Found a used car with 200 miles - red flag?

kayarr1

I'm looking at a "used" compact luxury SUV with 208 miles on it. Seems really odd to me - am I just being paranoid?
Carfax is clean, but the miles don't quite match. Carfax shows it was registered in Jan with 44 miles as a personal vehicle, then 2 months later listed as a dealer vehicle and sold at auction with 183 miles.4 days later it says offered for sale with 455 miles (yet I saw the odometer currently at 208 - I assume this was a clerical error).
The place selling it is a high-end joint - this is one is on the lowerpriced end of the vehicles on the lot, with their inventory going all the way up to Lambos and whatnot. This seems to me to give them credibility to me - why would they bother with a shady deal that is relative scraps compared to their usual inventory?
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

kyfdx

I'd wonder why an almost brand new vehicle isn't at that brand's dealership?
If it was sent through auction, why?
Sometimes, it takes a few months for accidents to hit Carfax. I'd worry about it.

kayarr1

Thanks.An accident would be a pretty good explanation and probably makes the most sense.

isellhondas

kyfdx said:

I'd wonder why an almost brand new vehicle isn't at that brand's dealership?
If it was sent through auction, why?
Sometimes, it takes a few months for accidents to hit Carfax. I'd worry about it.

Sometimes accidents NEVER hit Car Fax while the most mild of "accidents" such as a key scratch do!

Still, better than nothing.

dealerfriend

Not really, this is pretty common. Look into it a little deeper. Call the customer support line for the brand of car you're looking at and give them the VIN number. They should be able to tell you what dealer ordered it and if it was rejected due to an issue in transport. Sometimes smaller dealers send cars that won't sell to auction to get some money to buy a car that will sell. So as I mentioned, if you're serious call the dealer and ask what the story is. Might help asking for a sales manager. Take their story and call the manufacture support line and just ask. I've done this before with cars I wasn't sure on the history of. Carfax told me it was a lemon and that wasn't the case.

Don't swear by CARFAX. They are a third party vendor and aren't always accurate. I've seen accidents get reported that weren't accidents and vice versa to that. Hope that helps.