triplecore

My dad bought my sister a car, but the title and the odometer don't make sense. Please answer this ASAP as we are going to the dealer tomorow.

We bought a 2004 BMW 330xi Certified Pre Owned from an authorized BMW dealer so we know the dealer is legit. The current reading is 52,548 miles and it was obviously lower at the time off purchase, but when we got the cars title 3 weeks after bringing the car home it says the odometer reads 58,756 miles. were going to the dealer for service anyway should we make a big deal about this? Or what should I do? And how come the millage is higher on the title?

ps The carfax was clean to I ran one on my own and compared it to the one given by the dealer and both where the same. I also live in MA if that helps people answer my question and the previous owner had owned it in MA too and lives in respectable area. It was actually a women because she left her Registration in the car and I Google|ed her and she is a eye doctor so I assume she is pretty upstanding. She also bought the car and serviced the BM at the same dealership. So I doubt the odometer was tampered, but my main concern will this cause me issues down the road? and do you think it would be reasonable to get something free out of this.

Lexus really makes buying a car so smooth never had an issue once with Lexus sales and when you take delivery they make sure the car is perfect and all features work.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

yea bring up the issue... doenst sound right.. either its a typo or someone did something.

mmarshall

Do you have any way of knowing if the car ever had oversize aftermarket wheels/tires? On modern cars, that will cause both the speedometer and the odometer to be off by reading low.

As far as traditional odometer tampering by unscrupulous used-car dealers, the conversion of the old speedometer/odometer cable system to electronic sensors has made it much more difficult to tamper with the odometer....but not impossible.

triplecore

nope stock 17 inch wheel and it was owned by a middle aged eye doctor so I doubt she would put large wheel on her car. lol

IS-SV

LOL for sure. That much of an error is not likely to be caused by tire/wheel changes, more like extremely unlikely if you do the math, LOL.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

The problem is that odo discrepancy is almost impossible to get straight with carfax and the DMV. Your cars value will take up to a 30% hit it it comes back an "odometer discrepancy" title with a "Not actual miles, rollback check failed" carfax. So even if they say they'll take car of it somehow, they probably won't get it fixed properly and it'll cost you thousands.

IS350jet

Overall rolling diameter will have an affect on MPH and mileage. However, it should not be a factor in any kind of discrepancy on the title. The Title and the odometer should match exactly, no matter how "off" the odo actually is.
Also, make sure the VIN's match. They may have titled the wrong car.

tex2670

Seems odd. Why roll back the OD for 6,000 miles?

mmarshall

One other thing I forgot about.....and it actually happened to me once, with a Mazda I owned. If the speedometer/odometer assembly was replaced for any reason, the indicated mileage on the new unit starts back at zero, but, by law, a sticker indicating the replacement date and the car's actual mileage at that point has to be placed on the car.....usually inside a door jamb. That way the two mileages are added to get the car's current mileage. That is not a likely, but possible, reason for the discrepancy. Check for a sticker like that. The owner or dealership, if applicable, should also have mentioned it. Sometimes, that can negatively affect the car's trade-in value, even though it is perfectly legal and legit.

triplecore

thanks for everyone's recommendation and feedback and I have voiced this error to sales today, but the managers is out so I should be getting a call from him tomorrow. What do you think is a reasonable compensation in this error?

Big Mack

iTrader: (1)

While it can be a pain in the butt for warranty (if you bought one), if you plan on keeping the car past where the title indicates the miles are, when you go to sell it or trade it in everything will get updated anyway. If you put 40K on it, then trade it, it will show 92K on the clock, and that's what they'll put on a new title. I don't think I'd mess with it if that's the case. You're not doing anything unscrupulous since you're not rolling it back, and unless it was simply a clerical error and the dealer can guarantee no issues, I'd ask for something but leave the paperwork where it is. The title is clean, why mess with it and possibly create an issue later?

All that being said - make sure that's all it was. If the cluster was replaced as Mike indicated, then you'd definitely have something to talk with them about.

Big Mack

PHXSC

An instrument cluster can be replaced, and the mileage be restored. The one experience I had with this, one of the displays was faulty (not the odometer) requiring the entire cluster replacement.
When I arrived to pick up the car, the service advisor, with a large grin on his face, said check out the new cluster. When I did, he pointed out that the car now had about 7000 less miles than when I brought it in. I went from about 20k miles to 13k, extending my warranty by proxy, I guess.
The car was a GM product - - - - -

ekc

iTrader: (6)

The previous owner could also have rolled the mileage back to 25000 miles, or 0 miles for that matter, and driven back up to the current mileage. So in reality the car could have been driven for up to 100k miles if the odo was indeed rolled back.

Clerical error or not, I would stay away from cars with inconsistent odo readings. It's a mess to clear up.

BLK98GS3

I purchased a BMW from the auction once and the odometer read ~60k and thats what they put on the title. But after looking at it carefully, it was actually 60,000 km. I went back and had it reset and they corrected the problem.