I purchased my 1997 Nissan Maxima GLE with 112k miles (which I thought was strangely low, but considered it even better) back in July or beginning of August and I paid $2800, I was told the car was from California and never driven in winter. (I live in Minnesota)

I bought the car from a local mechanic down the street.

The car has needed regular maintenance, struts, rotors, brakes, spark plugs, knock sensor. Everything else has seemed fine so far though.

But I went and got an oil change at Valvoline and they scanned the sticker inside the driver's door, and it came up on their system that my car was at that Valvoline a little over a year ago, and the mileage said 199,xxx miles.

Which now I'm starting to be worried about being ripped off and not knowing what else is wrong with me car. :/ I'm starting to stress about it.

I was wondering if anyone would know how to find out if someone changed the odometer, or what to do in this situation exactly?

I can provide any pictures if nescessary, if it'll somehow help in anyway.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

 

Did you ever check the vin# on a carfax or autocheck? If not thats the best way to find out if the mileage has actually been rolled-back.

 

dude probably changed the entire cluster due to faulty odo, fuel, or temp gauge

 

Its actually kind of ridiculous how easy it is to swap the cluster and magically have a car that has 100,000 miles less on it. This is why I'm always skeptical about older cars, theres never a real good way of knowing the real history behind them.

Check carfax and it should give you a good idea of what happened to the mileage. I know in Ontario they ask you for the mileage every time the car goes in for an emissions test (2 years) and its all recorded in the computer. This makes it a little more difficult to significantly roll back the mileage but I'm not sure how it works in your state.

 

Swapping clusters is common. When I look at maximas i pay more attention to the overall condition of the car versus the mileage.

Case in point, a good friend of mine bought a 97 se 5MT with 310k miles on it over another with 120k because of the condition it was in. Now he's around 320k and the car is still going strong.

 

+1

 

I agree with essential on this one. personally Im going to replace the white cluster on mine with the black one out of the later model 4th gens if im not mistaken(found one at the pull-a-part). Im doing this because I intend to keep my maxima for as long as she decides to run. If however, I did decide to sell it I would always tell the buyer that I changed it, but then again I am an honest man. To answer you question I suppose the easiest way would be to check the emission records for the car(considering it was in an emission required area of the US) or just pull out the cluster and look if its been obviously tampered with. The 4th gen odometer is surrounded by clear plastic with very small openings around the numbers and if a person were to try to change the numbers then it should show some damage, a scratch even, that would obviously not be there on an untouched odometer

 

A California Max will have Emission records that will show up on carfax which include mileage. most of the quickie lube places use the lic plate to register the car not the VIN,
It is possible to have a low mileage 4th gen. My 1995 has 73K now and I bought it new in 1995 so I know the history of this car.

 

Thanks for all the replies. The valvoline checks the vin number, and the car is literally flawless body condition wise, no rust or any signs of it at all.

But I'll get a carfax and check it out, I didn't know switching odometers was that simple. But I appreciate all the help provided.

 

I like the black faced gages better than SE's white ones too.

As for swapping clusters, you can use a 95, 96 and probably a 97 cluster in your 96. The 98 and 99 clusters have a digital odometer.

DW

 

haha my car magically lost 20k miles after changing clusters

 

Agreed especially if its a 5.5 might be a oil burner anyway so I would love to swap the engine out for a newer one...but if the car is in good condition I say not a bad price in Cali they usually go around that price...

 

Yea the black ones look better in the day time and the white ones look better at night. Not to say the black ones look bad at night. Its such a simple thing and it adds a personal touch. I think with the swap she will lose about 50k lol. Then again im OCD so I will keep track of the real mileage

 

Odometer fraud is serious business. Don't just shrug it off.

 

What would you reccommend me to do in this situation?

I love my Maxima and all, just I'm not sure what to do about it. I wasn't warned about the odometer being switched or anything.

