possible odometer fraud?

First off I'm an idiot. Let's just say that for the record to get it
out of the way. I just bought a used 2000 Honda Civic and picked it up
tonight. I was excited to drive the car so I signed all the papers
quickly without reading them all carefully - stupid I know. Now I'm
home and reviewing the paperwork and the recurring theme is that the
dealer omitted the odometer reading on every paper that I initialed!
The worst is the retail certificate of sale which has the odometer
disclosure statement which is left blank but the box for "6 digits,
not including tenths is circled. I'm beginning to smell a rat. I get
the feeling that when I call tomorrow the salesman is going to just
tell me to fill in the numbers. Is it possible that he rolled back the
odometer? The mileage didn't seem particularly low for a 4 year old
car - 55,500 and I did a Carfax which validated the mileage under the
last two owners which seems to jive with the current odometer. The car
is clean and is in excellent condition, someone please tell me this
was an honest mistake by the salesman and I'm just being paranoid. But
when I examine all the paperwork every box is filled in on each sheet
EXCEPT the mileage which makes me very suspicious. Can Carfax be
wrong? I noticed when I Carfaxed my own 14 year old car that the two
accidents and the flood damage did not show up even though the were
both reported to insurance.

 

Carfax may be missing data, but if the mileage readings on the report
(from smog checks?) seem reasonable I think there is a good chance that
the guy who wrote up the paperwork just didn't want get get off his
corpulent posterior and go read the odometer. If the car was originally
purchased in 1999 it should have had its first smog check in 2003 (in
California, anyway) so that should be on the CarFax report. Is it? If
the car was purchased in 2000 it may not have had any smog checks yet.

 

Here is the data for the Carfax. I bought the car in NYC so there was
no smog check but it did pass inspections with the previous owner in
New Jersey and the mileage seems consistent. I was just wondering if
there was any reason why he would leave the mileage off of ALL the
paperwork.

Odometer Rollback Check:



CARFAX found no odometer rollbacks for this 2000 HONDA CIVIC.
Rollbacks reported in this section originate from readings collected
by a DMV or other verifiable source.


Mileage Consistency Check:



CARFAX found no inconsistent odometer readings in the mileage
history of this 2000 HONDA CIVIC LX

Date: Mileage:
07/06/2000 18
09/15/2001 20,034
12/22/2003 55,467






Average miles driven per year 16,016 CARFAX AdvisorTM Compare this
vehicle's average annual mileage to the industry average of 15,000
miles per year. Use this comparison to determine how this vehicle was
driven.


Do you know this vehicle's current mileage? Tell us and help protect
others from mileage fraud.


Mileage Accuracy Check FAQs:

 

(Dwayne Hoover)
wrote:

"D'oh!!"

Take your pick...lazy or forgot.

 

EVERY state requires a completed odometer statement be issued
with EVERY vehicle transfer to comply with federal law. Both the
buyer and seller must sign that form and must be given a copy.
If the dealer did not properly complete that form for you to sign
he is subject to a $10,000 fine. Go see him and ask to see the
mileage form that was issued when he purchased or traded that
vehicle. If it is dramatically different from the mileage on the
vehicle, inform your state police.


mike hunt