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Mileage Fraud!! Odometer was rolled back!!! What to do?

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Comments

  • seewhizseewhiz Member Posts: 2
    edited July 2010
    My parents bought a new 2010 Camry from a dealership a few months ago. It's been problematic ever since then, and they've been wondering if they were perhaps sold an unwind vehicle, demo, or otherwise kind-of-used car as "new." The final prep service report for the car when it presumably first came to the dealership shows mileage in/out as 6/16. But a week later, the car odometer was at 3 when my parents bought and picked it up, and it was reported as 3 for titling purposes. It's not a big difference, but we're worried that if there's any difference at all, who knows how big a difference it could have been before?

    Does it sound like there might be something fishy going on here, or is it just typos? I already ran a title check on the car VIN, and it does not show any other titles before my parents'. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 32,891
    probably just a mistake on their end. they probably write 6/16 for all their cars, for instance.

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • delthekingdeltheking Member Posts: 1,152
    No fraud here,just a mistake maybe. And would be very risky for a toyota or any new car dealer to do that. And that too only 5 or 6 miles. No way.. I can guarantee that there is no fraud here. Most of the odo frauds are at the low end used car dealers and with BHPH lots. A new car dealer will never do it,or almost never will do it. :shades:
  • jprocjproc Member Posts: 135
    You've been watching 2 many goofy conspiracy movies.The liability for a dealer is huge on OD rollbacks.Why in heavens name would he risk it on a brand new car?

    He would have to have the IQ of a cretin
  • occupant1occupant1 Member Posts: 412
    I recall in the mid-90s Ford had problems with their new 6-digit odometers. I recall seeing many 94-96 Escorts and 94-95 Tauruses for sale back in the day with astonishingly low mileage and a door sticker with something more reasonable to add on. Fred Ricart's various used lots in Columbus had tons of them and I bet few of them were accurate.

    Same goes for 80s-early 90s VW products. The speedometer would still work, and the odometer would turn a couple of miles a day, but that was it. i had a '85 Scirocco once that did that. It already showed 185K and it would turn a few miles on the first drive of the day and then wouldn't turn again until the next day. I probably put 100-150 miles a day on that car for the few weeks I had it and it maybe registered 30-40 miles in that time. I never could figure up gas mileage but at the time gas was $1.20 a gallon so I didn't care but it sure could go for nearly a week of pizza delivery on one tankful.

    I have no problem buying TMU. But I would PREFER to see high mileage. For example, I'm considering buying a 2003 Grand Prix from a CL ad where the guy claims it has 231,000 miles on it. Why would I subject myself to that? It's a 2003 model car that doesn't look all beat up, air is cold, everything works but the back power windows, and it's only $1500! That's a down payment on any other 2003 sedan out there. If it was TMU it wouldn't be any cheaper and I wouldn't be as interested. I want to see those miles pile up!

    If you're afraid of high miles on a used car, then buy a new car. I'd rather buy a five year old car with 200,000 miles on it than a five year old car with 50,000 miles on it. The 200K car is going to be dirt cheap, it had to have been maintained somewhat frequently to last that long, and it's going to have plenty more life in it. The 50K car is going to be expensive and probably over book for the low miles, and it may not have been well serviced. If you don't drive the car, you're not going to think about maintaining it on a regular basis. It gathers dust in the garage until it is needed and then it's put away without a second thought. It gets serviced maybe once a year. Yeah, I'm all for a 12 month, 10,000 mile oil change interval on a car that sits more than it gets driven. NOT! :P
  • seewhizseewhiz Member Posts: 2
    Just wanted to say thanks to the people who responded. Didn't want to think it could happen, and this puts my mind more at ease (if not my parents'. They're always up for a good conspiracy.)
  • jo157739jo157739 Member Posts: 1
    I bought a 1996 volkswagen passat from C&C auto sales 3/8/2010.
    I just found out today from Carfax that my car's odometer was set back
    from 101,520-25,017 (7/8/2003)
    The guy who sold me the car never mentioned anything about that happening, or about there being a tittle brand.
    This part is irrelevant to the odometer reading, just my story of the worst mistake i have ever made.
    I bought the car 3/8/10, then it got stolen for six month's around the date 1/1/2011. i got it back about 10 months ago. And the car has been broke down since before it was stolen.
    This was the first car i ever bought on my own, and i paid 3,000$ cash for.
    I was just wondering what i need to do to get this resolved?
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 32,891
    There is some missing info here.

