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mjdlight t1_iyy2mbk wrote

I have no experience with this dealer as a customer, but one thing to keep in mind is that Florida was slammed a few months ago by Hurricane Ian, wrecking an ungodly number of cars. Shady dealers will buy hurricane flooded cars out of state, for pennies on the dollar and then “wash” the title when they put it up for sale in another state. Not saying that’s the case with these cars you listed, but just keep that in mind.

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[deleted] OP t1_iyy3llp wrote

In fact, New Jersey ranked 2nd for highest number of title washed cars (according to Donut Media), after the one and only Mississippi.

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Cantholditdown t1_iyy6brc wrote

How does title washing work? They change theVIN?

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mjdlight t1_iyy7bbc wrote

Here is a good primer for the dirty (pun intended) business of title washing and how the scam is pulled off.

https://www.carfax.com/press/resources/what-is-title-washing

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Cantholditdown t1_iz0fspa wrote

Carfax claims their VIN tracking procedure will prevent title washing, but I am guessing there are ways around this, and this link is mostly a sales pitch for carfax reports. If you could simply track a Title washer by looking up Carfax there would probably be a lot of out of business local dealers.

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How Do You Avoid Title-Washing Scams?

You can steer clear of title-washing scams by not relying solely on a car’s title to give you all the information you need to make a good decision. A Carfax Vehicle History Report contains a lot of information you can use to avoid being victimized. Carfax tracks cars by using their vehicle identification numbers (VIN) and information from many different sources, giving you a complete picture of a used car’s history.

A Carfax Vehicle History Report can tell you if a vehicle has suffered the type of damage that could result in a branded title. This report also includes any smaller accidents the vehicle may have been in, and it provides helpful mileage history you can use to verify a car’s odometer reading.

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mjdlight t1_iz0g3ks wrote

Absolutely. I would never rely on CarFax alone.

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Cantholditdown t1_iz113k2 wrote

I honestly don’t know what else there is? I mean who is going to hire a private investigator to find out the origins of their vehicle

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