Oh boy, what a mess!

[Nayan]

I want to laugh and cry at the same time, but I need to really vent. Late last year, my hubby's car was on it's last legs. We take as good as care of our cars as we can, but where my hubby works he has to drive for miles on dirt roads, so new shiny cars are not the wisest option. He said he wanted a truck, so we started looking. I saw one in the paper, low miles and the price was right (it's a '94 and cost about $1800). So we went and looked at it, he drove it, like it and we bought it. The outside of it was a bit rough looking, but since looks didn't really matter he brushed it off and has been driving it ever since.

Fast forward to about 2 months ago. I read in the paper that two people were arrested for fraud. Odometer fraud . The same two people my hubby bought his truck from . It turns out his truck actually has 100k more miles on it then they stated. So, right now, I am in a quandary. First, he suspects that the truck has a transmission problem and it might need to be replaced. Second, I have no idea if the truck can legally be insured or not. I've tried googling some info but it doesn't give me what I want to know. I should probably call the insurance company and ask, but I'm afraid if I do that then they might cancel my policy and I've been with them for so long I have a really great rate that I'd hate to lose.

So, what do I do? On one hand, my hubby is a stubborn as a bull and stressed if he has to put serious cash into this truck, but he wants to keep it. I, on the other hand, think it'd be a big mistake to sink any more money into it ( he's already replaced some big parts), junk it and spend the money on something a bit more decent and reliable. I just don't know. Thanks for reading.

 

[dodukes]

I wouldnt spend any more money on a vehicle that old and you don't even know what problems it really has. I would go out and buy another vehicle a little newer, maybe even from a private owner. Especially if you are going to have transmission issues and you already stated that he replaced some really big parts. Spend that money and get another one.

On another note, can you afford to get legal representation? I ask becuase at my office we had a case pretty much the same, especially if they have been busted, you can probably take the car back for a refund. May be worth it to take a look and tack on all expenses due to the "excessive mileage" you didn't know about.

 

[eyor44]

So, what do I do? On one hand, my hubby is a stubborn as a bull and stressed if he has to put serious cash into this truck, but he wants to keep it. I, on the other hand, think it'd be a big mistake to sink any more money into it ( he's already replaced some big parts), junk it and spend the money on something a bit more decent and reliable. I just don't know. Thanks for reading.

On another note, can you afford to get legal representation? I ask becuase at my office we had a case pretty much the same, especially if they have been busted, you can probably take the car back for a refund. May be worth it to take a look and tack on all expenses due to the "excessive mileage" you didn't know about.

 

[hambirg]

That sucks! Have you talked to the police or prosecutor? You may not be entitled to much and it may be impossible to collect. . .not knowing the true value of the truck, what you paid may not be very far off the "real" value. But you will have a problem selling the truck now. You have to have the odometer adjusted and re-certified to reflect the true mileage. . .you can't sell it as it currently is. I think I would try calling your state's attorney general's office. They will have a better idea as to what your options are. And there just might be moneys available to cover the things you need to do to now to make the truck sellable. HTH

 

[Maddle]

I'm sorry that you and your husband have this headache.

Yes - you need to do more research before you sink more money into the truck. Have you been in touch with authorities about this matter? If anything, your truck could strengthen the prosecutor's case....and he might be able to point you in the right direction for some other answers.

More questions: Why do you think it would be un-insurable? Did it have to pass a safety inspection to get it registered?

When all is said and done, if your husband likes the truck, and the odometer is made "legal" - would the expenses cost more than replacing it?

And lastly - I don't dount that your truck was "adjusted" but why do you think it is 100,000 miles off the mark? Could it be more? or less?

What a pain. Please let us know how it all works out.

Maddle

 

[msmayor]

A car with an inaccurate odometer is most certainly insurable. A car my husband owned had an odometer that broke around 55,000 miles...it just stopped moving ahead. It had belonged to my parents, and they just kept driving it. Gave it to us when it probably had about 90,000 miles on it and he drove it for close to 4 years, still with the busted odometer. We figure when we traded it in (yes...we traded it with the broken odometer) it had about 170,000 miles on it. Even WITH a working odometer it wasn't worth much

We never had trouble carrying insurance on it though.

 

[Nayan]

Thank you for all the ideas, replies and hugs! We were contacted by the authorities about it and they took all of our info but we have no idea what the next steps will be. It's just been very stressful as we have some major household items we need to have fixed/replaced and adding a car on top of all that would sting just a bit. I did call my insurance agent and he said it's not a problem, so that's one sigh of relief! I'll talk to hubby tonight and see what we can do as far as fixing it or making the odometer right.