I bought a car on Craigslist and I wanna know if I can get my money back or what can I do?

I had been looking to buy a car for over amonth now. It had be low on miles and a 4 cylinder and about $3000. So I saw a 01 Honda Accord that said 111k original miles. Before this one I had seen newer ones but with too many miles. I texted right away if I could see the car, he replied we agree on meeting up next day at three. So we met the next day my dad came along too. I liked that car it had no check engine light on and clean inside and out. So I paid I took it home and parked it till I got title on my name and everything. Tuesday I went to DMV to get it ready. When the lady asked me what where the miles I told her 111k she said No miles can only move forward not back, I was so confused at this point. Then she told me the original mile on the car are 234,489 I told her no I had the title that said it had 84k but now on the odometer are 111k. She showed me on the computer with the vin number and also showed me how the man erased the one where it marked the 184,000 original miles on the car title!
Can I take this to court or what can I do? Please help! I paid way to much for this car. It needs some kind of service when driving it more than ten minutes it smells like something burning!

You can absolutely get your money back. The trouble will be tracking down the guy who sold it to you. Your best bet will probably be arbitration or small claims court. It might cost you some money up front but you can include this in the amount you sue for.

If the car has been falsely described then you have a case. The cost may be high. Start by contacting the seller.
You may depending on your jurisdiction have a case for fraud against the seller.

The state police should be able to start proceedings for a criminal case (or the Sherriff) the DMV should be able to tell you who to contact - it is a crime to falsify titles and other state documents and fraud. Call the guy first and ask about getting your money back and if not cooperative send the police after him.

If the owner stated that the car has this many miles, and it does not, you should probably go back and ask for you re money back. No doubt you can take it to court. But bring lots of evidence to support your case, or it might get turned down.

Hi so the old saying here is old cars need an expert who knows to go along when buying as this was sold as seen obviously.

Unfortunately, you can't prove the car was sold to you under false pretenses. The seller could easily say YOU erased the number on the title because you wanted a reason to return the car.

Your only bet is small claims court. It's a roll of the dice, but bring any and all evidence you have.

You have to PROVE that he changed the odometer… And doing so (changing an odometer) is actually very difficult compared to 20 years ago.

I'd also question the DMV's info… It's possible that someone there made a mistake and entered the "1" themselves in error. Have them look into the whole history of the mileage readings. If there was a significant jump in a short amount of time, then the error could be theirs.

I think you are mistaken. The seller didn't forge a title and the miles may be EXEMPT anyway.

What is the actual odometer reading? It may be a simple error.

As an aside, vehicles 10 or more years old are exempt from odometer certification requirements. Your best bet would be through Small Claims court if the seller refuses to take the car back or agree to a lower selling price agreeable to both of you. However since the vehicle is exempt from the certification requirement, your case may be rather weak.

Odometer fraud is a Felony