Miled Out: Buyer learns his truck’s odometer was rolled back a quarter-million kilometres

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A person from Ontario is out some big bucks after discovering the second-hand Chevy truck he purchased last year had its odometer rolled back by over 250,000 km.

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In an interview with CTV News, the Innisfil resident said all seemed well while test driving the truck, a machine which ran well and showed fewer than 200k on its digital odometer. Red flags apparently started appearing when they visited the MTO to register the thing, however. Records there showed the Silverado as being a 2012 model year, not a 2013 as advertised. After contact, the seller allegedly brushed it off as a simple clerical error.

Making matters worse, the UVIP and CarFax information showed the machine actually had about 455,000 km at the time of purchase. For those unaware, a UVIP is a used vehicle information package, which is purchased from the province of Ontario when transferring ownership and contains key details of its history in this province, as well as the presence of any liens. Legally, sellers are supposed to provide this package before the sale is complete. It would appear that didn’t happen in this case.

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There’s not a single solitary soul reading this article who’d argue against the notion that used vehicle prices have significantly increased since the start of this pandemic. Taken together, the situation had led to some vehicles commanding higher-than-normal prices — especially in-demand rigs like pickup trucks — and some customers are jumping on certain deals without doing due diligence for fear of not being able to find another rig which suits their needs. As we see here, that can have painful consequences.

When buying a used vehicle, always be sure to dig into the machine’s history to avoid these types of surprises. The UVIP in Ontario is a goldmine for doing so, and any reputable seller in other provinces where tools like that are not available should be more than happy to provide the buyer with key info — assuming they are on the up-and-up. Speaking to the last point, it’s important to steer clear of curbsiders; that’s the common term for individuals who buy and sell multiple vehicles without a dealer’s license, often not even transferring ownership into their name before doing so. Apparently, that was the case here.

One other clue which would have helped this customer relates to the model year discrepancy. All modern vehicles have a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), found in the lower-right windshield area and on the driver’s door pillar among other places. The 10 ^th character of this 17-digit VIN states the model year. Had the customer checked, they would have found a ‘C’ on this truck, denoting 2012, which would have been a tip-off to the model year discrepancy at least.

We know it’s a tough market, kids. Still, please do ‘yer homework.