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Old 03-22-2007, 12:15 AM   #1
Wrx1234
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Default I think i'm subject to odometer fraud

So I went to fix a bulb in my console today and looked around a little. I noticed that the wire that's supposed to be cut (to install a sti cluster) was cut and electrical taped back together. The guy i bought it the wrx from never said anything about it.

I decided to look at the carfax closely... theres a period of 1 and a half years that the driver put 20,000 miles on it, and than for the next 6 months after that... only put on 1000 miles before selling it to me. I didnt think much of it when i bought the car but now its all too apparent.

What can i do?
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Old 03-22-2007, 01:07 AM   #2
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report the guy for odometer fraud and sue him?
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Old 03-22-2007, 01:22 AM   #3
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report to whom? Would a cut wire be enough proof to win a court battle over an 18000 dollar car? The carfax doesnt report odometer fraud because the mileage (even though inconsistent) is linear.

from some lookin around it looks like i have to just suck it up and learn my lesson for next time...
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Old 03-22-2007, 02:30 AM   #4
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report it to the dmv? i really dont know but theres gotta be something you can do.
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Old 03-22-2007, 03:21 AM   #5
Wrx1234
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i dont want themn to label my title with odo fraud and do nothing though id be stuck with it for life
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Old 03-22-2007, 04:38 AM   #6
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Does it really matter in the end?
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Old 03-22-2007, 07:07 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrx1234 View Post
i dont want themn to label my title with odo fraud and do nothing though id be stuck with it for life

Unless you plan on willing this car to your children report to the DMV. It is only fair to the next owner of the car to know what he is getting so he does not feel like you do now.
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Old 03-22-2007, 09:00 AM   #8
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I wonder if this is going to prompt the DMV to classify your car as TMU (True Mileage Unknown). A TMU rating on your title can affect the resale value of your car.
I aggree with the previous post as far as what the right thing to do is. I am only giving you some info that might be relevant.
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Old 03-22-2007, 09:20 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrx1234 View Post

I decided to look at the carfax closely... theres a period of 1 and a half years that the driver put 20,000 miles on it, and than for the next 6 months after that... only put on 1000 miles before selling it to me. I didnt think much of it when i bought the car but now its all too apparent.
1.5 years = 18 months
20,000 miles / 18 Months = 1111.11 miles/month

6 months x 1111.11 miles = 6666.66 miles -1000 = 5666.66 miles

i guess what I am trying to suggest is that the likely worse case scenerio is that your odometer could be off by 5666.6 miles or so.. which really isn't a big deal. if it were 12K plus.. then i'd maybe raise an eyebrow...


Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrx1234 View Post
i dont want themn to label my title with odo fraud and do nothing though id be stuck with it for life
exactly..

Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalTxn View Post
Unless you plan on willing this car to your children report to the DMV. It is only fair to the next owner of the car to know what he is getting so he does not feel like you do now.
so when you sell the car..

tell your story to the buyer...

pretty simple..

don't sweat it.
what he may have done isn't right, and I don't condone it.. he should have told you something... about it.. as you should tell any future perspective buyers..

but it isn't like it was out-right fraud.. where he rolled the odo back.. it just seems like the previous owner used a different cluster for a period of time... with out documenting it..
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Old 03-22-2007, 09:59 AM   #10
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experiment, disconnect the wire like it was before it was electrical taped back together and see if the odometer shuts off.

Jay
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Old 03-22-2007, 11:36 AM   #11
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McDade, I think he was inferring that there was a STi gauge cluster swapped in, not the ODO shut off.
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Old 03-22-2007, 12:13 PM   #12
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do you know the guys name on the forums? you might check some of his back posts to see if they talk about the gauge swap.
best of luck

T
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Old 03-22-2007, 01:25 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tom@kartboy View Post
do you know the guys name on the forums? you might check some of his back posts to see if they talk about the gauge swap.
best of luck

T
That sounds like your best bet.

However, I think you may end up hurting yourself in the long run by reporting this because your car will probably be labeled as "True Mileage Unkown". This obviously hurts the resale value.

You also have to keep in mind that many times dealerships, when doing some sort of warranty work, tend to do half ass jobs of fixing the problem. So it is improbable, but possible that the dealer could have done some electrical work which may explain the cut wire.
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Old 03-22-2007, 02:08 PM   #14
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Well, if you bought a standard WRX with an STI gauge cluster, you would have to know that it was cut at some point to install it right?
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Old 03-22-2007, 02:33 PM   #15
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No i bought the wrx with the presumably stock cluster. I'm the third owner and i believe the first owner did the mod... so maybe the guy i bought it from didnt know. Theres no record from 22k to where i bought it at "42k" so if the second owner did it, he could of easily accumulated more mileage than i know. Sounds dumb but I also didnt notice til after i bought the car it had a IHI VF34...

shady car if you ask me but hell it runs great and looks even better who
cares.
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Old 03-22-2007, 08:02 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CF-Ninja View Post
McDade, I think he was inferring that there was a STi gauge cluster swapped in, not the ODO shut off.
yeah I caught that after i posted. lol
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Old 03-22-2007, 10:24 PM   #17
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Maybe he just used his car alot less because he was planning on selling it, or it was getting too expensive. There could be a legitimate explanation for the drop in usage. Maybe he bought a new daily driver before getting rid of that one, and it's only giving you an average, when it was just garaged half the time.
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Old 03-22-2007, 11:58 PM   #18
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You also have to wonder whether the STI mileage matched the WRX mileage when swapped.
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Old 03-23-2007, 12:03 AM   #19
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Another GREAT reason to never mod your cluster. any seals or sticker or anything that appear tampered with will raise suspicion.

luckily i want to keep my car until i die
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Old 03-23-2007, 12:34 AM   #20
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^^ Coming from the guy who used to have a CF overlay in his gauges.

Oh, wait, you don't have it anymore cus I bought it and like to screw with my gauges too. I'll hush now.
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Old 03-23-2007, 06:16 AM   #21
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So pretty much this post was just a worry/rant of people who sell cars that they practically return to stock. :P It's no big deal dude, let it be off. Worst case scenario, you sell it and it's lower mileage reading is a selling point. That, or swap in another STi gauge cluster and don't worry about it.
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Old 03-23-2007, 09:42 AM   #22
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Or... you could ask the previous owner what the deal is.
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Old 03-23-2007, 10:17 AM   #23
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Can't any Subaru dealer pull the mileage from the ECU for you? I'm pretty sure they do that anyway if you bring the car in for warranty work any time it's getting near the end of the warranty, so it can't be that hard to do.
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Old 03-23-2007, 10:40 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrx1234 View Post
No i bought the wrx with the presumably stock cluster. I'm the third owner and i believe the first owner did the mod... so maybe the guy i bought it from didnt know. Theres no record from 22k to where i bought it at "42k" so if the second owner did it, he could of easily accumulated more mileage than i know. Sounds dumb but I also didnt notice til after i bought the car it had a IHI VF34...

shady car if you ask me but hell it runs great and looks even better who
cares.
Doesn't it say STi somewhere on the gauge cluster? Didn't you see that when you test drove it? Did you ask him for a list of mods before you bought it?

If you think the car is sound, and it looks fine, then what are you worried about?
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Old 03-23-2007, 10:43 AM   #25
Wrx1234
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grzydj View Post
Doesn't it say STi somewhere on the gauge cluster? Didn't you see that when you test drove it? Did you ask him for a list of mods before you bought it?

If you think the car is sound, and it looks fine, then what are you worried about?
He sold it with the original wrx cluster... when i asked what mods he said intake utec and exhaust.
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