I am looking to buy a late 90's 4runner and thought I had found a gem. A '97 with only 53k miles on it. Before I went to go take a look at it today I ran a carfax on it and found some interesting information.
2 years after the car was first sold it had a smog check and was tagged at 14k miles. Exactly 3 years later at another smog check...90k miles!!
This car has only had one owner, it's being sold in a consignment situation so I have yet to speak to them, the dealer is to get back to me after he does.
What's more likely...the odometer was rolled...or the carfax report is wrong?
Those are all of the data points provided. Additionally, the last entry in the vehicle history report is that 2002 smog check, no registration/renewal entries after that.
This is starting to look more and more like a rollback and a very fishy deal.
The carfax is a good tool to press on the seller to lower the price. You could find totalled car just because it was vandalized (broken windows, slashed tires, busted headlights), but after repair it still will run great. On the other hand you may come across nice-looking low mileage beauty with latent engine damage. My 79 Supra was wrecked, stolen, flooded, vandalized but it still was looking/running good after repairs, and no carfax will cover cars prior to 1981, so the car's history was only known to me. Also, many people will not show the major repairs in the near past to the prospective buyer. I rather check the car license for unpaid tickets/citations and smog checks.
Very good, you're learning... ;-P It's not a definite thing, but that report gave you an important clue that would certainly make me think that "The game is afoot."
If you walk in with your eyes open and know what the car is worth, they can't cheat you. Either they have service records proving the mileage on the car, and that 90K Carfax report was in error... Or you make a realistic low-ball counter-offer on the price - If the car had
90K on it two years ago, unless it's been sitting it has to have 120K plus by now.
"Okay, the odometer has 53K on it. Instrument clusters can be changed real easy. How many miles on the whole car?" ;-)
If you walk into the meeting with the seller, and your gut says this is a fishy deal, go with your gut - it's usually right. Most people won't listen to that little voice going "I've got a very bad feeling about this...", and they get into a whole lotta trouble that way.
If you can't find any hard proof that they're trying to rip you off, don't make any accusations you can't back up - just make up an excuse that the car isn't the right one for you, and get the heck outta there. Let them sucker someone else.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.