The fact is, if youve bought a used car or truck lately,

A is the only choice that makes sense. used car or truck is what the author is pointing out.

A it shoud be

3 and 4 changes the meaning from used car to car that is used lately
5 - that is not needed.

A is the correct usage of lately here!

its clear A... sentence shud never change the intented meaning and D does just that...
usage of 'that' is not required makes it wordy else E wud have been right...

but here its clear A

here lately is an adverb which is modifying the verb bought.
used is an adjective which is modifying the noun car

so eliminate C and D as lately is modifying the verb used
In B lately is not modifying anything
E also awkward.

In A , lately is modifying bought and used is modifying car So A is correct

I believe the author wants to say that "if you have bought a used car recently..." and only A conveys the intended meaning.

Hence A.

right ..
the OA is A

Is (b) grammatically incorrect ? Or is it that between two grammatically correct sentences one should choose (a) as a preference keeping it unchanged ?

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B seems very awkward.... A looks correct

Hey All,

I got asked by PM to take this one on and explain what's wrong with D. I'll do the whole shebang.

The fact is, if you’ve bought a used car or truck lately, there is about a one in five chance that you’re a victim of odometer fraud.

1)if you’ve bought a used car or truck lately
ANSWER

2)lately if you’ve bought a used car or truck
PROBLEM: You can't put the adverb "lately" before the verb. It doesn't make any sense. Try other examples, "Quickly I ran to the store." "Slightly I liked the movie." "Beautifully she put on the dress." We simply don't do this in English. Adverbs modifying verbs have to come AFTER the verb.

3)that if you’ve bought a car or truck that is used lately
PROBLEM: First, you can't have "that" after a comma. Also, "lately" is now modifying "is used," which wasn't the point. "Lately" should be modifying "bought."

4)if you bought a car or truck that was used lately
PROBLEM: Same as C above on the "lately" issue.

5)that if you’ve bought a used car or truck of late
PROBLEM: "That" issue. Believe it or not, "of late" is actually okay (it means "recently").

Hope that helps!

-t