odometer fraud
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 17,788
Likes: 1,679
From: Ohio
Oh. That's very concerning and I've not dealt with that personally, the CL stuff yes but I honestly don't care as long as it's a clear title and I've not had a problem yet with over 20 cars. I actually love it when they have a title already notarized and pre-filled minus the buyer info since I don't even have to sign it myself and can just have the end buyer of the car fill info. Saves so much time and driving around and you can same day sell and they can go on their way.
Odometer fraud has been a problem for a long time. With Auto Check, Carfax, the Internet and more data sources, it just became more apparent. I think the stories are OMG, only because of the trust and belief many had in the digital Odometer displays thinking they could not really be altered. It's not on the increase, increased awareness maybe yes, but Odometer Fraud has long been around. Thinking it's new and increased is lol!
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 11,053
Likes: 1,536
From: FL
I'm at the point I only want a car that has routine oil changes shown on a car fax thru the entire cars history with no gaps over 2 years, it THAT bad now.
Also beware of super low mileage cars.
Ok, I'll share another story.
I only bought my RX330 with 120k miles because my intention is would be my wife's car for rare and occasional driving and sell her aging Mittsubishi Eclipse and at the time I had my Dodge pickup turbo diesel.
Well, called a friend for advice who said, "Toyota's run forever and 120k miles is barely broke in because they will go to 300k". So i believed him and said OK I'll buy the car and see how it goes. Dealer was legit with good reviews and Carfax had oilchanges documented every 5k miles with no mileage reporting gaps.
Never in my life have I ever considered a car with mileage that high.
A couple years later I'm thinking I like the car and it works for me too as a daily so I sold my truck and I wanted the same Gen 2 RX330 car but lower miles but was in no hurry.
That's why I ran the ad for a low mileage RX.
After maybe a couple months this guy calls me and tells me he has the lowest mileage RX330 in the country, less than 40k miles.
Ok, I'll go look at it.
1st red flag, he wants to meet me in the Harbor Freight parking lot by Walmart after telling me on the phone he bought the car new and been in his family since new and is one owner.
<Warning> be careful with people who want to meet you in parking lots- most legit people want you to come to their house to look at a car... Shady alert #1
2nd red flag, while the car looked new and fresh with low miles, something was off.
Looking under the front of the car I noticed all the front end suspension parts were not OEM, they were aftermarket- on a 40k mile car? What the hell?
Even though they masterfully reconstructed the car I knew it had been in a major front end collision because that's the only reason to replace the entire front end.
So I get home and run a Carfax and an Auto check and they show no accidents but last mileage reported 8 years ago is within 100 miles the mileage today- nobody drove it in 8 years? hmmm
Mileage was obviously accurate after looking over the condition of the car but where has the car been for 8 years I don't know.
I googled the VIN and pulled up pics of the car listed with items to be sold at an estate auction.
The car was destroyed and smashed all the way up to the firewall.
Collision so severe the engine was missing in the pics as well as the whole front of the car because it was probably cleaned up as road debris- pics were horrifying.
Red flag #3, this car was in a major collision that was never claimed on insurance or reported to Carfax or Autocheck.
Red flag #4, I had no way to verify if there was a leinholder on an out of state titled car. Who knows if the title is worth anything, it may still have a bank lein on it from another state and I would never know. Could have been reported and salvage when they pulled the tag so even if I can get the title work done I may have a salvage title come from my DMV. Surprise! lolol
I called the man and told him I knew he was being dishonest and that he bought the car at an auction in salvage condition.
He tells me, "I don't know anything about that and hangs up on me".
Thought ya'll would like a real life story.
Not odometer fraud BUT there are other was to scam that are just as important IMO.
Also beware of super low mileage cars.
Ok, I'll share another story.
I only bought my RX330 with 120k miles because my intention is would be my wife's car for rare and occasional driving and sell her aging Mittsubishi Eclipse and at the time I had my Dodge pickup turbo diesel.
Well, called a friend for advice who said, "Toyota's run forever and 120k miles is barely broke in because they will go to 300k". So i believed him and said OK I'll buy the car and see how it goes. Dealer was legit with good reviews and Carfax had oilchanges documented every 5k miles with no mileage reporting gaps.
Never in my life have I ever considered a car with mileage that high.
A couple years later I'm thinking I like the car and it works for me too as a daily so I sold my truck and I wanted the same Gen 2 RX330 car but lower miles but was in no hurry.
That's why I ran the ad for a low mileage RX.
