Advice on selling vehicle with one glaring issue on the CARFAX. What would you do?

1,776 Views | 13 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by Ghost of Bisbee
Ghost of Bisbee
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AG
Alright Auto board... i need some advice...

Story time:
I'm about to move across the country and have been preparing to sell one of my vehicles.
It's an '07 Honda, clean title, well maintained, 124K miles.

I'm not looking to sell it privately because I'd like to sell it before my move.

I take my KBB instant cash offer to a dealer and am anticipating the usual negotiation.

However, I was NOT expecting this....
Dealer comes back after initial review with the CARFAX. "Potential Odometer Rollback"

Come to find out, 5 years ago in another state, I had taken my vehicle to get the engine mount replaced at a reputable mechanic, or so I thought. They recorded my mileage at 170K miles. Not even a year before that on the CARFAX, odometer reading was 92K miles. So you mean to tell me between years 10 and 11 of owning the vehicle, I drove it another 80K miles? Not a chance lol

So clearly, the mechanic made a clerical error or lied for some reason, my thought to potentially offer to buy it from me and point to the mileage to get a better deal. What doesn't help the situation is I brought the vehicle back to the same mechanic 6 months later and they reported the odometer at 176K miles.

2 months after that, I take the vehicle for an oil change elswhere and the odometer is reported at 110K miles. 1 month later, I take the vehicle back to the mechanic who made the error/lie, and he reported it at 111K miles.

This, of course, ruins the credibility of my KBB instant cash offer. I don't believe a dealer will buy this without sending it to auction.

I'm going to call the mechanic that ****ed up my odometer reporting 5 years ago when they're open to fix this with CARFAX, but I doubt they're going to be amenable to fixing it considering I live nowhere near and its been 5 years. If they don't play ball, I figure I'll threaten with a civil lawsuit.

What would you do here, besides the above/trying to sell the vehicle privately?

Expensive lesson learned... always take a pic of the odometer before having vehicle serviced and always double check what they report the mileage at in the paperwork.
aggiepaintrain
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AG
if you have documentation to prove your story you can deal directly with carfax and they can fix, it takes a few weeks

Instant cash offers are low ball any way,
sell to a small dealer in the area they will pay more.
Ghost of Bisbee
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AG
I have the service history documented up until 2017, but I only have partial documentation from the mechanic from my 2019 visits to him, which show the correct odometer reading. Maybe that will be enough. I will call CARFAX early next week, thanks for the tip.
buddybee
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I would be interested, give me a shout at elox05@yahoo.com
JamesPShelley
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I wouldn't rely on Carfaux, period.

If I were selling a car, and the buyer began quoting **** about Carfaux... I'd call them on it and kick them out of my driveway. Anyone who relies on Carfaux when buying a car is short a couple rocs.

A PPI is the only route to go.
Mookie
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AG
There's an online form you can fill out to get a carfax entry removed. You don't really need proof, just tell them you want the odometer entry that was fat fingered removed on the form. They are running behind right now, will take 3 weeks or so.
Alte Schule
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When I went to sell my '15 Genesis 5.0 to Carvana a couple of years ago a Carfax alert came up from a dealership in Florida that showed 70K miles. The last time I was in Florida was 50 years ago and the actual mileage was 21K. Called the place in Florida a couple of times and they blew me off. Sent an Email to Carfax with my documentation from my service provider that listed the last 2 oil changes at 17k and 20k and Carfax corrected it that day.
aggiepaintrain
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AG
I just got my truck inspected and the place put the wrong mileage on the form and when I pointed that out he said it doesn't matter, I'm like fix it, it matters

no telling how many people's vehicle history reports he's screwed up
Ghost of Bisbee
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AG
An update on this saga. CARFAX removed the incorrect odometer reporting, a day after I shipped my car to my new location of course. Took them 3 weeks.

Whatever. I've got my civic in my new location and will continue to drive it for a bit I guess before I part ways with it

Crazy how a mechanic can screw you over if you're not carefully auditing the reporting and CARFAX can take as long as they do to respond.
HouAggie
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AG
What was the financial implication of the incorrect odometer on a 17yr old Honda? Just curious.
agracer
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AG
Ghost of Bisbee said:

An update on this saga. CARFAX removed the incorrect odometer reporting, a day after I shipped my car to my new location of course. Took them 3 weeks.

Whatever. I've got my civic in my new location and will continue to drive it for a bit I guess before I part ways with it

Crazy how a mechanic can screw you over if you're not carefully auditing the reporting and CARFAX can take as long as they do to respond.
what did the odometer milage say on the receipt where the mechanic whom did the work state? Did you check it, or just pay the bill and throw the receipt in the glove box?
aggieforester05
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AG
I was looking at a Raptor last week that was for sale at the local Kia dealership. It was almost the exact same scenario. They took it to an oil change place or something who reported the mileage 10K off twice in a row and then the next place recorded it correctly which made since based on the previous history. I didn't want to deal with the hassle of trying get that fixed or not fixed and have to deal with selling it later. Good luck.
Ghost of Bisbee
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AG
Based on a KBB instant cash offer vs selling it to a dealer to bring it to auction with the incorrect odometer history, conservatively $2,500
Ghost of Bisbee
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AG
agracer said:

Ghost of Bisbee said:

An update on this saga. CARFAX removed the incorrect odometer reporting, a day after I shipped my car to my new location of course. Took them 3 weeks.

Whatever. I've got my civic in my new location and will continue to drive it for a bit I guess before I part ways with it

Crazy how a mechanic can screw you over if you're not carefully auditing the reporting and CARFAX can take as long as they do to respond.
what did the odometer milage say on the receipt where the mechanic whom did the work state? Did you check it, or just pay the bill and throw the receipt in the glove box?


So I realized we also had a Camry at that time that had over 170K miles on it. The mechanic had mistakenly used that mileage against my Honda's VIN. How those two got mismatched at the mechanic's when they had work done at different times I'll never know.

I didn't check the receipt of service at the time or would have caught it.
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