I bought this mercury van from my neighbor. My son's best friends father. The odometer wasn't working its digital. He said he thought the van had about 120k on it. After I sent the cluster in to be fixed the odometer showed 169k miles. I was like WOW and then o well. I sold the van the Tuesday night to some guy. He texted me last night and said he ran a carfax report and it showed the van has 220k miles on it. He is claiming I committed fraud. I did not knowingly lie to him and I did not have the miles reduced on the odometer. He said he wants his money back. I don't want to give it back. Your thoughts?

 

If the buyer has 'proven' that the car has that mileage (Carfax and you verified that Carfax yourself) and you positively stated in your ad that the car had xxx,xxx miles, then yeah, you need to make things right.
On the other hand, if you stated 'unknown' miles or made a vague ref to the actual mileage, then he can scream all he wants. What did your ad say or what did you say in person??

 

I agree with this

 

Carfax is not in any way an accurate source of information. They have shown accidents that did not happen, and have shown clean records when accidents did happen.

I am fairly confident (and I am not a lawyer so take this for what it's worth) that a court would not rule in favor of the buyer. You accurately listed the odometer as it was when you sold it, and had no prior knowledge that mileage may be more than stated.

Furthermore, just how exactly does Carfax know the mileage, and why didn't this clown run the report BEFORE buying? It's his own **** fault at this point.

In short, tell him to pound sand and take it to court if he has that much of a problem with it. Once he realizes how much small claims will cost him, and that he likely won't win, you'll probably never hear from him again.

 

I stated the mileage in the add 169k which is what I believed it was. I do not believe otherwise at this point. We have emissions testing and they record the miles on the car/truck at testing. I don't know when it was tested last. The selling price on the van was 2000. I was as honest as possible and had no knowledge of the miles being anything different than what the Odometer is showing.

 

I now agree with this instead

 

What did the buyer think he was getting for $2,000, a Bugatti? Tell him (politely) to go p..s up a rope.

 

how is carfax getting the odometer readings

 

I'm pretty sure they get it from service records that are reported. I also think the state reports them or makes the available to places like car fax after emissions testing. Who knows this dude could have been messing with me all together.

 

Just buy the van back, less any damages he put on/in it, and sell it to the next one.

Reason: I myself would do this because frack this legal BS and potential court and whatever and just gimme the **** thing back, loser. It's a freakin' OLD, WORN OUT VAN, gimme a break, jerk, but here, money for title and keys, let's go.

Also, next buyer gets an "AS-IS, No Warranty, No Money Back, Once it's bought, it's yours, and the mileage is unknown, buyer beware, so you now know, no take backsies" agreement of some sort that he signs, and my neighbor signs, and I sign. We go straight to a notary, get it notarized, and then everyone gets a copy, I keep the original.

No I don't want it back, but I ain't interested in a potential long, drawn out, gawdawful legal proceeding of any kind. Better to just get it back, IMO.

But that's just me. I also like the pound sand idea, though, that's always fun.

Good luck, Glenn.

 

Why take all that risk for absolutely no reason? First, don't do ANYTHING until you're actually summoned or receive a letter from an attorney. They can mouth off about courts and lawyers all they want, but until they actually throw down the money and get that ball rolling it's all a bunch of hot air.

How do we know the buyer didn't blow a rod doing donuts in an empty parking lot, and wants to get their money back for their stupidity? You'll NEVER know what sort of damage may have been done internally.

Plus, at the end of the day, just how much does another 60K miles affect the value of the vehicle? Most likely not a whole lot...it's just another reason that this is very unlikely to ever see a court room, and this is probably just a pain in the *** being a pain in the ***.

If it were me, I'd avoid any and all contact with this person, and only respond when legally required. If they pester for any significant amount of time, contact the local police or sheriff and file a complaint as needed.

 

Buyer be ware. "As is" doesn't need to be in writing, it's a given unless you are a dealer. The judge would ask them why they didn't look up the carfax before they bought it. The same as if they didn't take it to a mechanic before they bought it then complain after they buy that the AC doesn't work.

 

I haven't heard from him since I responded to his text early yesterday morning. I told him I had no reason to believe there was more mileage than what was stated on the odometer. " as is" is a given for privet party sales is correct IMO. Unless otherwise greed upon. I always state that when we shake hands and make a deal. I don't think the mileage would be the issue in court anyway. I think the issue would be whether I knew about it or if I altered the odometer in any way.

 

That would be up to them to prove. Carfax isn't proof that you knew anything. Watch what you say in a text because it can be used against you in court.

 

I'm no legal expert, but I'm pretty sure he would have to prove that you knew about the discrepancy, and you sold it misrepresenting the car and miss leading the buyer. And car fax being proof? What a joke. Sold as is, buyer needs to take a hike.

 

^ CARFAX is a joke they reported my car as totaled when it wasn't.

 

Don't know about Illinois, but in Texas the mileage is logged every year by the state when you take the car in to be inspected. If the odometer breaks they still have record of the mileage from the previous year and add to that. So yes, a Carfax report from any car that's been registered and inspected in Texas will show accurate, or at the very least the official mileage that's been recorded by the state, which will hold up in court.

As far as taking the case to court goes, it would be a small claims court at best where both parties represent themselves without lawyers. If it's an old Mercury then I rather suspect the cost of hiring a lawyer would far outweigh the price of the van.

 

I always side with "Caveat Emptor" when buying used.
Check on the title, usually there is a box indicating if mileage is:
A) Accurate, to best of knowledge
B) In excess of XXXXXX
C) Unknown
or something too this effect. Wisconsin has this.
If you still have a copy, see what's stated.