re: Tall tales from the second-hand car market Scam used car odometer tampering
I have been searching for an used car for a relative. It's been a month.
Most of the searches are on OLX.
I have realised prices of used cars have gone up. Point in reference being I myself had bought a used Estilo in 2018 for 170,000/-. It was a 2010 car VXi, single owner, run 21,000 KM (genuine KM as i checked Maruti's service record through a friend who works at an authorised service centre).
Similar vintage Estilo's with mileage around 60K are advertised now at around 200,000/- and upwards without much margin for bargain.
I am presuming reason for increase in price of used cars seems to be:
1. New cars have become expensive and as new cars are becoming increasingly unaffordable for people who need a mode of transport with 4 wheels the demand for used cars have increased
2. Don't know if there is also an impact of longer waiting periods on new cars but I presume it may be pushing up demand for used cars for someone needing a car for immediate use.
3. Most of the cars advertised on OLX are by individual brokers, car dealers and there are only few and far advertised by owners themselves. The intermediary adds their commission to the cost.
4. Also some owners might want to avoid the hassle of bargaining and getting called by lot of people and thus hand over the vehicle to an intermediary.
5. With the prevelance and easy access to online portals and calculators like OLX, OBV calculator, Carz24 calculator a seller can get a fair understanding and a reference point for their own cars from similar cars advertised and peg the selling price higher.
6. Also another thing I noted used cars in Metro, Cat A cities are selling cheaper compared to Cat B and beyond. Possibly there is more supply of used cars in the 1st two category. Bizarre Experience - Scam in the market
One of the vehicle advertised on OLX was a 2010 Estilo LXi single owner, run 40,000 KM expected price 200,000. Advertised by someone whose name is different compared to the owner's name (how did I figure out the owner's name - read further).
Which meant the person who advertised is a intermediary mostly a small time broker dealing in everything from property, 4 wheelers, 2 wheelers, Scrap, agriculture produce, livestock. Essentially someone looking to make a fast buck with no clue of vehciles.
To the query are you a broker response was I am a relative, owner is abroad, they are old, don't know how to post an ad on OLX. Which is the usual response.
Now how did I figure out who is the actual owner. I use an App called RTO Vehicle Information and enter the RC number gives all details including Insurance, which owner 1, 2, 3 whether the vehicle is blacklisted any police case.
Except contact. The RC number is usually mentioned in the OLX Ad or ask the guy who advt the vehicle for the RC number.
Before going and seeing the vehicle I also seek the help of a SA at a nearby Maruti Service Centre and try to get the a) Service History b) last service KM using the RC number. If the vehicle has visited a service centre you get both the details. But there are cases where the vehicle has not visited the service centre after the 1st three services as a new vehicle.
In this example of the Estilo I mentioned above the last service was done on Oct 2019 and recorded the mileage as 40,700 KM. Armed with this information I saw the car. Condition of the vehcile overall was not as it should have been for a low mileage car, rust spots all over, clutch play, engine oil light on the dash stayed lit up.
And the most important and glaring alert was the odometer reading which was 40,900 KM in July 2022. Which means it's only run 200 KM in over 4 years highly unlikely.
When I pointed it out to the guy he said during COVID it has not run much and that I should drive the vehicle and see the condition.
Also another point to note was the IDV in the insurance paper was 90,000/- and he was demanding 200,000/- for the car.
I refused the offer to drive the vehicle and refused to make an offer and walked away. Problem with buying a vehicle with ODO reading tampered
Without knowledge of the actual ODO reading the next owner will unknowingly delay the scheduled maintenance. Especially the major ones like timing belt and tensioner change. Which if damaged can be an expensive fix.
Meter tampering it seems is rampant. I tried to dig for more information unofficially and it seems the electronic ODO meter can be flashed and reset for 800/- odd bucks. Some tips from my learning
1. Use the RTO Vehicle Information App to know vehicle and owner details
2. Connect with a Service Advisor to check for a) last service record b) last service KM
3. In the insurance document of the vehicle look for two specific things:
a) IDV which indicates the price at which the insurers have valued the vehicle
b) NCB% which indicates has there been any claim in last 5 years. This may not be of use if the owner has got repairs done and not claimed insurance. Wish list
Ideally there should be national registry (could be in the form of a Website / App) which integrates all the information which currently is available in different places some easy to access some not so easy (service record, accident repair, insurance repair). Will help address the scam to some extent and also overall help having better maintained cars on the road, lesser loss of life and limb.
Such registries do exist in US and European markets.
Hope my experience would be of use to others.
Mods, I remember there are some threads about 'How to buy a *USED* Car in India' and "Odometer tampering is ridiculously easy". If you find my post is relevant and could be part of that thread also. Please do include / link the same. Could not figure out how to link. Thank you. |