Odomemeter is off....

[slavezero]

CA.

Hello, I purchased a used vehicle from a private party. As I have discovered since purchasing the vehicle, the odometer registers 1 mile for about every 7 or 8 driven. This was not disclosed, and the vehicle was purchased as "actual miles"...do we have any recourse? I do not believe the odometer has been tampered with, it simply does not work correctly. The seller will not return phone calls or email.

SZ

 

[JETX]

Hello, I purchased a used vehicle from a private party. As I have discovered since purchasing the vehicle, the odometer registers 1 mile for about every 7 or 8 driven. This was not disclosed, and the vehicle was purchased as "actual miles"...do we have any recourse? I do not believe the odometer has been tampered with, it simply does not work correctly. The seller will not return phone calls or email.

What do you mean 'actual miles'???
Unless you had prior knowledge of a problem, that is not a question a buyer would normally ask.
How do you KNOW that the odometer is not correct??
Take the vehicle to a qualified speedometer or transmission shop and have them look at it. If you are correct AND if you think you can show a court that the seller knew of the problem and falsified the odometer statement, you might consider filing a small claims suit.

 

[slavezero]

Re: Odometer is off.....

I mean to say, that the miles on the odo at the time of purchased were represented as accurate. I know that the odo is not working properly as I have driven 300 miles and it has registered about 40. Is small claims the only recourse? If so, I will pursue.

Thanks

 

[JETX]

I mean to say, that the miles on the odo at the time of purchased were represented as accurate. I know that the odo is not working properly as I have driven 300 miles and it has registered about 40. Is small claims the only recourse? If so, I will pursue.

Thanks

Don't do ANYTHING until you have confirmed the odometer condition with a qualified shop. Absent that, it is simply your word against the sellers.

 

[slavezero]

Thanks JETX

 

[cjbrown929]

odometer problems

Another issue that you should consider is the VASTLY decreased value of your vehicle. It must now be sold as "mileage unknown" for obvious reasons. This would be true no matter how small the difference between the actual mileage and what's on the odometer since that difference cannot be determined. A California Highway Patrol supervisor came in with a nice BMW 5 series at our dealership to trade in. When I presented the odometer statement (our own form) for him to sign, he balked, then told us that the odometer had been replaced, but had supposedly been set (it was digital) to within a mile or two of the supposedly correct miles. Didn't matter. a $20,000 car was now worth HALF that, and to all successive buyers HAS to be represented as "mileage unknown".

I would add that the possibility that the owner was unaware of such a HUGE discrepancy between actual and reported miles is unlikely. In other words, he/she fills up the tank and can only get 50 miles before empty? Find out what's wrong.

 

[dallas702]

CA has very stringent laws regarding odometer readings. Your seller had to sign the part of the title that verifies the mileage. If he did that knowing that the odo wasn't working he may be criminally liable. Look up the statutes for odo tampering and inform your seller that he has some "splainin'" to do....to the State of CA if necessary.

A few years ago my son bought a classic Mercedes from a Palm Springs dealer. On the way back to Vegas we noticed that the odo was showing a fraction of the true miles driven. Even though the car could have been exempted from odo requirements, the fact that the dealer had advertised the mileage to be true...and that affected the value of the car...he decided to not take his chances with the "authorities" and reimbursed us approx. 30% of our purchase price. Of course, that was just the beginning of the problems that were covered up.

NOW...is the vehicle new enough for it to have a BCM or PCM computer that registers true mileage? My '91 ZR-1 has this feature so no matter what the odo says the true mileage is stored in the computer memory....and cannot be legally erased by anyone other than a licensed dealer. It takes a special "tool" to do it.