Car dealer fraud refers to deceptive and unlawful practices used by automobile dealers during the auto sales process123. It can involve deceptive advertising, inflating prices, concealing fees, and hiding information about a vehicle. A common form of car dealer fraud is misrepresentation or false advertising, when the dealer fails to disclose or deliberately hides required information about the vehicle from the buyer, such as accident history, odometer readings, or lemon status5. A Vehicle History Report (VHR) or “Carfax” report can help buyers protect themselves from misrepresentation and false advertising by providing the vehicle’s previous owners, accident history, odometer readings at the time of sale, and whether the particular make and model has been labeled a lemon and eligible for manufacturer buyback under Lemon Laws in your state.
1. Odometer Fraud Odometer fraud or odometer tampering involves selling a vehicle with a false odometer reading. Contrary to popular perception, dealers generally do not alter odometers. Instead they typically purchase cars they likely knew about altered, pretend to be ignorant about the problem, and sell the car with an altered knowledge. Typically we work to show the falsehood, and leave the question of who changed the mileage for another day.
2. Damages and Carfax Reading We’re frequently called by clients saying the Carfax says the car has structural damage. Typically that term is vague, may reference an accident report, and is not sufficient to file a claim. Instead we look for direct evidence. Thus, we’d want a body shape’s report identifying problem, and explaining their significance.
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