How do Los Altos drivers know if an odometer is telling the truth?  Duke here and today I going to get to the bottom of the odometer mystery, is that mileage correct?

Well, back in '86, Congress passed the Truth-in-Mileage Act to protect CA consumers against mileage fraud. It says a CA seller must certify the mileage reported is the actual mileage.

To have your odometer checked in Los Altos, CA, stop by Allied Auto Works:

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024

If it isn't, the seller must say why; for example, maybe the odometer is past its mechanical limits. Some older odometers only go to 99,999 and then start over at 0. Or, the odometer has been tampered with, broken or replaced.

If the seller tells you the mileage isn't accurate, there's not much chance of putting a good number to it. And there's the unscrupulous seller who claims the reading is true, but it isn't. What can Los Altos vehicle owners do?

You can go to www.CarFax.com, where, for a small fee, they'll give you a comprehensive vehicle history search on your vehicle, showing local Los Altos, CA, ownership history, accident reports, total-loss events, manufacturer buybacks, Lemon reports and warranty status.

You can get a mileage history by checking with the local CA DMV (or wherever you happen to be) and other verified sources looking for inconsistencies in the mileage reported when the car was bought and sold. If there are signs of odometer rollback, now you'll know.

If so, proceed with caution. Or, negotiate a lower price. Or just walk away. There's always another vehicle. 

"If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?"  ~Steven Wright

Duke

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
650.968.7227
https://www.alliedautoworks.com/

Good Day!  Cayenne here and you know high school graduation is just around the corner and you might be thinking about getting your grad a used car.  Well I have some advice on what to do after you buy a used car.  Let's get started!

So you’ve bought a used car in the Los Altos area. How do you know what you’re getting? It is hard to know what you’re getting because people in the Los Altos area sell cars for different reasons. Think about why you’ve sold cars. Did you just want something new or were there problems that you wanted to run away from. Maybe it was a little of both.

Used cars with 25,000 to 35,000 miles on them are often lease returns, corporate program cars or vehicles that have done duty in rental fleets. We feel pretty confident because they’re newer and may still be under warranty. But how well have they been maintained?

If you plan on owning a car for a long time, you’ll keep up on the maintenance so that you can avoid expensive repairs down the road. But, if you know you’re only going to have the car for two or three years, you may not be so committed to maintenance. It would be easy to think that skipping an oil change here and there wouldn’t ruin a brand new engine. Then it’ll be someone else’s problem when it comes time to pay for the damage.

It would be very tempting to skip the 30,000 mile service if you knew you’d be turning in your leased vehicle in a couple of months.

If the vehicle didn’t come with maintenance records, you need to assume the worst. Most likely the coolant system and transmission have never been serviced. The cabin air filter has probably not been changed and a fuel system cleaning may be in order.

You’ll want Allied Auto Works to check the air conditioning, battery, engine air filter, serpentine belt and hoses. An inspection at Allied Auto Works is well worth the cost.

And if your “new” used vehicle has more miles on it, an inspection is even more important. Check your owner’s manual or talk with your service advisor at Allied Auto Works (call 650.968.7227) about what should have been done. Please don’t forget the timing belt; that can be very expensive if it fails.

Allied Auto Works will help you with a plan to take care of critical services and get the rest caught up. If your budget won’t allow you to take care of everything right away, we can help you prioritize your needs and get it taken care of over the next several months. And remember to keep your maintenance records. They’ll help you get top dollar when it’s time for you to sell.

Also remember here at Allied Auto Works, we can do a Used Vehicle Inspection before you buy that car for your grad so you will know up front what items may need tending to.  This will help save peace of mind!

Well til next time, this is Cayenne!

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
650.968.7227

How do Los Altos auto owners know if an odometer is telling the truth?

Well, back in '86, Congress passed the Truth-in-Mileage Act to protect CA consumers against mileage fraud. It says a CA seller must certify the mileage reported is the Actual Mileage.

To have your odometer checked in Los Altos CA, stop by Allied Auto Works:

Allied Auto Works
Los Altos, CA 94024 650.968.7227

If it isn't, the seller must say why; like maybe the odometer is past its mechanical limits. Some older odometers only go to 99,999 miles and then start over at 0. Or, the odometer has been tampered with, broken or replaced.

If the seller tells you the mileage isn’t accurate, there’s not much chance of putting a good number to it; And there’s the unscrupulous seller who claims the reading is true, but it’s not so. What can Los Altos motorists do?

First, you can go to www.CarFax.com, where for a small fee, they’ll give you a comprehensive vehicle history search on your sedan, showing local Los Altos, CA ownership history, accident reports, total-loss events, manufacturer buybacks, Lemon reports and warranty status.

Los Altos motorists can get a mileage history by checking with the local CA DMV (or wherever you happen to be) and other verified sources looking for inconsistencies in the mileage reported when the car’s bought and sold. If there are signs odometer rollback, now you’ll now.

If so, proceed with caution. Or, negotiate a lower price. Or just walk away. There’s always another.

So you’ve bought a used car in the Los Altos area. Do you know what you’re getting? It is hard to know what you’re getting because people in the Los Altos area sell cars for different reasons. Think about why you’ve sold cars. Did you just want something new or were there problems that you wanted to run away from. Maybe it was a little of both.

Used cars with 25,000 to 35,000 miles on them are often lease returns, Los Altos corporate program cars or rental fleet vehicles. Most Los Altos buyers feel pretty confident about these because they’re newer and may still be under warranty. But how well have they been maintained?

If you plan on owning a car for a long time, you’ll keep up on the auto maintenance so that you can avoid pricey repairs down the road. But, if you know you’re only going to have the car for two or three years, you may not be so committed to maintenance. It would be easy to think that skipping an oil change here and there wouldn’t ruin a brand new engine. Then it’ll be someone else’s problem when it comes time to pay for the damage.

It would be very tempting to skip the 30,000 mile service if you knew you’d be turning in your leased vehicle in a couple of months.

If the vehicle didn’t come with maintenance records, you need to assume the worst. Most likely the coolant system and transmission have never been serviced. The cabin air filter has probably not been changed and a fuel system cleaning may be in order.

You’ll want Allied Auto Works to check the air conditioning, battery, engine air filter, serpentine belt and hoses. A used car inspection at Allied Auto Works is well worth the cost.

And if your “new” used vehicle has more miles on it, an inspection is even more important. Check your owner’s manual or talk with your personal Allied Auto Works service advisor (call 650.968.7227) about what should have been done. Please don’t forget the timing belt; that can be very pricey if it fails.

Allied Auto Works will help you with a plan to take care of key services and get the rest caught up. If your budget won’t allow you to take care of everything right away, we can help you prioritize your needs and get it taken care of over the next several months. And remember to keep your maintenance records. They’ll help you get top dollar on the CA used car market when it’s time for you to sell.

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
650.968.7227