There are various factors that individuals take into consideration before they purchase a second-hand car. Although there are many aspects of the car that potential buyers check before buying a car, there are many fraudulent ways in which sellers may deceive the buyers into purchasing a less efficient car, at a price that is higher than its value.
It is possible because the purchasers are not aware of the plots the sellers use to get rid of a faulty car.
One such way is by deceiving the buyer about the odometer reading. An odometer is a device that is inbuilt in the car and helps to measure the distance that the vehicle has covered. The sellers often tamper with the reading to show that the vehicle is new and did not come into use much.
Although such practices are criminal offences against the law, it does not prevent the sellers from cheating the purchasers. Manipulating the odometer reading has become even more rampant with the development of the digital odometers in the latest cars.
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Ways To Identify Instances Of Odometer Tampering:
In old cars that have low mileage –
- The number dials might have gaps or be crooked
- Signs of a hasty repair job and damage in the dashboard area
- Despite being a low mileage car, the steering wheel and shifter have undergone a lot of wear and tear
In new cars with digital odometers –
- Signs of damage, wear and tear
- If the car looks old yet shows a lower mileage
Services like CARFAX can come into use to get a report on the previous use of the vehicle, since the time it was registered. It also includes an odometer check tool to identify false odometer readings.
The potential buyer should take a close and careful look at the title for the car. It will also provide the buyer with the correct manufacturing date of the vehicle.
Study of the repair and maintenance records of the vehicle will also give the buyer a clear idea of how often the car requires repairs and what damages to expect in the vehicle.
Tampering with the odometer reading, while selling an old car, is a severe offence. A buyer who realizes that they have been subject to such fraud can file a complaint against the seller. The seller can then get punishments as per the law, and the government also levies a certain amount of fines on the sellers for such offences.
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If you have an old car that you want to sell, you can contact Adwreck company. This firm deals with the wreck and old, scrap and junk cars removals service. Former cars owners can sell their vehicles to the company in exchange for a reasonable price.
The owners need to inform the firm that they want to sell their car. The firm will make all the necessary arrangements to assess the car, provide pick up services to remove the car and make cash payments to the seller, immediately at the time of the car removal.
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