 

You bought it from an individual? Theres nothing you can do. Its not something you can see on a test drive unless its a 95 car with 50,000 miles. Even then it coulda just sat in a garage. The individual isnt legally obligated to give you the money back. However, in cases like this, from what I understand, In a business situation there are certain things that you assume. Like with a car purchase you assume someone hasnt done something illegal and turned back the odo. In a case like this you might have legal ground to sue him in small claims court and get your money back. Lawyer friend? call him. If not call the Better Business Burea or some organization like that in your state and tell them the situation and ask advice. I am not an expert at all but I know from my business law classes that what I said above is true.

 

Well, I actually purchased the car from a local mechanic down the street.

 

Well then threaten him with contacting the BBB. Swaping out the odo isnt always a bad thing if the car was taken care of. Usually a beater is rolled back to appear to be in better shape. Are you sure it was rolled back though? Its simple to disassemble the dash cluster. 2 screws on top of the plastic piece that covers the odo. pop that piece then 2 more screws holding the odo in place if im not misatken

 

If the car is in good condition don't stress it...

 

I don't know if it was just replaced, or rolled back. But I found out from a VIN reading the car used to have higher mileage.

I'm not really stressing over it, it was just a surprise to me because I had no knowledge of it when purchasing the car. I've only had to do regular maintenance on it so far, such as brakes, rotors, struts all around, sound system, shocks, egr valve, knock sensor.

Everythingelse seems to be fine, I only posted to see how often this happens and just more information on replacement of the odometer and such, and i've had most of my questions answered and the car seems strong, it's just a cause for a little concern.

 

I'm glad someone else caught the real issue in this thread.

You bought it from a local mechanic down the street.
You now have prof from an independent business of the vehicles mileage, which is quite different from what was sold to you from the local mechanic down the street. Hummmm

My first stop would be to my local DMV, next to your local police department.

 

thas funny.

But back on topic...

OP, since the mileage is higher than advertised, u are entitled to getting a price reduction because of the actual mileage on the car.

You have the right to get some money back or some sort of compensation.

If it was me, i wd go talk to the guy and get him to do a few free repairs or something. That wd be a lot easier than tryin to get money back.

 

If you're not stressed over the milage than what's the problem?

I do see how you feel that you were lied to about the milage and all. Mechanic should have been straight up told you that things have been swapped out and that milage isn't correct. If you felt the milage seemed too low you should have gone to carfax to do a thorough back ground on the car!

 

I agree with locknuts. and the original thread poster on this. Its only cause for concern and not over reaction. He could have replaced it bc it was broke you know? If you want to put your mind at ease then go back and talk to him and see what he says. If he dodges it and denies it then maybe it is sketchy but he might just say it was broken and easier to just swap out the whole cluster.

 

If you think the mechanic you bought it from is a good guy, he may have been swindled too, talk to him about it. Let him know that you suspect odo rollback and you will be going to dmv, bbb etc to find out what's going on. See how he reacts from you telling him that.

DW

 

It's called Fraud or Misrepresentation and is very much illegal.
That's the problem here. Besides the fact that a vehicle with more miles on it is worth less $$$.

Pretty simple, really.

If your OK with being scammed I've got some land in Florida that I can sell you.

 

I think that seems like a fair idea, I still need a bit of work done on the car, I'll head over there when I have time this week and talk to him about it.

There were alot of people looking at the car, and I really needed one and it was the best thing that came across so it was do or die at that point and didn't really have time to really get a carfax.

I agree, I'm not downright saying he scammed me, I just wanted more information as this was surpsing news to me.

The mechanic I bought it from seems like a pretty nice guy because after I purchased the car, a few hours later he called to tell me he noticed the radiator was leaking and had me bring it back so he could put in a new radiator for free.

So I'm starting to think he might've gotten swindled as well, I bet he purchased it fro a cheaper price, fixed some stuff up (I forgot what he did), and resold it to make a bit of profit which is perfectly fine with me.


Hahaha, I'm not alright with being scammed. Mechanic seemed like a genuine person if you read my above story about the radiator which was really of him, but I'll let you all know how it turns out once I head down there and talk to him when I have some free time.