How a '97 Tahoe lost 100,000 miles

HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) - The 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe had 213,000 miles on it when Eric Hoffman's mom sold it last year for $1,000.

Less than a year later, Hoffman spotted the Tahoe in a used car lot not far from his home -- with a price tag of $4,995.

"Which blew me away," Hoffman said. "How's a 13-year-old car with 200,000 plus miles worth $5,000?"

Then, he took a closer look at the odometer: 118,000 miles.

That's nearly 100,000 fewer miles -- about four times around the Earth's equator.

Hoffman was even more shocked to learn that loopholes in state and federal laws make it impossible to pinpoint the culprit. The law doesn't require sellers or buyers to record the mileage on vehicles more than 10 years old.

Even if a seller writes the mileage on a title when making the sale, the Secretary of State won't record it on the buyer's new title.

"The state does not record miles after 10 years, so an individual could buy a car with, let's just say, 100,000 miles and two weeks later have 50,000 miles and there'd be no way to track it," said Mark Capel, owner of Grand Rapids Auto Auction , which recently auctioned off the Tahoe.

"The state obviously at their level has chosen not to regulate this," Capel said.

Secretary of State officials told Target 8 they can't explain the reason behind the 10-year rule. In the past, only cars that were 25 years and older were exempt from listing mileage.

But the federal government changed the law in 1986 , and Michigan adopted that standard two years later.

It's a felony to tamper with an odometer.

But it's also profitable. With 214,000 miles, Kelley Blue Book shows the Tahoe is worth about $2,400. With just 118,000 miles, the price jumps about $700.

"Any vehicle over 10 years old, it's a bit of 'buyer beware,'" Eric Hoffman said.

Target 8 tracked the Tahoe's travels - through Secretary of State records and interviews with the half-dozen owners, car dealers and the auction house it's gone through in just the last year.

It made stops in Holland, Allendale, Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Jenison and, finally, the used car lot in Holland.

This Tahoe's travels began in April 2009, when Eric Hoffman's mom sold it to a family friend, Matthew Mersman, in Allendale.

"It took too much work and she wanted something different," Hoffman said.

State records show she got $1,000 and listed the mileage at 213,040.

But that mileage never reached the buyer's title.

In December 2009, Mersman sold it through craigslist to another man in Allendale -- Jason McCallum. Mersman wrote the mileage, 214,010, but, again, that didn't reach the buyer's title.

"I didn't need a vehicle, but I thought it was priced fair enough," McCallum said.

It had 216,000 miles on it, McCallum says, when he sold it in February, on craigslist, for $1,200 to Brandy Juengain in Grand Rapids. Records show she sold it to a Grand Rapids man on March 8 for $600.

And, this is -- it appears -- where the price jumped.

That man, DeMarcus Baty -- whose long criminal record includes delivery of marijuana -- told Target 8 he paid $3,000, not $600, and sold it the next day for $3,500 -- making a quick $500. "I buy and sell used cars," he said.

He told Target 8 he didn't tamper with the odometer.

"I don't mess with any of that," Baty said. "It rolled good; that's all I'm paying attention to."

Records show he sold it on March 9 through Pointe West Auto Sales in Muskegon, which took it directly to Grand Rapids Auto Auction in Jenison. "All we did was sell it for the guy," said Pointe West co-owner Jason Bates.

Grand Rapids Auto Auction owner Mark Capel told Target 8 his company doesn't record the mileage of older vehicles.

And, finally, this is how it returned to Holland. Hyway Auto Sales bought it at the auction. The price: $3,490.

And, it was Eric Hoffman, the son of the original owner, who recently spotted the Tahoe on the lot -- just a few miles from his home.

"Could that be my mom's car?" he wondered.

He test-drove it. The VIN matched. And, he filed a complaint with the Secretary of State, which recently told him it couldn't pinpoint the culprit.

That's when Target 8 went undercover and spoke with Craig TenElshof, the co-owner of Hyway Auto Sales.

"You know how many miles is on that?"

"Miles are exempt," TenElshof said. When asked how many miles were on the odometer, he said, "It shows 118."

Even then, the owner complained about the law that exempts mileage.

"It's the stupidest thing that they put miles exempt on (cars) 10 years or older," TenElshof said.

Target 8 was still undercover when the dealer, at Target 8's request, showed the Carfax report. Its most recent mileage listing: 155,000 miles 6 years ago.

TenElshof said his dealership did not roll back the odometer. He said he never would have bought it at auction if the odometer listed 213,000 miles. His dealership, he said, is a victim.

"I don't want this to give us a bad name because we have done nothing wrong here, at all," TenElshof said.