Odometer Rollback Scams and How to Spot Water in Engine [Autohacker’s Digest]
Last edit: July 07 2024 • 213 view
Welcome to AutoHackers’ Weekly Digest – July 07, 2024
Every week, I share insights from running insurance auto auction marketplace CARS4.BID. The goal of this digest is to help you avoid common mistakes when buying at auctions and to assist you in purchasing your dream car at the best possible price!
Why it is important to always run vin reports before buying a car: a case study
Scott recently purchased a 2018 Chevrolet Camaro via CARS4.BID. He loves the car, though he ran a VIN report weeks later after the purchase. He bought the car with “not actual” mileage due to theft recovery damage. It turned out that the car had a mileage rollback after it was stolen. Ouch! It won’t hurt his Turo business, but it might be a problem for some of you.
That’s why it is important to run a VIN report before making a bid. VIN.DOCTOR provides access to the best VIN reports on the market: CarFax, Autocheck, and VIN.DOCTOR. CarFax has a competitive advantage by providing amazing information on service data. It is always good to know how well the car was maintained and serviced, and you will see the mileage reading from it to verify mileage consistency.
How to get VIN reports at a fraction of their cost?
Go to VIN.DOCTOR, register, search VIN and use the AUTOHACKERS promocode to get a great discount for being part of my email list.
Flood damage oil check
If you are looking to buy a flood-damaged car, make sure you inspect it yourself or hire an inspector before buying it. Open the engine oil cap and check it. If you see something like what’s shown in the attached picture, this is bad news. Avoid it at all costs. Water is inside the engine, and repairs could be extremely costly.
See the photo in the Autohacker’s Facebook group here, where I share tips and tricks buying cars at insurance auto auctions.
Learn from me and grow your business
If you are a car dealer or car exporter (or a ‘professional’ car flipper, lol) and you want to start or grow a car broker business, I am looking for five lucky business owners to work with directly in my Lifestyle Car Dealer program at no cost to you (yes, $0). In exchange, I would only ask for a testimonial after you see the real results.
If you want to apply, reply now and let me know a bit about your current situation and where you would like to be after I’m done training you.
Cheapest buy of the week
We bought it for $150! Yeap. $150. LOL.
High mileage but incredibly low price. Super deal for our customer!
My choice of the week
2016 BMW M5. Sold for $16,700! Just 42% from the retail price of $40,000. Huge discount!
$25 deal
2009 HONDA ACCORD sold at IAAI just for $25!
Minor side damage and a very good deal.
$35 deal
2005 HONDA PILOT sold at Copart for $35. 1% of retail value $4,975!
Hawaii location. High mileage. But you cannot go wrong with a $35 for a car!
$100 deal
2009 FORD ESCAPE sold at Copart for $100.
Impossible, right?! Well, great deal happens daily!
Thank you for reading my digest, and have a great day!
Andrew AutoHacker
P.S. If you enjoyed my digest, you might also like my Facebook community of Autohackers. I share my knowledge there daily. My primary goal is to assist you in finding your dream car at a 50% discount. Join the community and benefit from the valuable information and insights I provide!
