A USED car buyer believed he had found a great deal when he purchased a $10,000 luxury car priced thousands below MSRP. He quickly discovered that he had been tricked.
The driver believed he had found an Audi A6 on the market for $4,000 to $8,000 less than the standard price.
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Iowa native Phil Burroughs said he was overjoyed to find the discounted luxury car in December 2023, according to Chicago-based ABC affiliate WLS-TV.
The 2015 sedan was selling for $10,000.
It had just 66,000 miles on it, according to the odometer.
Most A6 sedans with less than 70,000 miles sell for $14,000 to $18,000, according to Edmunds.
But Burroughs discovered the deal was too good to be true.
“The mileage was changed,” he told the station.
“This car has 185,000 miles on it, not 66,000 miles.”
The harrowing blow took an emotional toll on the driver.
“Was I a little heartbroken? Yeah, because, you know, I thought maybe it was a pretty good car at 66,000 miles,” he said.
Mechanics warned that adjusting mileage numbers on odometers is a routine maintenance change that has been around for years for scammers.
Josh Ingle, an odometer repair specialist in Atlanta, told station drivers that with a few simple tools, they can change odometer numbers in seconds.
Ingle showed the station a digital cheating device that allowed him to replace another vehicle’s manufacturer’s odometer.
With a few button clicks, he covered 100,000 miles from another car’s odometer reading.
“That’s it,” he said after changing the reading within seconds. The car initially showed over 160,000 miles.
“Press Enter and you’ll see files for 43,000 miles.”
Avoiding scams when buying used cars
Here are some steps to avoid used car scams:
- Use a mechanic: Independent mechanics can ensure cars are in good condition and identify excessively used parts.
- Check the VIN: Vehicle identification numbers will reveal important parts of a car’s past, including accidents and oil changes.
- Take it for a spin: Drivers must still request a test drive before handing over money to buy a car.
- Check the cloud: Newer cars – especially EVs – use cloud-based technology to store vehicle data. Traceable data in the cloud is much more difficult for fraud to influence.
An estimated 2.1 million cars on American roads have altered odometer readings, the station reported.
Scams are also increasing rapidly.
Fraudulent odometer reading devices were detected in 14% more vehicles than in 2021, according to the station.
“Sometimes there are organized scammers and sometimes there are isolated people,” Patrick Olsen, CARFAX editor-in-chief, told the station.
But drivers can take several steps to ensure their cars have not been improperly modified.
Drivers can check the background of a car’s VIN.
Additionally, Olsen suggests taking your car to an independent mechanic before a big purchase.
“They may look for excessively worn brake pedals; they may look for shock absorbers and struts that may appear much more worn than the odometer reading suggests,” he added.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
