A DRIVER paid thousands for her dream car, but ended up not being able to drive it at all.
After taking the car to get registered, Carolyn Thomas Murrow was hit with a gut-punching feeling that something wasn’t right.
Murrow, a mother of six, saved up her money for three years to afford this car, as reported by Fox affiliate WXIN.
She bought the truck, a black 2022 GMC AT4, off an online marketplace for an affordable price.
Although all the details seemed to check out at first, Murrow was suspicious about the Facebook Marketplace purchase.
After contacting WXIN, it was revealed that Murrow’s truck had a completely different Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) that was hidden from the buyer.
Murrow’s story serves as a warning for anyone buying a vehicle to double and triple check the information for a new or used car.
At first, she was convinced that the VIN matched the details on the truck — it matched the windshield, the doors, and the glovebox.
“I wanted to verify that everything was legitimate. It’s a good deal. Is it a good deal? Trust but verify. I did everything to verify,” Murrow said.
“I saved for three years to buy a decent vehicle for my kids and I,” Murrow added.
The driver ran the VIN through CarFax and the National Insurance Crime Bureau to ensure everything checked out.
After confirming the details, she met the seller at a parking lot to test drive the truck.
Satisfied with the test drive, Murrow met the seller again the next day with $27,000 in cash.
Once the seller drove off, Murrow took her new car to the BMV to get it registered — one of the first things you do after buying a car.
After bringing the car in, she realized it would cost her $2,140 to get the vehicle registered in the state of Indiana.
Murrow told WXIN that she felt uneasy, in that moment, even though she knew the vehicle’s information appeared to check out.
How to prevent vehicle theft
Here are 10 ways to avoid your car being stolen according to an auto insurance company:
- Lock your doors. It makes it more difficult for thieves to access anything inside the vehicle.
- Keep your keys on your person. With smart keys and fobs, a car can be unlocked if the key is close by. If the key is inside or on your person, it can’t be unlocked.
- Don’t leave a spare key near the vehicle, as thieves know to look for them in common places like in a wheel well, under items in the driveway, or in the glovebox.
- Keep windows closed. If a window is open, thieves can manually unlock the doors.
- Park in well-lit areas, as it helps detour thieves if their actions are visible to passersby.
- If your vehicle doesn’t have one, consider an anti-theft alarm system.
- If you live in a high-crime area, consider an immobilizer device that utilizes a kill switch if the device doesn’t recognize an authorized key.
- Consider a tracking device to be able to keep tabs on your vehicle’s location if it’s stolen.
- Never leave valuables in the car, especially in a visible spot. Thieves know to look in the floor boards, passenger, or rear seats for valuables.
- Double-check before leaving the vehicle that it’s secure.
- To protect wheels and tires, especially aftermarket wheels, consider wheel lock lug nuts. They require a special socket to remove, so they’re impossible to remove without it.
Source: Allstate Auto Insurance
The driver figured out there was one last place she could check: the car’s undercarriage.
“I scraped everything underneath. I know I sound crazy, it’s a mom thing,” she said.
“Someone robbed me and something is not right.”
Murrow had discovered another VIN that was completely different from the one plastered on the car’s windshield.
The older VIN belonged to a 2020 model vehicle, which was reported stolen in Dallas, Texas, in January.
“I had a sinking feeling — I just knew I had been had and I was not okay with it,” Murrow said.
Now, Murrow is working to find out whether the state of Indiana can profit from the fees she paid for a stolen vehicle.
Murrow was directed to petition for a refund by providing a police report and documentation regarding her messy situation.
The Department of Revenue said it would look into the situation.