    How many miles did you think it had when you purchased it?

    If it was stolen and missing for 6 months, why didn't you get paid by the insurance company for it?

    In the end, $3k cash is not very much. That's beater money. You are going to pay that for a decent looking/running car no matter what, so the odometer rollback is kind of irrelevant at this point.

    That generation of volkswagen is notoriously unreliable anyway. Avoid them in the future.

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    There's even MORE information missing--how can you not have known the title was 'branded" as salvage or rebuilt? Didn't you get a title? It's stamped right on it.

    ANYWAY -- presuming that eventually this story will make sense, I can tell you that the clock starts ticking on a fraud case NOT when you bought the car, but when you first discover the fraud.

    also keep in mind that fraud is not easy to prove, and also keep in mind that CARFAX can make mistakes.

    I imagine you "got the car back" because you didn't have it insured for theft in the first place.

    If I were you, I'd get some free legal advice from your city or county legal services, and if, upon their review, you have a case, then go to Small Claims with this against the dealer.

    but you need to sort this story out--it's very confusing and doesn't add up.
  • jprocjproc Member Posts: 135
    Very confusing is an understatement.Car was stolen 1/1 /11 was missing for 6 months has had it back for another 10 since then???????.Thats 16 months from Jan 2011 which takes us to April-may of 2012?
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,200
    Hey! Don't mess up a good story with the facts.. ;)

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  • kerndogkerndog Member Posts: 2
    Help! I bought a 04 f150 from a dealer in Michigan and was told the truck had a new motor in it and that is why the mileage on the truck was unknown. But they told me there was 43,000 miles on the body and less on the motor. I thought it was a decent deal and bought the truck. Six months later I go to trade it in at a different dealer and they pulled the carfax on it and showed me the mileage went from 181,000 miles after the first owner and then the second owner all of a sudden it has 43,000 miles. I am the third owner. So I went back to the dealer and talked to the manager and he said he cant do anything about it. He told me that a salesman simply wrote down the wrong mileage. What do I do? I payed 10,000 bucks for it and now its worth 2,000 bucks and I still owe $9,000 on it! What can I do???
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 32,891
    Well, honestly, I don't see the fraud here. They told you it was TMU (true mileage unknown), which comes with a title branded as such, which is why it is worth so little. Whatever mileage figures they threw at you after that mean absolutely nothing. TMU is TMU.

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • kerndogkerndog Member Posts: 2
    So is there anything I can do about this? They didnt offer a carfax and didnt say that the odometer was rolled back. Isnt this still fraud?
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 32,891
    Nobody has to offer a carfax, it is up to the buyer to request it or get one themselves.

    I would be surprised if the odometer was actually "rolled back" as that is pretty damned difficult, if not impossible, on modern vehicles. In any case, stating it is TMU is all the disclosure I think they need to make.

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    CARFAX is often wrong---don't discount that possibility either.

    Fraud is mighty difficult to prove---"misrepresentation' might be easier. I'd suggest you see a lawyer about this rather than get legal aid from here---there are too many variables, and we haven't seen the paperwork you signed either. If TMU is scrawled all over it, then you may have no recourse.
  • BowsharkBowshark Member Posts: 0
    rroyce10 said:

    ...... Where dooooo you get this info ... ?

             Your son can work for Jeb Bush himself, and still NOT see 1%, let alone 20% .l.o.l.. I'm at every major auction in Florida and been doing it going on 20 years and whether the dealer is in Tallahassee, Ft Myers or Miami they haven't seen 20, let alone all these "clockers" as you call it, your information is only about 10yrs old ....

            Now I have seen a few pass through the auctions that have jumped by Kansas City via Baltimore, traveled back to Chicago, did a little side shuffle to Texas, then wandered it's way back down south, but as a rule, good dealers don't waste their time with vehicles that have done the "tour" ..

            Florida has one of the toughest regulations in the country, I won't mention any names, but a HUGE dealer up the Ocala way lost $3mill and spent 6 months being Bubba's babe for trying to click back some rental vehicles .. it aint worth it, all you have to do is follow the DMV's ...

                       Terry.

    FYI: I have checked the last 3 trucks advertised on Facebook market place and all three have reports of more miles than the sellers claim. 2 out of the three were “Dealers”
    Central Florida. Just check them out searching for f-150 4x4 and most have mileage that is low considering the age. 3out of 3 is pretty good proof for me. Now when I ask for vin # so I can Carfax they don’t even answer.
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