I bought/financed a used car in August 2008 and recently tried to sell it to CarMax because I cant afford my payments anymore. When CarMax appraised the car they reported to me that the car was salvaged. Considering that when CarMax appraises a car they check the car’s title through AutoCheck.com.
I filed a complaint with the Investigations office through the DMV and they reported that the car was completely fine. And of course my bank would not have loaned me the money to purchased a salvaged car.
So basically, CarMax and/or AutoCheck.com are the only ones saying that the car is salvaged. I called AutoCheck.com and they said that the dealership bought the car from an auto auction, and the auto auction “announced” it as a salvaged title to the dealership; but neither the auto auction or the dealership reported the title to the DMV.
I called a lawyer that specifically deals with Auto Fraud but he would not take my case. He stated that the only way I would win is if the DMV said that the car was a salvaged title.
So I dont know what to do…and I dont want to pay $15000 for a car that is only worth $2000. Should I go to my bank or should I go to another lawyer? Am I entirely screwed? Does this happen a lot? Please, someone give me some advice!
if the lawyer says your screwed your screwed keep paying on the car and run it until it does not run anymore
You need to find an upside to this problem. If you can’t find one, you may be SOL.
Did Car Max say your car was worth $15,000 based on a salvage title?
What is the car worth if it was not salvaged?
The difference is going to determine if this is worth pursuing legally.
The DMV only know what they were told, so their position is understandable. It appears you can prove the car was really a salvage so some kind of appeal needs to be filed with the DMV.
I’d imagine another attorney would take on this case if there was some upside. But the question is, who are you going to get money from? You will have to sue the seller for the difference. Is that possible? Is it even worth it? This is where you need an attorney.
If you can get AutoCheck to verify the car was sold fraudulently, and get the DMV to change the title status, you probably have a good case. Again, determine the upside before you jump thru all these hoops.
Good luck!
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if the lawyer says your screwed your screwed keep paying on the car and run it until it does not run anymore
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Try this web site to check the VIN for being stolen. It is not 100% accurate, but it is worth trying.
Your car may have been bought from another state and the salvage brand got "washed" off when title transferred to another state.
First place for you to start is to trace / track the car back through its titles. This can be time consuming as you must send requests to the state DMV’s, wait for them to check it out. Plus you will be charged for the service.
https://www.nicb.org/cps/rde/xchg/nicb/hs.xsl/vincheck.html
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Sounds like it may have been announced salvage in error or something.
dealers have been known to do some shady things in attempting to buy cars cheap. I wouldnt put something like that past them.
If the state says its not salvage, its not. (Assuming it wasnt salvage in another state)
Usually, the auction finds this info out and then marks the cars, not the other way around but mistakes can happen. And if the auction reported it was a salvage in error, then autocheck is just wrong.
Besides, being a previous salvage hurts it 30-50%. Not $15k to $2k.
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