It can be difficult to know when you’re being scammed when you’re shopping for a car. There are so many hidden costs that you can be scammed for. On top of this, you don’t want to buy a lemon. A lemon car can make driving such an unpleasant experience. In this article, our California lemon law lawyer will look at some of the most common scams that car buyers should watch out for.
You can avoid wasting thousands of dollars by learning what scams are out there. Here’s what you need to know about the most common automobile buying scams and how you can spot them too.
1. Deals That Are Too Good To Be True
If a car seems fine but is being sold for significantly less than the market rate, then typically there will be problems associated with it that could break your budget down the road. In such cases, there are usually two reasons why a car might be sold at a dramatically lower price. Either it’s a lemon and doesn’t run smoothly at all, or else it’s a scam and you’re being fooled out of some money in due time to come.
If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. Low prices on vehicles can often be indicators that there is something off about the seller. Scammers may try to sell stolen cars or use fake identification or forged documents when selling a vehicle. They may even try to trick you out of hundreds of dollars by taking a deposit for purchasing a vehicle they say they no longer have in stock and then disappear before allowing you to change your mind and cancel the transaction.
2. Odometer Rollback
The vehicle mileage reading is used to gauge one’s overall condition in addition to its overall practicality. While a car with 100,000 miles on it might appear to be in fair shape, it still holds more wear and tear when compared to one that has 25,000 miles on it.
Illegal odometer rollbacks are unfortunately all too common. By taking tens of thousands of miles off the odometer reading, dishonest sellers can make their cars seem more appealing and hide how much use they’ve seen. As a result, you could end up buying a vehicle that needs major repairs much sooner than you anticipated.
If you’re looking to avoid buying a car with an odometer rollback, your best bet is to get reports from CarFax and similar providers. By checking the odometer reading against the CarFax report, you can easily spot any discrepancies that might indicate a problem. So if you see something that doesn’t add up, it’s probably best to move on and find another car. You can talk to a lemon law lawyer in California to help you out if you have got a lemon vehicle with an odometer rollback issue.
3. Curbstoning the Vehicle
Curbstoning is one of the oldest and most common car-selling scams. The scammer tells the buyer to meet at a random location, usually a parking lot or roadside, to make the purchase. This makes it more difficult to trace the seller and the origin of the name. When the buyer arrives, the seller pretends to be desperate to get rid of what appears to be a perfect car. Many buyers will make the purchase without thinking, believing they are getting a great deal.
Cars that have been in accidents or have other major flaws are often dressed up to look nicer than they actually are. This makes it difficult for people to know if a car is in good condition or not. As a result, many people end up buying cars that are not safe to drive. Illegal curbstoners often withhold important documents from buyers. This makes it difficult to track down the seller and hold them accountable for the sale.
A false bargain is often hard to resist, but sellers can be quite tricky. For your own good, make sure you meet the trader at a dealership or their home to avoid any surprises. Furthermore, never buy a vehicle if you won’t receive the title immediately. Both of these are signs that a car sale isn’t legitimate.
What to Do If You Got a Lemon Vehicle?
There are still options for you if you’ve already fallen for a car buying scam. For example, if the vehicle you bought falls under California law as a lemon, then there are remedies available to you. Contact the McMillan Law Group for more information about mistakes and how we can help you recover.