Mileage Discrepancies when I ran carfax/autocheck

Cap

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
So before I headed out to pick up the truck I was after I found out the carfax reported 4x's "mileage discrepancies" and 7 owners in just a short 3 year span, holy smokes!!!! Granted the truck is 18 years old and has a total of 10 owners. What all could this mean for a vehicles price and how should I negotiate the price after finding this information out if I am still interested.The reason I am still interested is because I know instrument clusters go out all the time and with it being an 18 year old truck I expect its been rebuilt or had a new motor swapped in at some point. My only concern is the person is advertisting it with low mileage which attracted me to the vehicle and when I brought it to his attention he tried to say the truck is still worth what we agreed I was going to be paying on it before knowing this info. I think not:fuck-you:!!!! Also he has no records of a rebuild which makes me want to steer away from it all together.(I dont need another project) Now that he knows his truck doesnt have the low miles he claims, he is legally obligated to reveal that to the next buyer...correct?...I have a feeling thats not going to happen. Anyways just wanted to tell you guys my recent experience and as always Caveat Emptor or... "let the buyer beware" I almost got hosed today!!!!
 
Car fax could be wrong.

Check the title. If there is a record or inaccurate mileage versus what the title shows, it should be disclosed on the title. There is a place for that info.
 
Anything over 10 yrs old in NC can be mileage exempt on the title.

It would help to know what you are looking at, but if he wants top dollar for it, I'd keep looking.
 
1998 12valve, manual, club cab, short bed aka "holy grail"... supposedly 180K LOL, and never been turned up....... the jokes just keep coming. People think these trucks are gold I tell ya, most of them have been rode hard and put up wet and they still want 8-10K firm. End rant. I think I am going to keep looking though. Just wanted to see what the good folks here think about Branded titles and how it does or does not affect the resale value. The vehicle history report I got said the truck had 283K in 2002 but then says it has 357 in 2006...which I am assuming means 357,000 and is on par with 25K miles a year.
 
I would have to get it for scrap price to feel comfortable personally. A low mileage truck like that hasn't been been through 10 owners.
 
Glad to here Im not being completely unreasonable about lowering my offer, the signs were all there. Guy was reluctant to give me the VIN# a 2nd time after I wanted to confirm the vin. I learned a valuable lesson, spend the $50 bucks for a carfax buying used vehicles off craigslist or in general.
 
I don't want to touch anything with 10 owners in 18 years, but that's just me. That just makes me suspicious about why it's changed hands so many times.
 
Sounds like you need to trust your gut instinct...and walk away. Too many red flags you're picking up, who knows what your missing.

Now, I am the 3rd owner of a holy grail ram, I think it's still under 200k. I don't watch the odometer much...the fuel gauge doesn't work and I use the trip odo :D
 
Fabrik8 said:
I don't want to touch anything with 10 owners in 18 years, but that's just me. That just makes me suspicious about why it's changed hands so many times.
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Yeah its insane and 7 of the 10 owners within the last 3 years!!!! All kinds of something right there. The owner was not happy when I told him what id offer him. I was suppose to show up this evening and get it from him for the first agreed upon price before the vehicle history report.LOL Im sure he'll find some sucker that doesnt want to spend the $50 like I about didnt to check the vehicle history. Too many red flags, like lets meet at 5:30pm in the dark, and no cashiers check only CASH!! Lesson learned.
 
"Value" is based on what you're willing to pay. If the fact that it's not really "low mileage" and may have been through a bunch of guys decreases how much you love the vehicle, then it's value had dropped. The fact that the guy doesn't believe his price should change even when faced w/ the reality of its history is worrisome. Either he's greedy or dishonest.

Also possible Carfax is wrong, look into getting info from another source.
 
RenegadeT said:
Sounds like you need to trust your gut instinct...and walk away. Too many red flags you're picking up, who knows what your missing.

Now, I am the 3rd owner of a holy grail ram, I think it's still under 200k. I don't watch the odometer much...the fuel gauge doesn't work and I use the trip odo :D
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Those early 1998 trucks get me excited man my gut was telling me nooo but my heart was telling me yeahhhhh ahaha. IM still looking but damn are they rare, so rare i was looking several states over. Gotta be a manual because the classic "rebuilt transmission" just does not sound appealing to me. Reliability is what im after. IF the truck had receipts of a rebuild I woulda bought it.
 
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