After maybe a couple months this guy calls me and tells me he has the lowest mileage RX330 in the country, less than 40k miles.
Ok, I'll go look at it.
1st red flag, he wants to meet me in the Harbor Freight parking lot by Walmart after telling me on the phone he bought the car new and been in his family since new and is one owner.
<Warning> be careful with people who want to meet you in parking lots- most legit people want you to come to their house to look at a car... Shady alert #1
2nd red flag, while the car looked new and fresh with low miles, something was off.
Looking under the front of the car I noticed all the front end suspension parts were not OEM, they were aftermarket- on a 40k mile car? What the hell?
Even though they masterfully reconstructed the car I knew it had been in a major front end collision because that's the only reason to replace the entire front end.
So I get home and run a Carfax and an Auto check and they show no accidents but last mileage reported 8 years ago is within 100 miles the mileage today- nobody drove it in 8 years? hmmm
Mileage was obviously accurate after looking over the condition of the car but where has the car been for 8 years I don't know.
I googled the VIN and pulled up pics of the car listed with items to be sold at an estate auction.
The car was destroyed and smashed all the way up to the firewall.
Collision so severe the engine was missing in the pics as well as the whole front of the car because it was probably cleaned up as road debris- pics were horrifying.
Red flag #3, this car was in a major collision that was never claimed on insurance or reported to Carfax or Autocheck.
Red flag #4, I had no way to verify if there was a leinholder on an out of state titled car. Who knows if the title is worth anything, it may still have a bank lein on it from another state and I would never know. Could have been reported and salvage when they pulled the tag so even if I can get the title work done I may have a salvage title come from my DMV. Surprise! lolol
I called the man and told him I knew he was being dishonest and that he bought the car at an auction in salvage condition.
He tells me, "I don't know anything about that and hangs up on me".
Thought ya'll would like a real life story.
Not odometer fraud BUT there are other was to scam that are just as important IMO.
Last edited by Margate330; Mar 5, 2023 at 09:37 AM.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,987
Likes: 81
From: Southeastern PA
I'm at the point I only want a car that has routine oil changes shown on a car fax thru the entire cars history with no gaps over 2 years, it THAT bad now.
Also beware of super low mileage cars.
Ok, I'll share another story.
I only bought my RX330 with 120k miles because my intention is would be my wife's car for rare and occasional driving and sell her aging Mittsubishi Eclipse and at the time I had my Dodge pickup turbo diesel.
Well, called a friend for advice who said, "Toyota's run forever and 120k miles is barely broke in because they will go to 300k". So i believed him and said OK I'll buy the car and see how it goes. Dealer was legit with good reviews and Carfax had oilchanges documented every 5k miles with no mileage reporting gaps.
Never in my life have I ever considered a car with mileage that high.
A couple years later I'm thinking I like the car and it works for me too as a daily so I sold my truck and I wanted the same Gen 2 RX330 car but lower miles but was in no hurry.
That's why I ran the ad for a low mileage RX.
After maybe a couple months this guy calls me and tells me he has the lowest mileage RX330 in the country, less than 40k miles.
Ok, I'll go look at it.
1st red flag, he wants to meet me in the Harbor Freight parking lot by Walmart after telling me on the phone he bought the car new and been in his family since new and is one owner.
<Warning> be careful with people who want to meet you in parking lots- most legit people want you to come to their house to look at a car... Shady alert #1
2nd red flag, while the car looked new and fresh with low miles, something was off.
Looking under the front of the car I noticed all the front end suspension parts were not OEM, they were aftermarket- on a 40k mile car? What the hell?
Even though they masterfully reconstructed the car I knew it had been in a major front end collision because that's the only reason to replace the entire front end.
So I get home and run a Carfax and an Auto check and they show no accidents but last mileage reported 8 years ago is within 100 miles the mileage today- nobody drove it in 8 years? hmmm
Mileage was obviously accurate after looking over the condition of the car but where has the car been for 8 years I don't know.
I googled the VIN and pulled up pics of the car listed with items to be sold at an estate auction.
The car was destroyed and smashed all the way up to the firewall.
Collision so severe the engine was missing in the pics as well as the whole front of the car because it was probably cleaned up as road debris- pics were horrifying.
Red flag #3, this car was in a major collision that was never claimed on insurance or reported to Carfax or Autocheck.
