Any buyback experience with tampered odometer?

I have a 2011 Jetta TDI with a clean title. However, I took it in for maintenance and they said the odometer had been tampered because it should have read around 140K miles but only shows about 54K miles. Anyone know what would happen in the buyback claims process given the fact that the title is still clean?

hiromiH said:

I have a 2011 Jetta TDI with a clean title. However, I took it in for maintenance and they said the odometer had been tampered because it should have read around 140K miles but only shows about 54K miles. Anyone know what would happen in the buyback claims process given the fact that the title is still clean?

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What is the basis for the claim that the car should have "X" miles, when it only shows "Y?"

Maybe your car got a replacement dashboard cluster around 90k miles? Supposedly the ECU stores the milage internally, in addition to what the cluster stores and shows. Maybe vcds would show that info.

I don't think any of this influences the buyback, as long as the car does indeed have a cluster. But whoever sold you the car should have disclosed it to you. In Illinois I think it's just a check box when you sign over the title saying 'odometer reading does/does not represent vehicle milage'.

Weird, can't edit my post. Anyways, 'odometer tampering' is supposedly (I did not look up the code, just googled it) also a federal felony. So, selling the car without disclosing this would be a problem.

I'd like to know what basis the dealer has for saying the odometer is off.

It should not cause a problem for the buyback, you do have to sign a odometer disclosure statement stating that the mileage shown is accurate to the best of your knowledge.

If you did not tamper with the odometer, and you believe that the mileage is accurate, then there's no reason for you to get in trouble.

I have returned several cars that were marked as not actual mileage on the title, and it never caused a problem.

I was told by the 1-844 support number that they do NOT accept any titles with TMU (true mileage unknown) disclosure. Buyback amount greatly depends on the current mileage. During buyback appointment, they check the odometer and record mileage to get your actual buyback amount.

Federal laws aside, if they would take cars with tampered odometer, they would pay millions of dollars more in buyback amounts.

duratitus said:

I'd like to know what basis the dealer has for saying the odometer is off.

It should not cause a problem for the buyback, you do have to sign a odometer disclosure statement stating that the mileage shown is accurate to the best of your knowledge.

If you did not tamper with the odometer, and you believe that the mileage is accurate, then there's no reason for you to get in trouble.

I have returned several cars that were marked as not actual mileage on the title, and it never caused a problem.

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my thoughts as well. What does a carfax say?

This may not be the case with your car, but one of my close friends had a 2011 JSW and it had an odometer issue. The odometer would occasionally "tick back" a few thousand miles or so. No one did anything to the odometer at any point. It just had a mind of its own. He wound up getting rid of the car because it kept locking him out and would refuse to start. It was an electrical nightmare.

Six weeks ago I turned in a JSW with a reconditioned / prior salvage title. I had the offer for that one in March or April, but drove it for a while. The title said mileage not actual. The person I bought it from told me the owner before him said the odometer was essentially accurate, but he drove it for a few miles with damage that resulted in the odometer not working, so the title reflected that. Based on Carfax, that had to be true - it was totaled with around 18,000 miles, and was re-titled as a repaired vehicle in a new state with just a few more miles than that.

So before submitting the offer in March I did an online chat with the VW help line and explained that from what I was told and could see, the mileage was actual (+/- a few miles). The VW person said what the title said would not matter, they would go off the odometer. I took screen shots of the discussion

At the turn in appointment, I was expecting the worst. I signed the document and checked the box that said, to the best of my knowledge, the odometer was accurate. It went through with no problems, I got the full buyback amount.

I suspect I got that car through approval right before they started clamping down on salvage and other branded titles.

?

hiromiH said:

I have a 2011 Jetta TDI with a clean title. However, I took it in for maintenance and they said the odometer had been tampered because it should have read around 140K miles but only shows about 54K miles. Anyone know what would happen in the buyback claims process given the fact that the title is still clean?

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Maybe I missed this somewhere, but did you purchase the vehicle new? Or was this bought second hand? Is this your first time taking the vehicle in for maintenance? That just seems like a HUGE difference between what the mileage says VS what VW claims and of course they are going to scrutinize situations like that because of the money involved in the buyback.

I'm no expert on this, but can't a new cluster be adapted to the mileage stored in the ECU? To me that seems like your best option. Find somebody with VCDS and have them adapt the cluster to the car properly. As tdidreaming points out, it will be quite the difference in buyback payment mileage adjustment.

Diesl said:

I'm no expert on this, but can't a new cluster be adapted to the mileage stored in the ECU? To me that seems like your best option. Find somebody with VCDS and have them adapt the cluster to the car properly. As tdidreaming points out, it will be quite the difference in buyback payment mileage adjustment.

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I have heard that as well. IIRC, the adaption has to be done before the new odometer reaches 100 miles.

Run the math between buyback with 140K vs. 54K and you will see why VW wants to be very cautious in this instance, rightfully so.

The VW buyback program is ripe for the picking in regards to fraud, they have an obligation to investigate any case of possible fraud.