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In the 1970s and 1980s, it was fairly easy for car dealers or private sellers to roll back mechanical odometers on high mileage used cars, or simply disconnect the odometer cable to stop the mileage from incrementing. There's big money to be made in odometer rollback fraud, over $1 billion a year. By shaving 20,000 miles off the odometer before selling you a car, a scammer can get $2000 to $3000 more for the car at your expense. Consumers erroneously think that today's modern digital odometers can't be tampered with, but don't fall into this complacent trap, it's actually easier to change than older cars. Digital odometer programmers or "odometer correction kits" can be found all over the internet, which help scammers plug into your engine control module and simply enter the new lower mileage they desire. This process is also known as "clocking". It's much easier to change the digital odometers because scammers don't have to take the dash apart like they did with older mechanical odometers. All the scammer has to do is plug the programmer into the engine control module and it leaves virtually no trace that anyone was messing around, and it takes only seconds to reprogram 80,000 miles back down to 30,000 miles. This is why odometer rollback fraud is on the rise, as more people realize how easy it is to perform, while escaping detection. The illicit web sites selling these programmers advertise them under the guise of correcting a digital odometer error when you buy an instrument cluster from a junkyard and transfer it to your car. Now that's a weak laughable cover story at best, spend $3000 for a machine to correct an "incorrect odometer" in a scenario that might happen once.
| Jump to any chapter. I suggest you read each chapter in order. | |||
| Chapter 1 Get your credit report, how to get a car loan, scams, online car loans, first time car loans, budget & loan excel spreadsheets, credit repair. |
Chapter 2 Reviews of internet discount car buying sites, new car prices, find dealer's invoice cost. Get a new car quote. |
Chapter 3 What to bring to a dealership, what to say, how to act, what not to do, what to look for at the dealership, and a glossary of all dealer fees. |
Chapter 4 How to read dealer invoices, finding dealer's cost, how much to offer the dealer, buyers offer spreadsheet, examples, trade-ins. |
| Chapter 5 Negotiating tips, dealer scams & tricks to watch out for, dealing with aggressive salespeople, choosing between rebates or low APR loans. |
Chapter 6 Close the deal, avoid needless extras, scams in the business office, extended warranty scams, options, buying warranties online. |
Chapter 7 Actual misleading dealer ads, and what to do when you've been ripped off, customer satisfaction surveys, how I bought my Lexus. |
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