Red flag #4, I had no way to verify if there was a leinholder on an out of state titled car. Who knows if the title is worth anything, it may still have a bank lein on it from another state and I would never know. Could have been reported and salvage when they pulled the tag so even if I can get the title work done I may have a salvage title come from my DMV. Surprise! lolol
I called the man and told him I knew he was being dishonest and that he bought the car at an auction in salvage condition.
He tells me, "I don't know anything about that and hangs up on me".
Thought ya'll would like a real life story.
Not odometer fraud BUT there are other was to scam that are just as important IMO.
Also beware of super low mileage cars.
Ok, I'll share another story.
I only bought my RX330 with 120k miles because my intention is would be my wife's car for rare and occasional driving and sell her aging Mittsubishi Eclipse and at the time I had my Dodge pickup turbo diesel.
Well, called a friend for advice who said, "Toyota's run forever and 120k miles is barely broke in because they will go to 300k". So i believed him and said OK I'll buy the car and see how it goes. Dealer was legit with good reviews and Carfax had oilchanges documented every 5k miles with no mileage reporting gaps.
Never in my life have I ever considered a car with mileage that high.
A couple years later I'm thinking I like the car and it works for me too as a daily so I sold my truck and I wanted the same Gen 2 RX330 car but lower miles but was in no hurry.
That's why I ran the ad for a low mileage RX.
After maybe a couple months this guy calls me and tells me he has the lowest mileage RX330 in the country, less than 40k miles.
Ok, I'll go look at it.
1st red flag, he wants to meet me in the Harbor Freight parking lot by Walmart after telling me on the phone he bought the car new and been in his family since new and is one owner.
<Warning> be careful with people who want to meet you in parking lots- most legit people want you to come to their house to look at a car... Shady alert #1
2nd red flag, while the car looked new and fresh with low miles, something was off.
Looking under the front of the car I noticed all the front end suspension parts were not OEM, they were aftermarket- on a 40k mile car? What the hell?
Even though they masterfully reconstructed the car I knew it had been in a major front end collision because that's the only reason to replace the entire front end.
So I get home and run a Carfax and an Auto check and they show no accidents but last mileage reported 8 years ago is within 100 miles the mileage today- nobody drove it in 8 years? hmmm
Mileage was obviously accurate after looking over the condition of the car but where has the car been for 8 years I don't know.
I googled the VIN and pulled up pics of the car listed with items to be sold at an estate auction.
The car was destroyed and smashed all the way up to the firewall.
Collision so severe the engine was missing in the pics as well as the whole front of the car because it was probably cleaned up as road debris- pics were horrifying.
Red flag #3, this car was in a major collision that was never claimed on insurance or reported to Carfax or Autocheck.
Red flag #4, I had no way to verify if there was a leinholder on an out of state titled car. Who knows if the title is worth anything, it may still have a bank lein on it from another state and I would never know. Could have been reported and salvage when they pulled the tag so even if I can get the title work done I may have a salvage title come from my DMV. Surprise! lolol
I called the man and told him I knew he was being dishonest and that he bought the car at an auction in salvage condition.
He tells me, "I don't know anything about that and hangs up on me".
Thought ya'll would like a real life story.
Not odometer fraud BUT there are other was to scam that are just as important IMO.
- Yeah, sure, Toyota/Lexus is reliable, but 120K on ANY car is never "like new". Lots of wear and tear items may need replacement at 120K
- Anyone telling you that they have something unique in the entire country is flat-out lying. There is no way an individual seller would have any way to know that
- Meeting in a parking lot is actually NOT a "red flag". You don't know him, he doesn't know you. I would not want some stranger coming to my house to look at the car. A bad actor will give you the "Hey can I use your bath room", then he's in the house, casing the joint or worse. Most police stations have areas monitored by video surveillance which are promoted as an area for people to meet up for on-line sales
Also the 2nd Gen RX330 in from 2003-2007. That can be 20 years old. Most car driven that old are going to need new suspension components. The rubber normally does not last than long.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,403
Likes: 519
From: 714/949, SoCal
i'm looking at a vehicle now but there is a gap in the carfax from 2019 to now...mileage seem appropriate for the 4 years missing however AND it's being sold at the largest toyota/lexus dealership on the west coast. still a red flag?
i do my own oil changes, and of course that never gets reported on carfax so i understand the lack of that. i have yet to check out the car, so we'll see if it's legit in person.
i do my own oil changes, and of course that never gets reported on carfax so i understand the lack of that. i have yet to check out the car, so we'll see if it's legit in person.
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Oct 28, 2016 07:31 PM