What is the name of your state? Wisconsin
Im not sure if this is the right forum however it seemed to be the closest match.
I have done some searching on the situation I have but didnt find anything that matched so I will explain it here.
Just a couple days ago, Friday Feb 9 to be exact at around 5:30 pm I entered into a purchase agreement at a used car dealership. I had arived a bit earlier and was looking around the lot and in fact had spotted a vehicle that intrested me. At that time I went into the dealership to make contact with a salesman who I had talked to on the phone. I was in the market for a car for around 2500.00 He directed me to a 94 ford Taurus that was priced at aboput 2800.00 I was not imidiatley intrested as it was higher then I wanted to go but he then stated to me that this car had 50,xxx original miles. That got me intrested so he got the keys and we took it for a ride. He explained to me that he had to drive it off the lot and when he got in he looked at the odometer and stated to me that he was off a bit that it was actual 56,000 original mile. He further explained it belonged to some old fellow who rarely drove it and went on and on about how good of car it was. I dont know why but he did not offer to let me drive he simply took me for a ride but I had no real problem. Riding in the car to me gave no reason to doubt his claim. Granted the car had some minor issues but still seemed to support that it could be original. I also assumed I was getting proper ino as required by law. Long story short, I purchased the car for about 2800.00 plus tax title and all that stuff. When I got home I decided to check the VIN with Carfax out of curiousity and quickly discovered that the mileage was in fact in excess of mechanical limits. In my possesion I have the original window sticker that was in the car, on it there is no statement as to what the odometer reads or that it is actual or in excess of mechanical limits, again to me it would support his claim being there was nothing there to contradict it. In addition my sister was with me durring this time and also heard his claim of original miles. Acording to KBB.com the avg retail for a 94 taurus with 56k on it was around 2800 in excellent condition, witch it is not by description. With real milage of 156,000 its 2300.00 in excellent condition. Even the price charged supports the milage claim.
I called the dealer the following morning and talked to the salesman, when I confronted him with what I found out he simply stated that he had just assumed it was actual based on the overall condition of the car. To me it was an admison that he didnt provide fact. He pretty much tried to blow smoke up my tail, obviously trying to cover his and told me Id have to call on Monday and talk to the office manager. witch I plan on doing. I am also prepared to send a complaint along with suporting document to the DMV.
My big question her is, do I have a leg to stand on? Seems to me this is odometer fraud, I would not have bought the car if I knew it had 156k on it. In fact I doubt Id have ever looked at it. If nothing else works and they dont want to make it right do I have a potential law suit here? Any advice would be appreciated.
Myron
Grafton, Wisconsin
Im not sure if this is the right forum however it seemed to be the closest match.
I have done some searching on the situation I have but didnt find anything that matched so I will explain it here.
Just a couple days ago, Friday Feb 9 to be exact at around 5:30 pm I entered into a purchase agreement at a used car dealership. I had arived a bit earlier and was looking around the lot and in fact had spotted a vehicle that intrested me. At that time I went into the dealership to make contact with a salesman who I had talked to on the phone. I was in the market for a car for around 2500.00 He directed me to a 94 ford Taurus that was priced at aboput 2800.00 I was not imidiatley intrested as it was higher then I wanted to go but he then stated to me that this car had 50,xxx original miles. That got me intrested so he got the keys and we took it for a ride. He explained to me that he had to drive it off the lot and when he got in he looked at the odometer and stated to me that he was off a bit that it was actual 56,000 original mile. He further explained it belonged to some old fellow who rarely drove it and went on and on about how good of car it was. I dont know why but he did not offer to let me drive he simply took me for a ride but I had no real problem. Riding in the car to me gave no reason to doubt his claim. Granted the car had some minor issues but still seemed to support that it could be original. I also assumed I was getting proper ino as required by law. Long story short, I purchased the car for about 2800.00 plus tax title and all that stuff. When I got home I decided to check the VIN with Carfax out of curiousity and quickly discovered that the mileage was in fact in excess of mechanical limits. In my possesion I have the original window sticker that was in the car, on it there is no statement as to what the odometer reads or that it is actual or in excess of mechanical limits, again to me it would support his claim being there was nothing there to contradict it. In addition my sister was with me durring this time and also heard his claim of original miles. Acording to KBB.com the avg retail for a 94 taurus with 56k on it was around 2800 in excellent condition, witch it is not by description. With real milage of 156,000 its 2300.00 in excellent condition. Even the price charged supports the milage claim.
I called the dealer the following morning and talked to the salesman, when I confronted him with what I found out he simply stated that he had just assumed it was actual based on the overall condition of the car. To me it was an admison that he didnt provide fact. He pretty much tried to blow smoke up my tail, obviously trying to cover his and told me Id have to call on Monday and talk to the office manager. witch I plan on doing. I am also prepared to send a complaint along with suporting document to the DMV.
My big question her is, do I have a leg to stand on? Seems to me this is odometer fraud, I would not have bought the car if I knew it had 156k on it. In fact I doubt Id have ever looked at it. If nothing else works and they dont want to make it right do I have a potential law suit here? Any advice would be appreciated.
Myron
Grafton, Wisconsin