Check For Unhooking Odometer When Finding Odometer Reading

Buying a used car is a difficult task, unless you know the seller well enough to place your confidence in him. Before buying any used car from anyone, you have to get a paid or free vehicle history report to figure out what the car has gone through in its life before you landed in its seat.

Apart from getting the vehicle history report, you have to be aware that there are many scams in the used car market. Some know how to reset the odometer after unhooking odometer others sell you flood damaged used cars and so you would have to figure out the associated problems before buying a used car.

Used car scams and problems

Here are some problems and scams you may encounter in a used car deal:

Odometer Rollback

: Any mechanic can unhook an odometer and rollback the miles figure on the odometer to make it appear as if the car was sparingly used, in order to sell it at a higher price. To figure out if an odometer has been rolled back, get a VIN report from CarFax or some other site. Additionally, you can check the pedals to see if the rubber is overused or if the upholstery is old and other telltale signs that can spell out if the odometer is wrong.

Salvage title or rebuilt title

After a car is certified as "totaled" by an insurance company, it ceases to exist legally. Dealers th en get the car repaired and salvaged in states where the law does not require a car to have a "salvaged" or a "totaled" tag attached to it. Again, paid or a free vehicle inspection report will come to your rescue, not only to figure out salvage titles but also in cases where you are being pawned an accident, police or fleet car. Maybe the used car that you are about to buy is a lemon, and if it is, then in this case as well a vehicle inspection report will be of immense help. Watch out for cars that had been waterlogged because of hurricanes.

Warranty loopholes

When you are sold a used car then it comes with implied warranties such as a warrant of merchantability, which means that the car that you have been sold will carry a merchantable, saleable value for a certain period of time after the sale. Then there might be a warranty of fitness, which means that the car should be fit enough for a particular purpose. Now, you know that the law is an ass and dealers are clever. Any clever dealer will find e nough loopholes in the law and ensure that you cannot nail him down however hard you try.

Title problems

You must remember that a car title is different from car registration. A car title certificate proves ownership of a car and it is transferable. A registration allows the registered driver to drive the car on a public road. So, if you are buying a used car, then just registration papers are not enough - you have to ensure that the title is transferred to you. If the seller does not have a title, then most likely the car is stolen.

Credit Life Insurance

Dealers may tell customers with a bad credit history that they must buy credit life insurance, while actually there is no such compulsion. In some states selling credit life insurance adopting these kinds of coercive methods is illegal.

The Salesman Turnover trick

Dealers try to wear your patience thin by making different salesmen attend to you in short spans. Ultimately, you get weary and fall for whatever prices offered. If you see this happening, inform the dealer that if your prices are not accepted or immediately negotiated, you will walk out taking your business someplace else.

Date verification

Always verify the date of any document that the dealer gives you, as there are chances of forgery.

Document check

There are chances that you might have agreed for a lower interest rate but the documents that turn up for signature mention a higher rate. So, the lesson is that you must go through key portions of any document just as you are about to sign it. It helps.

Check scam

Private parties attempt this scam when you are selling a used car. They will send you a check more than what you had asked for and immediately email you saying they have written out a check for a higher amount so could you wire back the difference to them.

You may wire back the difference, but their checks will not be honored and by the time you and your bank discover this, the money you have wired is gone.

If you have been scammed into b uying a used car and if all personal negotiations, arguments and reasoning fail, then you can approach a lawyer to cancel a transaction. Many state laws allow an automobile purchase agreement to be rescinded if this agreement is based on fraud, concealment of material facts, or a mistake. The basis concept is that if the terms in an automobile purchase agreement are not mutual, then the agreement is open to debate provided there is a mistake or fraudulent intention behind it.

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