Nelsito65

I'm looking at a 2000 GLE for my son with 92k for 4 g's, which looks in pretty good condition, except for a couple of things. The center console top is missing, and so is the cover for the rear power port. One of the rear seat belts is not working (it's all the way out and will not retract). Those are minor cosmetic and safety issues. The leather seats, however, look tired and old. They appear to have more than 200k. How would one know if the 92k reading on the odometer reflects an engine that has been replaced and not an odometer "rollback"?

maxima 21

iTrader: (2)

You can always check carfax trends.. Being an older car I dont know that the carfax will be up to date, but if the car had 80K miles in 2005 you know its probably been tampered with. If its from a dealership they should provide the car fax. If not, check with freinds who work at dealerships or etc... Worse comes to worse, it may be worth the $35 to find out that the car has been wrecked and beat up... you would wind up spending alot more in repairs if that be the case. Good luck!

sud123

I have used Auto Check. Its close to $45 for 3 month and unlimited checks. CarFax was $35 for one car. Checking wither CarFax ot AutoCheck is always a good idea.

BigLou55

iTrader: (6)

^^^^I agree with theses guys get a carfax or autocheck, nicb.org will tell you if it has a salvaged title or been stolen for free but with a carfax or autocheck you get that in addition to mileage information

Nelsito65

So, when people replace engines with ones with much lower mileage, the odometer is not necesarily matched to the newly installed lower mileage engine?

kukx30de

iTrader: (4)

IIRC the engine should have the VIN plate on it and the engine serial no. should match with the car's VIN if you call Nissan?

There is also a possibility that the gauge cluster was replaced with another which had the lower miles.

Good Luck!

Nelsito65

Thanks. I do know about the serial number stamped on the engine (on the radiator side). I wasn't sure it also has a VIN plate.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

It's probably been beat to death in the sun, which means the paint should be shot.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

nope, not usually, they will just say something like "200k on the chassis, 60k on the engine" etc

a CarFax will most likely show the mileage, even on my 3rd gen it showed enough info from the last decade that the mileage matched up

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Changing the mileage is illegal regardless of the engine, etc.

If they swapped gauge clusters, that's also illegal, but not impossible.

I don't know aboutthe states, but in Canada we can just get a used car package from the DMV for $20 and it shows all owners and the last known mileage from each owner.

Montego Murph

iTrader: (1)

I thought it was legal as long as it was documented. Otherwise how would people replace them when gauges stopped working?

Nelsito65

I don't think swapping gauge cluster is illegal either; having the newly replaced cluster display a false mileage of the vehicle, is.
From a Florida DMV pamplhlet:
"Odometer fraud occurs when a false statement is given in disclosing the mileage of a vehicle or when a vehicle's odometer is rolled back or disconnected."

ImStricken

1. the airbag module is under the center console. so if they replaced it- that would be the reason the center console looks tampered with or missing items they broke in the process of taking it off/out.

2. if the seat-belt wont retract that's a sure sign of airbag deployment.
almost in every vehicle when an impact occurs and airbags deploy the seat-belts lock in their last position and can not be unlocked. (thats made because seat-belts have shown to decrease in structural integrity with every impacted weight they have to absorb/restrain upon an accident. so manufactures made the seat-belts permanently lock and have to be replaced with every airbag deployment scenario.)

3. no way to tell unless you take the speedo apart and look at the chip that holds the mileage log, and see if the chip legs have been slightly bent or soldered too.

Nelsito65

I should've been a little bit more specific with the initial information. It is the center console upper lid that is missing.
The rear passenger side seat belt is the one with the problem.

A record with AutoCheck shows no negative title or other problem with the vehicle (no accident report or insurance loss, no theft, no fire damage, no repossession, etc.). However, it does show the last mileage report of 208,034 in 2/9/2009.

ImStricken

The6spdMax

iTrader: (23)

There are plenty of maximas out there, you will find one...

Rods03Max619

iTrader: (5)

And Damn on the 200k plus miles on that ride.....

nelledge

iTrader: (6)

TunerMaxima3000 has a different government with different regulations.

Nelsito65

Agreed. I'll pass on that one.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Good decision. To me, the bad seats would be a tip off of high mileage.

Montego Murph

iTrader: (1)

To put a spin on this question... How much SHOULD he pay for this Maxima? I"m assuming (and I could be wrong) that since he's buying it for his son, possibly he is younger and is then likely to be a new driver and a beater with a heater might be a good idea.

