Illegal Car Dealers Will Kick You to the Curb

May 12, 2006 — -- Experts estimate 80 percent of the used cars in classified ads are not being advertised by individual owners, and that can mean trouble for buyers who aren't careful. Cars parked by the side of the road with "For Sale" signs are even more suspect. Chances are, a lot of these cars are being sold by "curbstoners," and you'd be wise to avoid them at all costs.

Curbstoners are illegal, unlicensed used car dealers who sell cars from the "curb" rather than from a dealership. They usually pretend the cars are their personal vehicles. Many curbstoner cars are salvage vehicles. Others are too dangerous to drive, and some could even be stolen. If you are duped, the curbstoner is likely to be long gone by the time you figure out you've bought a lemon.

Reese F. got two trucks for the price of one -- but this was no bargain. The Ford Truck he bought from a seller in a Taco Bell parking lot for $15,000 turned out to be two totaled trucks welded together. The seller had told him he was helping his brother sell the truck and that his brother bought it new from a Ford dealership. When Reese found out the frame was hopelessly twisted, he couldn't exactly go back to the Taco Bell to find the curbstoner. And when Reese decided to sell the truck, by law he had to disclose to the next buyer that the vehicle was a mess. Needless to say, he lost thousands of dollars on the deal.

When I've investigated curbstoning in the past, I've easily found odometer rollbacks, salt and rust damage, flooded vehicles and salvage vehicles. All my team did was scan the classifieds for duplicate phone numbers and look for cars for sale by the side of the road.

Many illegal dealers are getting more aggressive with their marketing. Some strip mall parking lots have come to look like used car dealerships. We spotted one with dozens of cars lined up, all for sale. The malls are so inundated with curbstoners that they've started posting signs that say "no car sales allowed." One day we spotted a car for sale right next to one of those signs!