Alright, where was I? Cars, that's right. I still work in a shady industry, now a little further west than where I began, but no matter where I find myself geographically, it seems that the industry is still the same.
Just today, a guy walks into my job, wanting me to appraise his '96 Acura with 47,000 miles, wanting to know how much I would give him for it. I took his keys and my clipboard out to his vehicle and performed my walk-around.
Appraising a vehicle would appear to be a simple process, but it is very far from it. I start by walking around the vehicle to see if there is any major flaws with it, ie., dents, scratches, dings, after-market accesories. Next, I take down the vin number. This number is important because of the information it discloses about the vehicle (year of manufacture, country codes, etc.), When this is done, I write down the milage of the vehicle, the options it has, packages that may have been added, the condition of the interior, if all the accesories work. After this is completed, I walk around the car. I feel for paintwork, look for oil sludge, see if there was any body work done to the vehicle, check the condition of the unibody frame. When the physical check is done, I then determine the value of the vehicle using several forms of information. I have invoice guides, auction results, current purchase price from wholesalers around the country, insurance claim checks I can run on any vehicle, and so on. Tying all this information together is what allows me to give the customer a price for the vehicle. I do all this in less than eight minutes.
Going back to the Acura, I found a few things. The car was in an accident so it had unibody damage. The entire vehicle had been repainted, and most importantly, it had run through our very own auction just 6 months earlier. A wholesaler had purchased the Acura for $3000 dollars and with 96,000 miles. I had the entire history of this car, from coming off the boat in Japan in late '95, to the sale 6 months ago.
I sat the customer down, offered him some coffee, and asked him a few basic questions. When did you buy the car? How much did you pay for it? What were the issues with the car when you were buying it as told to you by the seller, etc.
He had purchased the car 4 months earlier, told it was in perfect condition and very low miles for a '96. He paid $12,000. Needless to say he nearly blew his colon when I presented the info I had on his car and now offered him $2000 for it. This is what the car was now worth with a True Miles Unknown designation. I wish I could say this was a rare occurance, but it isn't it. The seller of the vehicle "washed" the title so that the information on it now reflected the changes he had made (rolling back the odometer, erasing the accident information). It's sad to say, that even though this is fraud frowned upon, there is no legal recourse for the consumer. Please be careful when buying a used car, from anyone.
Man, it feels good to "come up for air". It's been a long and whacky month. I'm slowly getting used to the colder weather here. It's nice to come back here though.
Just today, a guy walks into my job, wanting me to appraise his '96 Acura with 47,000 miles, wanting to know how much I would give him for it. I took his keys and my clipboard out to his vehicle and performed my walk-around.
Appraising a vehicle would appear to be a simple process, but it is very far from it. I start by walking around the vehicle to see if there is any major flaws with it, ie., dents, scratches, dings, after-market accesories. Next, I take down the vin number. This number is important because of the information it discloses about the vehicle (year of manufacture, country codes, etc.), When this is done, I write down the milage of the vehicle, the options it has, packages that may have been added, the condition of the interior, if all the accesories work. After this is completed, I walk around the car. I feel for paintwork, look for oil sludge, see if there was any body work done to the vehicle, check the condition of the unibody frame. When the physical check is done, I then determine the value of the vehicle using several forms of information. I have invoice guides, auction results, current purchase price from wholesalers around the country, insurance claim checks I can run on any vehicle, and so on. Tying all this information together is what allows me to give the customer a price for the vehicle. I do all this in less than eight minutes.
Going back to the Acura, I found a few things. The car was in an accident so it had unibody damage. The entire vehicle had been repainted, and most importantly, it had run through our very own auction just 6 months earlier. A wholesaler had purchased the Acura for $3000 dollars and with 96,000 miles. I had the entire history of this car, from coming off the boat in Japan in late '95, to the sale 6 months ago.
I sat the customer down, offered him some coffee, and asked him a few basic questions. When did you buy the car? How much did you pay for it? What were the issues with the car when you were buying it as told to you by the seller, etc.
He had purchased the car 4 months earlier, told it was in perfect condition and very low miles for a '96. He paid $12,000. Needless to say he nearly blew his colon when I presented the info I had on his car and now offered him $2000 for it. This is what the car was now worth with a True Miles Unknown designation. I wish I could say this was a rare occurance, but it isn't it. The seller of the vehicle "washed" the title so that the information on it now reflected the changes he had made (rolling back the odometer, erasing the accident information). It's sad to say, that even though this is fraud frowned upon, there is no legal recourse for the consumer. Please be careful when buying a used car, from anyone.
Man, it feels good to "come up for air". It's been a long and whacky month. I'm slowly getting used to the colder weather here. It's nice to come back here though.