scammed need help

I was not familiar with the term "title jump(ed)" and hadn't looked it up, so it happens that I came up with an explanation that matched that term of which I had never heard.

 

I will chime in. Could we get a pic of the odometer? I want to see the mileage. It's possible the OP was looking at Trip A or Trip B thinking that was the actual mileage without scrolling through to the Odo. It makes no sense that the Prius was serviced about every 3 weeks or 5K miles. If it was an uber. They would drive that thing into the ground and not think twice about an oil change.

It's not easy to roll back a digital odometer. The analog ones were a joke compared to a modern ODO. I would go into the Toyota dealership and give them the vin number and ask them when it was serviced what the mileage was on the last two or three services. All you would have to tell the dealership is that you suspect the Odometer has been tampered with. That would confirm if the Odo has been tampered with when the OP bought the car. Considering the craziness of this thread. I think we need to see a picture of the Odo with the actual mileage displayed.

 

Here, we're like that talk show The View; we all just want to speak and not listen to each other.

 

I think the skepticism, or more precisely the questioning here is mostly just born out of the language used and description of the vehicle itself.
Odometer fraud aside, while I believe a vehicle ONLY as old as 5 years old can be made to look like it has less miles on it, the description of the vehicle as being in BOTH in operational and cosmetic pristine condition is hard to swallow.

I hope for the OP's sake, 100,000 miles or more can be put on the vehicle with good reliability.
But the questioning comes with descriptions such as these:
" it doesnt burn any oil nor any vibration, suspension is pretty stiff except little misalignment. I am getting 48mpg "
" Engine bay? all the hoses wire connection like new."
" mechanical condition of the car...48mpg, everything firm and smooth no funny noises "
" 2 months it didnt burn oil and drove stopped smooths. Suspension firm with bad SF roads. I recently went under for oil change and oil pan and undrcover was pretty good shape as well."

Since it appears the OP was defrauded, I hope the vehicle is in great shape and does continue on, with a reliability and a lot more possible additional miles.

But I think what is hard for a lot of the gallery to accept is the proclamation that it has 300,000 miles on it, but the overall condition of a nearly new vehicle from a mechanical standpoint.

I've owned used vehicles with mileage approaching just 130,000+...and they start to feel different. You start to get wear on shocks, suspension, the engine itself. Commonly you don't get to 150,000+ without some engine oil burning.

Even though YES Prius exist and operate with 300,000+, the truth is there is no way to sugar coat it, 300.000 miles is a lot of miles on a mechanical vehicle.
So if I can speak for the gallery, I think the questioning comes from the contention that the vehicle simultaneously has 300,000 miles on it, but shows absolutely no mechanical operating signs that would be consistent with a vehicle with that mileage.

But good is GOOD.
I hope the vehicle is in great shape, and the OP get's many years, miles more out of it.

 

You should take the Prius to Toyota Town and show them the ODO. Then have them run the VIN number of the car and they can pretty easily tell you what the ODO readings were in the last year. That way you can figure out when the ODO was rolled back. You don't need to worry about who serviced or owned the car prior. Let the DMV worry about that part.

 

But both the original official owner and the "seller" (even if he can be located: the phone number no longer works; is the address even genuine? The transaction could have taken place in the parking lot of an apartment complex far away from that seller's true residence) can deny that they rolled back the odometer.

 

You make a valid argument. I am more interested in the service records of the Prius. The Toyota dealership always inputs the mileage on the Odometer. Even thought they are simply writing what they see. If the dealer goes through their service records. They can see when the odometer went from 250,000+ down to 39,000 miles.

 

I've already seen Toyota's official records for that vehicle (plugging in the VIN that CarFax told me corresponded to the Registration Plate shown on the February smog certificate). The last service recorded was on 1/6/2020 at Toyota Town when the odometer reading was 291,230 miles; a 10K mile service was performed, but the owner chose not to have the recommended engine and inverter coolant replacements performed.

So the odometer was rolled back between 1/6/2020 and whenever it was in February that the smog check was done. Whether that roll-back was done by the original owner or by the presumed intermediary (who could have been acting on behalf of the original owner for all we know) nobody knows at this point.

 

ya gotta give the guy credit, he's great at what he does. terrible, but great

 

Engine bay looks brand new! Unbelievable...

 

First of all, if the vehicle is worth $8,200 (as per Car Fax) then you paid $3,800 above actual value. Scammer did a lot of work to make that money. In fact, getting it that clean and running so well, he probably could have gotten more than $8200 for it. To actually make a living doing this kind of stuff, he must be very efficient and must pull this scam quite a few times per year.

That said, do the records show any brake work (beyond fluid exchange)? Brake pads last a long time in Toyota Hybrids but not usually 300,000 miles. If no brake work done in a long time, you should have them thoroughly checked. Scammers care about how the vehicle appears to the perspective buyer, not the true underlying condition.

Also, if there are no records of the hybrid battery health being checked, you can do that by getting an OBDII bluetooth enabled adapter and then running a smartphone app such as Dr. Prius. I would do that.

 

Sad that this is such a common scam.
That was my fear almost from the start of reading this thread, that this guy was a real professional.
My secondary fear would be that IF he's a professional with this scam, finding him would probably be very difficult. He's probably executed this in a way that covers his tracks.

But good luck.

 

Keep in mind chronologically this is only a 5 year old vehicle.
Doesn't surprise me that cosmetically it could be made to look very good.

Again in a lot of used car dealerships, pop the hood on even much older vehicles and if the engine was steam cleaned and detailed they can look amazingly good.

 

i think we'll all be

 

Good point, I’m used to looking at engines which are exposed to salt and harsh winters. You should my engine bay with 150K on 2010. Rust is on every bolt.