For a lot of people looking for a new car, buying a used car often makes most sense.
But that used car may not be the deal you think it is.
In fact, you really need to do your homework before you buy a used car. Not only do you want to get it checked out by a trusted mechanic to make sure it's running properly, but you'll also want to verify its mileage.
Melissa Collie found what seemed like the perfect first car for her teenage daughter.
"It was an '05 Maxima, and it had 124,000 miles," Collie recalled.
The Collies found it on Craigslist and paid $5,300 for it.
"And, we thought it was a good deal, you know," Collie told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
Remember, they thought the car had 124,000 miles on it.
But when they went to the county clerk's office to get it registered, they discovered it had way more.
"We found out it had over, like 230,000 miles, something like that -- and it had been registered several times," Collie explained.
The Collies, it turned out, had fallen victim to odometer fraud.
Many years ago, unscrupulous car sellers would handcrank the mileage back on cars.
But now that cars are so highly computerized, experts say it's actually even easier.
"These guys, they just hook a machine up to the computer of the vehicle and can set the mileage of whatever they want it to be," said Lt. Chris Ray with the Tennessee Highway Patrol's Criminal Investigation Division.
"So are they rolling it back 10, 20 thousand miles?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Lt. Ray.
He replied, "10... 20... 100,000."
Ray said the cars are then sold either online or on smaller, often independent used car lots where the vehicles are frequently former rental cars that are only a couple of years old, but have a lot of mileage.
"So these car dealers can buy these cars at these auction with the high mileage, roll the mileage back and put in on their lot and they've got a three- or four-year-old car with 50,000 miles that they've rolled it back to -- and it's actually got 100,000," Ray explained.
Christopher Basso with CarFax told NewsChannel 5 Investigates, "Unfortunately, many of us think that odometer fraud doesn't even exist anymore. That makes it extremely easy for criminals to rip you off simply by telling you it's got low mileage."
Basso said their data shows more than a million cars on the road in the U.S. have had their odometers tampered with.
Here in Tennessee, that's about 10,000 vehicles.
"And, it's a huge risk for consumers that are buying these cars unknowingly," Basso added.
If you buy one of these cars, you're not only paying more for the car than it's worth, but you're also looking at higher maintenance costs and even possibly greater safety concerns because with the added mileage. In addition, parts are going to break down and need to be replaced sooner.
"If folks would just do a little research on the vehicle, it's easy to discover if there's a mileage issue," the THP's Lt. Ray recommended.
All it takes is the car's vehicle identification number or VIN. You can find it on any driver's side dash, door frame, and, of course, you should be able to get it from the person selling the car.
CarFax offers a free odometer check. All you need is the VIN and your zip code. (Click here.)
But Lt. Ray said don't stop there.
"Look at the title on the car. Look at all of the numbers on the car. Make sure the mileage is matching up to what's on the vehicle. Ask the person you're buying it from about the history of the vehicle. Look in the vehicle for any documentation, any maintenance records," Ray stated.
That's what Melissa Collie now wishes she'd done.
Collie recalled that before she bought the car, the seller was really pushing it.
"He said, 'This is a good car. It's going to go quick. The first one with the money.' So. you've got a teenager wanting a car, what do you do? You try to be the first one with the money," Collie said.
Now she realizes how simply running the VIN would have exposed the kind of deal this really was.
In the Collies' case, the people responsible were caught and, as part of their punishment, they had to give back the money the Collies had paid.
If you think you've bought a car with rolled back mileage, the office to contact is the THP's Criminal Investigations Division. That's the unit that handles odometer fraud in Tennessee.
To find the THP site, click here.
