Ford Bronco Stolen From Factory Lot Leaves Craigslist Buyer Out $75,000

When you're buying a used car, it pays to do your homework. There's always a risk that someone's trying to sell you something that isn't really theirs. However, sometimes, you do all the checks and still get burned, as this harsh tale of a used Ford Bronco demonstrates.

As reported by AZ Family, an Arizona buyer was looking for a Ford Bronco on the used market. They spotted a solid-looking example on Craigslist. It wore Alaskan plates, with the odometer recording a few thousand miles as you'd expect. The buyer, known as "Nick" in the article to protect his identity, didn't just fork over $75,000 without making some inquiries. He first secured a Carfax check, which came back clean, and he ran the title through a Motor Vehicle Division office run by a third-party company in Phoenix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuLc2J3ka0A

“If there was any issues, the VIN would have flagged - I’m assuming in the system that they have. And it didn’t,” Nick told AZ Family. Despite doing his due diligence, all was not well with Nick's purchase. This came to light just three weeks later, when Nick decided to trade the Bronco for a pickup truck at a dealership. An employee at the dealership noticed a discrepancy with the vehicle's VIN, with further investigation revealed that the Bronco's VIN had been switched.