me that it wasn't a good idea to do anything after a car wreck with the guy. She flat told me he was vicious and dangerous. However, I would turn over all your information to the police, as well as your state department of tranportation agency that regulates "car dealers." You can bet they're making a nice living off this scam, and it will keep right on going until law enforcement steps in. If they fail to take meaningful action, you might go to the local TV news and discuss with them (off the record), to raise public awareness and prompt the officials to act.
yes, it looks like Curbsider is the right term here. So what's the best way to advertize the car so I can still sell it. Even if I advertize 100K instead of 46K miles, people will look at Carfax and will never consider it because of the mileage inconsistency. It's going to be hard to find somebody who will look at the actual condition of the car and ignore the Carfax data. If I report the inconsistency to VA DMV what are the chances that they will do something about the Carfax records? I really appreciate all your comments/advices. thank you. slava.
============================== Find somebody who knows how to turn your odometer FORWARD, to the correct reading. It's easy. There's a form inside the front cover of your owner's manual to record the details (and cover the mechanic's rear) Then hope somebody buys it without checking carfax. 'Curly'
yes, that's one option I think everybody checks Carfax these days. Suppose I do this and I manage to sell it to someone who doesn't check Carfax. What if that someone later on whant's to sell it, finds out about the problem on Carfax and comes after me... slava.
--------------------------- The maker provided the form for such a case as yours. If you put it back the way it's supposed to be, selling it with the correct (actual) mileage indicated, you're covered. I've spoken to an Alberta agency that polices rollback, and they don't even seize the vehicle, or make sure the odometer ever gets corrected. They just prosecute. I guess nobody thought that was important :-( 'Curly'
