The Top Car & Auto Scams

Unscrupulous car dealers can't wait to pick your pocket the moment you set foot on their lots.

A new car is one of the most expensive purchases you can make. Even if you get a great deal from an honest dealer, you'll still pay a bundle. Step on the wrong lot, one run by an crooked car dealer, and you could end up paying far more than a fair price. Some of them have refined their tactics and techniques over many years and have perfected the art of cheating consumers. These are the ones you can and should avoid at all cost. This article lists some of the worst auto scams along with some advice on how to avoid them.

The following are the top auto scams and our defensive tips to help avoid them so you don't end up paying more than you have to for your new car.

Our List of the Top Auto Scams

Risky Credit Rating: The dealership implies your credit is riskier than it really is but will then offer you a sweet deal by stating they will take a chance on you. Result: a much higher interest rate and guess who gets the extra income.

Defense: Shop around and compare the dealer finance terms with other sources or check your own credit with the three major credit tracking firms.

Spot Delivery or YOYO Selling: This is one scam these dirty dealers try the most often. The dealership appears to agree to your terms, sends you home in the vehicle, and then calls you to say the terms haven't really been approved. When you return to the dealership they re-write the whole deal and you end paying a lot more than originally planned and can go hand-in-hand with the Risky Credit Rating ploy above.

Defense: Never take delivery of a vehicle unless all terms have been completely approved by the financing source and all paperwork is completed.

Reduction of your trade-in value: The dealership will determine that your vehicle is worth a specific amount to them. Then they will explain what extra costs they will have to spend to make your trade-in ready for resale. They offer you much less than what it is really worth. If you agree to the offered price you just gave the dealership hundreds of dollars in extra profit.

Defense: know your old vehicle's trade-in value before you go shopping for a new car.

Odometer Rollback: Individuals or dealers sometimes rollback a vehicle's odometer to make it appear the vehicle has fewer miles on it than it actually has resulting in a higher resale value. If you fail to discover that the odometer's been rolled back you could end up paying a lot more than you anticipated in repairs.

Defense: Get a vehicle history report from CarFax or AutoCheck. You can also request maintenance receipts which might indicate the car has more miles on it than are on the odometer.