Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 15:30:38 -0600 From: "=> Vox Populi ©" <voxnospam.li> Subject: Re: Small claims court due to odometer fraud?
Jason wrote: > I bought a car two weeks ago. I thought i inspected the car pretty > well. it's a 1995 Saab 900S with 75,000 miles on it.... or so i > thought. while cleaning the car and after careful inspection of the > dashboard, i noticed there was a little piece of black tape over the > odometer where normally it would register the 100,000 mile mark. so > instead of it reading 175,000 miles, it reads 75,000 miles. > > the seller put an ad in the the newspaper that says it has 70K miles > on it, and he was present at the signing and I said to the clerk that > the car had 75K miles on it, while he was there and he didn't say > anything. so i'm pretty sure he knew he was selling me a car with > false miles on it. he was the first owner of the car, so he > definitely did this to the car. Odometer fraud is a felony, both under Federal law and most State laws. Turn him in to the District Attorney's office for criminal prosecution. > > I want to call him, but i also want to take a deep breath before i do > anything. should i yell at him until he gives me some money back for > it? by the way, i paid $1950 for the car, but at the auto tags place > we only told them i paid $1750 to save on taxes. So you commited tax evasion. > Kelly blue book says > the car is worth $2,250 used, but i don't think anyone would pay that > much money for a car with 175K miles on it. with 75K miles, Kelly > blue book says the car is worth $3,070 > > I also did a carfax on the car after i noticed the small piece of > black tape over the odometer and the carfax is clean except for now it > says there's an odometer problem. so i'm going to have problems > selling the car now. it definitely devalued the car. > > so i was thinking of taking him to small claims court. i hear that in > my area it only costs $20 to take someone to small claims court, but i > don't know how much money i can ask from him since he sold me the car > way under price. $100 is worth alot of money to me since i'm in > college and don't have a job. and as far as principles is concerned, > i think what he did is the lowest of the low. and dont' think i don't > feel like a fool to not notice the little piece of black tape, but > with the shadow in the dashboard it's hardly noticeable. but it's a > big red flag in CARFAX! > > What should i do? Report the crime to the DA, and contact the Feds. > small claims court? what do i need to take him to > small claims court? Contact a lawyer, depending on your State, you may be able to recover multiple times your actual damages. > should i take a picture of the odometer and bring > that into court? should i get the witness at the auto tags place that > knows that the seller agreed to the car having low miles on it? any > information is greatly appreciated. Contact the Distric Attorney's Fraud office. -- "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." ~ George Bush Jr. 2001-09-13 "I don't know where he (bin Laden) is. I have no idea and I really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." ~ George Bush Jr. 2002-03-13
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