Originally Posted By LuLu I took my less-than-3-year-old car to the dealer for its regular service recently. A couple days later I noticed the odometer had jumped by about 17,000 miles! I called my service rep and she said it was probably inadvertently switched to kilometers. As I determined this was not the case, I took it in this morning and she and a technician agreed that it needed a new odometer, which is now on order. She called the warranty company to confirm this would be covered, and it will. But this seems very strange to me. First of all, how did this happen? I'm fairly certain it somehow got reset while in the shop. And while it's great that I'm under warranty (which coincidentally expires in a few days) it seems like either way, it's the dealer's responsibility to fix it. When I called in about it Tuesday, the service rep I spoke to was a bit rude and unwilling to discuss that, so I just waited til yesterday to speak to the female rep who originally wrote my order. Since she found that it was covered, I didn't bother to bring it up. It's not going to cost me anything, but I feel pretty leery about returning to the dealer for future maintenance. This dealer was very highly rated when I bought my car there. What do you think? Isn't this rather strange??
Originally Posted By Marlin Perkins LuLu, I assume it is a digital odometer. While these are even easier to tamper with than the old dial type, it seems unlikely to me that a dealer would risk odometer fraud which, I believe, carries stiff penalties as well as possible prison time, and the possible loss of their dealership license. I'm sure this goes without saying, but, just make certain that they set the odometer with the correct mileage when installed. I wish you luck. No fun having car headaches.
Originally Posted By LPFan22 I don't know how it all works but just hearing your story makes me uneasy.
Originally Posted By LuLu Thanks MP, it does seem unlikely that it was intentional fraud, but I guess I need some sort of explanation on how this might have happened! I suppose that since I didn't notice it right when I picked the car up, the dealer won't comment on how it could have possibly happened there, due to potential liability. So it's just a "broken odometer," which oddly is tracking fine now... Yes, it makes me uneasy too! I need some sort of explanation!
Originally Posted By Marlin Perkins I would say to just think of it as a computer glitch. Not that I'm an expert, but they may not really know specifically why something like that happened. It's good that they are replacing it. From what little I know, they could reset the reading but that wouldn't solve any problems for you in the future. And by then your warranty would be up.
Originally Posted By TINK-MOBILE Lulu...Does your warranty expire because of the date of purchase or because of the mileage...Certainally the Dealer is now going to replace the Odometer , will they reset it at the mileage that was recorded when it was serviced . Since your Warranty is almost up, I would go over it , or have a friend who may know something about vehicles to test drive it to ensure you get all the things under warranty covered,,, Triple A does vehicle inspections they may find some thing...which might cost you a fortune later on... Very rare for an odometer to go haywire, it may be that you may need a new module if it is electrical...I would ask if there has been any hidden service reports on odometers, what kind of car do you drive.....these guys can easily tamper with this, but your on board computer system should show them what happened if it is computerized... So I would look for all things that may need repair and get them done under warranty.... I would not buy from these guys again...if they treat you poorly... I would DEFINITELY speak and deal with the OWNER of the Dealership as well, not the service manager, he MAY JUST agree to ensure everything that is under warranty and in need of repair is looked after, call it customer satisfaction...having an odometer tampering issue is not good news for his dealership....even the suggestion of such a thing could bring THEM BIG TROUBLE I would have a chat with the owner first though, he or she may be a real compassionate understanding person..
Originally Posted By Longhorn12 >So it's just a "broken odometer," which oddly is tracking fine now...< That would be because it never stopped tracking fine. During diagnostic/maintenance etc someone may have input the number incorrectly. The reason they won't bring it up is the possible fraud charges/having to inspect and possibly suspend everyone who worked on your car.
Originally Posted By TINK-MOBILE More than likely it was a error in the system, your odometer's mileage is always written down as soon as your car is brought in...check it out to see what it says on your service bill...Longhorn12 is quite correct about fraud charges, our family has a number of car mechanics in it...they want no mention of possible tampering, a scary issue for any dealer...
Originally Posted By LuLu I'm betting that it got reset when they reset the trip meter and maintenance meter (all part of the same gauge). My warranty expires at 3 years. The mileage was recorded correctly when I brought it in. It was not recorded before I picked it up (but they don't usually fill that out. Perhaps they should. The rep said she gets calls all the time b/c it was inadvertently switched to Km.).
Originally Posted By Main Street Dad LuLu, You may have a serious problem, and a vehicle that is now worth much less than it's fair market value through no fault of your own. Several years ago I worked as a manager of a new and used car dealer. One of my primary tasks was buying used vehicles for our inventory. Most of the time I purchased vehicles at dealer only auctions (as most dealers do). At auction, vehicles are represented either as "Actual Miles" or "TMU" (true mileage unknown). And in turn, dealers must represent them the same way as they're purchased when they re-sell them to the public. I cannot say for certain it works this way in every state, I can say, however, it works that way in the states in which I've been to auction, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri, and California. A vehicle represented as "TMU" would have a significant lower value at auction and at trade-in too. Since lenders tend to shy away from a "TMU" vehicle, you may find it difficult to sell to an individual as well. They probably added some sort of tag noting the date and mileage of the odometer adjustment (on the door frame perhaps?). This may suffice some, but in my experience, ANY adjustment to an odometer will cause it to be considered "TMU". I'd chat with an attorney if I were you. Feel free to email me (ken@realestateincasper.com) if I can be of help. Ken
Originally Posted By Mr X ***More than likely it was a error in the system, your odometer's mileage is always written down as soon as your car is brought in...check it out to see what it says on your service bill..*** Sounds like great advice to me! And, since you brought up this potential problem which could also happen to others, perhaps a check PRIOR to going in every time wouldn't be a totally paranoid thing to do (perhaps even snapping a digital photo along with the date stamp wouldn't be out of the question...can't hurt right?). Hope you have no worries and safe travels in future Lulu! That situation sure does sound a little fishy and you should do what you can to cover your bases just in case!
Originally Posted By Mr X In light of post 11, I would DEFINITELY recommend keeping a record (with photos) of your milage before any "pit stops". At least with that info in hand, you can maybe pursue legal action. But I wonder...WHY would they change the milage? For what purpose?
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< But I wonder...WHY would they change the milage? For what purpose? >>> I can think of a reason: another vehicle of the same kind is coming in off of lease and is over the mileage allowance - a very costly situation. Costly that is, unless some enterprising person figures out how to get the mileage back under the lease allowance. You can speculate from there.
Originally Posted By Main Street Dad <<I can think of a reason: another vehicle of the same kind is coming in off of lease and is over the mileage allowance - a very costly situation. Costly that is, unless some enterprising person figures out how to get the mileage back under the lease allowance. You can speculate from there.>> When a vehicle is leased it is owned by the leasing company, not the dealer. Dealers can act as a staging point for "off-lease" vehicles bound for auction,but normally they're primarily storing them until picked up by a transport company. In any event, the lessee would be responsible for mileage overages. The likely cause of the odometer change is human error. A tech probably just made a mistake.
Originally Posted By Longhorn12 >The likely cause of the odometer change is human error. A tech probably just made a mistake< But then it's not a conspiracy!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb My boss once took a truck in for maintenance and discovered not only had his vehicle been used for deliveries but some of his property had been taken out of the truck and was lost or stolen.
