Hello, everyone! Recently a car of mine was stolen and never recovered. My insurance company cut the check and I chose to get a corolla because of the reliability of toyota. Well I finally found a car in Southern California and drove two hours to check it out. 2005 corolla, clean title, 133k. I looked at the car and it was very clean. Everything works, motor is clean, all the lights work, the heater and ac work, the tires are good, the body is straight, the paint is clean and the interior is very clean. Well I pulled the trigger and got the car. They had the car listed for $3,400 but I paid $3,000. Things are a little off to me. The key had a yellow tag on it (something a dealer does) and the paperwork seemed fishy. It seems as though these people buy and sell cars a lot. As I was driving it home I noticed something seemed weird. The temperature gauge wasn't reading as if the car was fully warmed up. It went about a quarter of the way. Then....I went to fill up on gas and noticed the fuel gauge didn't read all the way full, it only got to 3/4 tank. I chalked it up to the gauges not functioning correctly. The MPH and RPM gauges seem fine and the car was was running perfect. I'm assuming they changed the cluster. Well, I got home and pulled up the carax and its showing that the car was last reported with 220k miles. I'm PISSED! They got me. I know I could've done more investigating before buying the car but I was kind of excited I found such a clean car that ran so well. So what I really want to know is how screwed am i? The car runs flawlessly. I drove it back North two hours with zero problems in the rain. Do I need to worry about this motor giving out anytime soon or will this car last me another 100k? Did I screw myself or will this car be good to me?
I made a mistake. Need advice
- Thread starter johnnyutaaah
- Start date
I’m not sure about the laws where you’re from, but here In Texas, we have the lemon law. If the dealer didn’t disclose an issue with the vehicle or you start having issues with it within one year of purchase, it can be returned. I would highly encourage you look up similar laws in the state it was purchased. Either way, I’d still call or as a last resort, go back to them and raise hell about the car they sold you.
Please report the issue to https://www.nhtsa.gov/
Was the seller an individual or used car dealer? Dealers are required by law to provide speedometer certification and provide them to you at the point of sale. If you can determine from the key tag who the facility was you have a chance of determining who and what repairs were done. If the seller did have work done the repair orders will reflect correct mileage at the time they saw the vehicle. All of this info can be used in court if you choose to sue the seller and claim fraud. California takes these things very seriously and I'm sure there are consumer protection groups you can contact for assistance.
