Odometer replacement/adjustment
08-31-2018, 11:55 AM
#1
Odometer replacement/adjustment
Hello everyone,
Earlier this year a friend of mine bought an 06 Acura MDX with, supposedly, 99,000 miles. He's been driving it since then and now has decided to sell the car. After posting the call for sale a week ago, he has gotten a few messages from people asking about mileage discrepancy shown in the ad/pictures and what CarFax is reporting and accusing him of frauding. So he contacted me and we ran a CarFax report, and sure enough car had 200k+ miles last year when the plates were renewed by previous owner according to the report. Previous history of mileage going up at various points in time also supports the fact that the car is around 200k miles instead of 99k as displayed on odometer.
So obviously someone at some point before him did some shady stuff and probably swapped the odometer with a lower mileage one. And while it's pretty much his fault for not getting a CarFax BEFORE buying the car, he would still like to do the right thing. He doesn't have any contact info saved from previous owner to try and clarify some of it.
Does anyone know if it's possible for the dealer to pull the actual mileage from ECM or BCM and then adjust the odometer to show the true mileage? I know there's a place on the Title to check if the odometer mileage isn't correct, but it would be nice if the odometer could display correct mileage.
Thanks in advance.
Earlier this year a friend of mine bought an 06 Acura MDX with, supposedly, 99,000 miles. He's been driving it since then and now has decided to sell the car. After posting the call for sale a week ago, he has gotten a few messages from people asking about mileage discrepancy shown in the ad/pictures and what CarFax is reporting and accusing him of frauding. So he contacted me and we ran a CarFax report, and sure enough car had 200k+ miles last year when the plates were renewed by previous owner according to the report. Previous history of mileage going up at various points in time also supports the fact that the car is around 200k miles instead of 99k as displayed on odometer.
So obviously someone at some point before him did some shady stuff and probably swapped the odometer with a lower mileage one. And while it's pretty much his fault for not getting a CarFax BEFORE buying the car, he would still like to do the right thing. He doesn't have any contact info saved from previous owner to try and clarify some of it.
Does anyone know if it's possible for the dealer to pull the actual mileage from ECM or BCM and then adjust the odometer to show the true mileage? I know there's a place on the Title to check if the odometer mileage isn't correct, but it would be nice if the odometer could display correct mileage.
Thanks in advance.
08-31-2018, 02:43 PM
#2
Contact your state department of motor vehicles.
They will want to know your best estimation, of actual mileage (you have to do the math) and they will want to know how many miles currently on the odometer.
Sometimes they issue a sticker, with the amount that needs to be added to the odometer. You'll stick it on the driver's door frame.
Sometimes they tell you to make your own sticker that says...Add x miles to odometer.
Don't hide what you've discovered.
The important thing is to make any future buyer aware and include the info on the bill of sale, have them sign it, and keep a copy.
They will want to know your best estimation, of actual mileage (you have to do the math) and they will want to know how many miles currently on the odometer.
Sometimes they issue a sticker, with the amount that needs to be added to the odometer. You'll stick it on the driver's door frame.
Sometimes they tell you to make your own sticker that says...Add x miles to odometer.
Don't hide what you've discovered.
The important thing is to make any future buyer aware and include the info on the bill of sale, have them sign it, and keep a copy.
08-31-2018, 03:01 PM
#3
Yeah definitely not planning on hiding anything. That's why he wanted to see if dealer can adjust the odometer to show true mileage. According to the latest entry in CarFax it had 236k in January of this year, so probably 240k at this point.
I'll check with DMV, thanks.
I'll check with DMV, thanks.
09-01-2018, 06:40 AM
#4
Burning Brakes
FWIW: I recently changed clusters on my 03 TLS. In order for the odometer to reflect the correct mileage, I had to remove the odometer memory CHIP from the original cluster, and install it in the replacement cluster, NOT an easy task! There are Odometer service companies, on line that can re-program the mileage memory chip for you, but they are not cheap, $200 range as i recall, and you have to send your cluster to them. There is also a YouTube video, outlining how to re-program the chip yourself, but I found it more complicated than just exchanging the chip! On my car, it was Chip # L56R/234W, and the entire cluster must be disassembled, to get to it. It's very UNLIKELY, that the Dealer could, or would do this for you, most likely, they would send the cluster out to have it done.
09-01-2018, 09:14 PM
#5
FWIW: I recently changed clusters on my 03 TLS. In order for the odometer to reflect the correct mileage, I had to remove the odometer memory CHIP from the original cluster, and install it in the replacement cluster, NOT an easy task! There are Odometer service companies, on line that can re-program the mileage memory chip for you, but they are not cheap, $200 range as i recall, and you have to send your cluster to them. There is also a YouTube video, outlining how to re-program the chip yourself, but I found it more complicated than just exchanging the chip! On my car, it was Chip # L56R/234W, and the entire cluster must be disassembled, to get to it. It's very UNLIKELY, that the Dealer could, or would do this for you, most likely, they would send the cluster out to have it done.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
danny_isr
2G TL (1999-2003)
2
11-26-2007 09:01 PM