For example, if he offered $1000, would that be both a fair offer and a good deal?

On the other hand, if the seller is being intentionally deceptive with the mileage coverup, who knows what other shades of lipstick were applied to that pig...

Nelsito65

I was also wondering about what would be a fair offer. The car drives good and pulls strong (I would say stronger than mine, and my car is in pretty good shape mechanically, despite the 205k). The engine bay also looks better than mine and so is the exterior. If I knew for sure that the car has had an engine replacement with decent miles, I would be inclined to negotiate.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

I would walk away from this, probably in an accident, and obviously tampered with. I'd just forget it man, NOT worth the headache, plenty of fish in the sea, so to speak.

As far as rules, regs, etc, Nelledge is right, I'm in Canada, so things are similar but not the same. I do know that mileage/gauge cluster changes MUST be done at the dealer here, they have to hold your car while the cluster is programmed, the cluster must be programmed by a third party, then shipped back, and then installed, and the dealer submits the new mileage to the ministry (DMV). The ministry (DMV) MUST show this change in a well documented fashion when requested.

ImStricken

i would walk. that car isnt worth $750.
it was in an accident that just was not reported/caught.

(i had a car once that was in an accident with a police report- and airbag deployment.... and carfax never caught it. i know it because i was the driver LOL
when i ran my VIN it never stated a thing LOLOLOL
RIP 1999 Nissan Altima GXE (5spd)

if i was to buy that car, with that many miles and history- id buy it for $500(what its worth today for raw metal in a junkyard) just to cover my butt in case it dies on the way home LOL.
i would let my son beat the crap out of that car, learn to work on it; and when it came time that it finally died, i would sell it to the junk yard (for the $250-$350 it will be worth in a year or two)

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

It's up to the body shop to report and accident to what ever authority it gets reported to. I learned this from Carfax. The big chain type body shops tend to report tht stuff faithfully but the small independent may not.

nsnrider

iTrader: (59)

was the mileage reported from carfax from the current owner or the previous owner? i'm curious to know if the guy selling the car is the one actually the one responsible for odometer rollback. 90% of the time you can guestimate how many miles the car has just by looking at the car and its shape. Something wear out with age like driver floor mat, interior, door panel, door hinges and lock, suspension (especially LCA that alot of people neglect to replace) and much more. I would not spend more than 1500 with an odometer rollback, even if the car is in descent shape.

I'd rather drive a salvage car with low mileage anyday over a clean title car with odometer rollback.

good luck on your purchase.

Nelsito65

InstaVIN and AutoCheck reports, or Carfax as far as I know, don't show previous owner/dealer information. They only show the instances in which odometer readings had been taken. After 10 years owners/dealers are exempt from disclosing odometer reading in the bill of sale. However, as I understand it, tampering with the odometer is a crime regardless of how old the vehicle is. The last reported reading to the DMV was in 2/9/2009 at 208,066 miles.

BigLou55

iTrader: (6)

if the last report in 2009 was 208 K then possibilities could be where ever he got the engine he could have grabbed the cluster from it so the ENGINE could have 92k but everything else could be the 208k or he could have cleaned up the engine and swapped the cluster...either way its not worth it. If you think about it really that a lot of miles that you dont know anything about. 208k means it was driven on avg of 18.9k a year. Don't get me wrong max's can easily go for 400k if well maintained and many guys here have high mileage on their cars(myself included 2000 SE w/178K) but not many have such suspicious activity as yours does. If the seller was actually telling you the story behind the mileage then thats a different story but if they aren't then you already know they are hiding something.

Long Story short....Find yourself another max(lots of org members selling right now)

ffcbairn

Just to chime in w/ my own 2 cents. It's not so much salvage or engine replacement I don't trust. Could have a great car with a salvage title or new engine.

The problem I have is that they have been dishonest on some level about it. If they were up front, said, "hey we had to replace the engine and cluster, they show 95K but the total mileage on car is xxx,xxx," then I can live with that. They brought up a fact that is obviously going to diminish their chance of a sale.

They did not however. Whether that is because they are trying to hide it or if they didn't know is irrelevant. If they are trying to hide it they are crooked. If they didn't know then who knows what else they don't know and whether any of the info they give you is reliable.

Sadly no matter how you cut it the whole scenario doesn't pass the smell test.