Rolling back mileage on vehicles?

mandinga · 04-24-2006, 08:40 AM

So...about a year ago my dad and i were looking to buy a low mileage F350 diesel. We found a great buy on a newer 2002 diesel that had only 45,000 miles. Well, come to find out the truck had 145,000 miles on it. We figured this out about 9 months after we bought the truck. I found an old receipt from les schwab with the original owners signature, stating the mileage.

I'm wondering if what he did is against the law? recourse?

Just_learning · 04-24-2006, 08:43 AM

Definatley immoral. Id look into the legality of it, and if there are problems associated with high mileage, you may have a good argument on your side for some recourse.

GSD · 04-24-2006, 09:15 AM

Your original Bill of Sale should have this:
ODOMETER DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Federal law (and State law, if applicable) requires that you state the mileage upon transfer of ownership. Failure to complete or providing a false statement may result in fines and/or imprisonment.

I, _______________________________ , state that the odometer now reads _______________ miles and to the best of my knowledge that it reflects the actual mileage of the vehicle described below, unless one of the following statements is checked.

______ I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge the odometer reading reflects the amount of mileage in excess of its mechanical limits.

______ I hereby certify that the odometer reading is NOT the actual mileage. WARNING: ODOMETER DISCREPANCY

Make:
Model:
Body Type:
Year:
Vehicle Ident. No. (VIN):

Please type or print carefully:

Seller's Information Buyer's Information
First & Last Name:
Address, Line 1:
Address, Line 2:
City:
State:
Zip:

Signature: ____________________________ ____________________________
Signature of Seller Signature of Buyer

Troutinator · 04-24-2006, 09:59 AM

As noted above, it is a FEDERAL offense to alter the indicated mileage of a vehicle.

Call the seller and explain that it would be a lot cheaper to rebate you some $$$ than to go to small claims for lost value.

You were had.

alaskan · 04-24-2006, 11:53 AM

On the newer vehicles, I don't think you can roll the odometer like on the older ones, I think you would have to change out the speedo/odometer head to get a different reading. Also, The vehicle computer usually has this info stored in it, Take it to a dealer and explain to them what you think is up and ask them to read the computer for you. This will let you know what the real mileage is and you can go from there.

MacFish · 04-24-2006, 11:56 AM

Spinning odo's is hard and seldom worth the risk. I would think it's probably more likely that Les Scwab put a one in front of the actual mileage. Check with a Ford dealer to see if they can pull a repair history that may either prove or disprove the issue.

cutbank · 04-24-2006, 12:04 PM

Quote:

As noted above, it is a FEDERAL offense to alter the indicated mileage of a vehicle.

Call the seller and explain that it would be a lot cheaper to rebate you some $$$ than to go to small claims for lost value.

You were had.

DONT! To ask the seller for money in this manner could be construed as blackmail or exstortion. Proceed with caution!Contact the DMV.

Troutinator · 04-24-2006, 12:06 PM

it would hardly be blackmail if you can prove they altered the milage. It's an offer to settle out of court... nothing more or less.

HntnFsh · 04-24-2006, 12:12 PM

Get a carfax history report.

www.carfax.com

They run about $15.You can do it on your computer and have an idea of whats going on with that truck in a few minutes.

It will tell you what the mileage was anytime it changed hands.And if the mileage is about what its supposed to be.

It will also give info on whether its ben in an accident,recalled for a lemon law.got a marked title and a bunch of other stuff.

Is it possible The reciept is for a different vehicle.

And yes,it is really hard to roll back an odometer any more.

cutbank · 04-24-2006, 12:23 PM

Troutinater, It would be the same as saying You broke the law. If you give me money I wont say anything about it. That is different than asking for money for damages. It's a fine line. A friend one time caught someone who scratched his car in a parking lot. It was a middle-aged woman and her mother. they were prominant buisness owners in a small town. The mother opened her door causing the scratch. They would Not stay for the police to arrive. He told them that it would cost at least $75 just to buy the paint and have it painted. The women went to the police and charged him with trying to exstort $75 from them. All he was trying to do was to get their insurance info and a police report. It came down to you dont persue the claim and we wont send you to jail. He ate the damage to his car.

Troutinator · 04-24-2006, 03:06 PM

We can agree to disagree. I have been in this position before and never had a problem. If someone has caused you monetary damage you have every right to ask them to make it right. If they won't, you can ask the courts to make it right. Having an open dialog about the options is pretty simple really.

mandinga · 04-25-2006, 03:38 PM

I think Ill go to the dealer and see if they can read the actual mileage.

the guy seemed like an honest guy, and very well off.

I hope les schwab made the mistake....the truck is in fabulous shape, except we have made alot of repairs over the last few months that dont usually need to be done on vehicles with 40k miles.

thanks for the advice....and no, I wont try to extort him.

suckerfish · 04-25-2006, 04:50 PM

If you are talking ball joint, and front brakes, they go out on fords of that vitage around 45k

suckerfish

judyfish99 · 04-26-2006, 02:05 PM

That should be about right for that year. The Mitz that I bought last November is a late 2003 and had 46,800 on it. Whoever had it took really good care, looks very new. The odometer is digital, by the way...

USS Minnow · 04-26-2006, 02:31 PM

You can usually tell a 100,000+ mile vehicle in that the seat is worn out..

DAB · 04-26-2006, 04:21 PM

On my pikum up truck the speedo adds miles in reverse as well as forward.
DAB

panfry · 04-26-2006, 06:45 PM

I thought that the fords only had 5 #'s for there odom reader. I would bank that if the odom is like this it is probably the orig. miles.

FireCat · 04-26-2006, 06:56 PM

Get ahold of ..les schwab...they should have records up to a year I would think, also take the vin number to a Ford service center they would have all updates and what not on that Truck, along with milage that it was done.

Pete · 04-26-2006, 07:02 PM

Fords, at least by 1999, were using digital odometers that register 6 numbers. My '99 has 120K. Most of that time, I was actively driving as little as possible. If it's a working vehicle, it wouldn't be hard to put 145K on it in 4 years. But that doesn't mean it doesn't still have a lot of life left.