98 4runner.... found a major issue HELP!!

S

Saltlife8404

New member
Sooooo for my first post I'd like to start with a bang, long story short I bought my 4runner when I was stationed in Virginia about a year ago. Owner had car fax printed of, and it looked good. I get stationed out here in sunny California home of the "everyone gets freaking smogged rule''.

Anyways my runner won't pass smog, take it to the dealer to check the cats exhaust ect and come to find out it says my miles have been rolled back substantially, like from 285000 to 141000. Holy &$!;@ right? So here I am about to deploy and I need to sell it and I can't figure out what to do with it.... I know I should of been smarter and paid for my own car fax but I trusted a little too much and got burned.

Yes, I know I can take him to small claims court, I already explored that option but with my op tempo, getting ready to deploy, distance from initial place of purchase its just too much hassle to follow through with it.

The end product in this long post is I'd like to sell it, just can't figure out a way to legally/ethically do it... Anyone ever have experience with this?

Oh and sorry if this was posted in the wrong spot, it's a 3rd gen so figured this would be a good start. HELP!!!
 
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Your truck is more than 10 years old, so odometer is exempt. If you get the emission fixed, cant you get it registered? and sell it with the actual miles posted on the ad?
 
Contact the legal office. Being in the military you have a whole slew of lawyers at your disposal for free. They live for going after douche bags like the one who rolled the odometer on you. If you need the number for a legal office in Yorktown I have it, my wife used to work there.

Gary
 
Unfortunately I checked the dates and it appears they were rolled back before this guy bought, now as far as the car fax I was shown I'm not sure what's happening there. I could go the legal route but honestly I don't think anything will happen due to the time-timeline from the carfax- ie he can just pretend like he didn't know the miles were rolled.

Only upside is the truck runs great, I replaces timing belt ect ect all fluids, I just need it gone.

Do I post the miles on the odometer or the carfax? I'm thinking about just cutting my loses and going to craigslist but I don't want to screw anyone over like I did....


Anyways what's with the ten year rule? Not sure I'm getting what your saying.
 
OK so let SSgt Blue take a stab at this my fellow brother.

First- I think you got taken on this deal but you know this. Next, there is no reason why you can't Reg this car in what ever state you are from period! I know CA tells you all this BS stuff but it is just that. If you have your out of state ID for XYZ then you are good(your active Military). The car is from that state and CA can suck it. Just like CA can't make you pay there state taxes even though they try that shit on Military guys all the time.

You need to call what ever state you are from and find out what they need to Reg it. They will give you the things you need. You will have to go to CHP office and let them look at it to make sure it is safe etc. They give you paper work to give back to XZY state. If there is no smog out of state you live in then you are golden.

You might have to give someone back home a power of Atty. but that is no issue because any officer can put his sig on that and it is done. They will not tell you that though, but you have to get the stamp from the S-1 fag's so your LT can knock it out.

If this is to much of a PITA put it on the lemon lot. Sell it as is and put will not pass CA smog etc or what ever you want on it. My guys picked up some sweet rig off that log and made some killer trail trucks out of them. We both know there are a ton of gear heads on base, Right!?

If you are still having issues and just want to walk away then drive it out to Machine Gun Hill and park it on the range and "Oops, I'm not sure how it got there" Maybe they(SOI shower shoes) will fix it for you,lol.

Parting it out will get you so far then you have to have the rest of it delta with, or just leave it to PMO to haul off. They have a Lcpl for that also.

Blue
 
alaskaflyer said:
Contact the legal office. Being in the military you have a whole slew of lawyers at your disposal for free. They live for going after douche bags like the one who rolled the odometer on you. If you need the number for a legal office in Yorktown I have it, my wife used to work there.

Gary
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I would follow this advice first unless you are really in a pinch and just want to cut your losses.

You may be surprised what the law will allow as far as buyer's remedies against a seller.

If you were in Louisiana, you could likely have the sale rescinded and get your purchase price back. If not the full value, then certainly a portion.

Just my comments on the legal side.
 
Very well I guess I'll go with the legal options and check out what the timeline would look like. But for on base options, ill check out the lemon lot ect... The problem isn't necessarily with Cali smog, it's for new base stickers....

Apparently there's an order that states you need to pass Cali smog to register your car on base. Pretty dumb, no base I've ever been on requires anything like this, typically you follow your laws from the state the vehicle is registered in.

But thanks guys I'm going to make some calls tomorrow and see if I can get the ball rolling on this.

Gary can you PM that number for the Yorktown JAG or legal office?
 
Will do. Start there, give them all the info and they'll let you know right off the bat if it's worth the time and effort. Just hate to see a fellow active duty member get taken!

Will send the number this afternoon when I talk to the war committee (wife)
 
Is it possible they just replaced the guage cluster because it broke, i guess not disclosing that is still sketchy but it may not have been on purpose, especially if it happened several owners ago.
 
you may wanna check on the lemon laws in your state, you might be able to get rid out if that way. I dunno if it applies to private party as-is sales.
 
First, if you have a car fax printed with the date and web address at the bottom of the page, you can hold Car Fax liable for the error. This is a common issue however, so be prepared to wait a long time and possibly never reach a solution.

This is not a lemon law issue, not by any stretch of any states laws.

The time that has passed causes a burden of proof that you will have a tough time proving.

If its not the seller who sold you the car, but the seller before, and years have passed, you are better off living with it.

Bottom line here, unless this is a CarFax error- one that can be proven, you can't seek damages, at least not with any chance of getting them.

You can drive it as-is or sell it with the lower odometer, but a corrected mileage statement.
 
danthemanx07 said:
I would follow this advice first unless you are really in a pinch and just want to cut your losses.

You may be surprised what the law will allow as far as buyer's remedies against a seller.

If you were in Louisiana, you could likely have the sale rescinded and get your purchase price back. If not the full value, then certainly a portion.

Just my comments on the legal side.
Click to expand...

Jag wont deal with stuff like this, unless the military is investigating the case, and i know at least it wouldnt fall under army CID purview
 
sorry to hear this happened to you, Saltlife8404 (HN rate?)

can you tell us whether you bought your 4Runner from any sort of 'reputable' dealer (so we know whom to avoid)? or was it a private party sales transaction?
 
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