N. Texas Couple Learns Hard Lesson Used Car Shopping On Craigslist

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GRAYSON COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - A Grayson County family learning the hard way to listen to that little voice that says 'pump the brakes'—especially when you're buying a used car!

"We've got a 4th baby on the way, and we were in a Honda Civic!" says Colette Hall. So she and her husband turned to Craigslist to find a low mileage, reliable mini-van. When they found one with only 81,000 miles—they thought "you can't beat that!"

But, they now wish they'd pumped the brakes.

"The first red flag was that he was in a big hurry saying 'I've got to get back to work'," says Hall, "and I was like, I don't know… I'd really like to drive it a little longer." The minute they parked, the seller quickly turned off the car and pressed them to close the deal. "We asked to see his license and he flashed it real fast."

Nevertheless, still ignoring that little voice of warning, "we handed him the cash," says Hall.

The Halls were on the road about 10 minutes, when all of those red flags they ignored, turned into warning lights.

"The battery light went on. The gas gauge didn't go down. My Dad said it needed a new alternator," says Hall, "I thought 'what have we done?'" And it would only get worse.

"I look at the title," says Hall, "and one of the digits had been erased! I thought we'd bought a stolen car."
Fortunately, the car wasn't stolen. But, that low mileage 'good deal' actually has more than 164,000 miles. It's in the shop right now needing more than a thousand dollars in repairs.

"Spend a little extra upfront," says Hall, "run a Carfax, drive it for at least an hour, take it to a mechanic." And listen to that little voice that says—if it seems too good to be true…"it is probably too good to be true," finishes Hall with a laugh.

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