Bought a pre-owned lexus. Odometer shows 12,000 miles: Trip odometer shows 20,000. Have I legal options?
Check with a Lawyer. Not sure how they did that one though.
ARe you sure the OD doesn’t show 12,000…and the trip shows 2,000.0???
I am sure. How they did it - Pulled the cable on the odometer.
if they disabled the odometer wouldnt that disable the trip odometer? not to insult you but are you sure it’s not the 1/10 of a mile you are reading?
Take a picture of the two modes and send it to the agency that regulates car dealers. They may deal with it for free, as far as criminal issues are concerned. You have to go to civil court for a legal remedy if you can’t come to agreement with the dealer, on what the true value of the car is, based on real miles, assuming someone can determine that.
Was it a “certified” pre-owned from the Lexus dealership, or from some other place?
This seems like a pretty blatant odometer rollback. There are tools out there that can be used to change the mileage on a digital odometer which are necessary if you have to change out a computer (which is where the odometer information is kept in newer cars with digital odometers) but can also very easily be used to roll back the odometer. I would first get a carfax report and see if that turns up any discrepancies. If that shows up clean, go back and show the odometer readings to the dealer (btw, don’t let them anywhere NEAR the trip button!) and give them an opportunity to explain themselves. It could be possible that they did have to change the computer at some point, though I would be very skeptical of this and require some documentation.
After that my next stop would be the police. With it being this blatant, they might take action themselves, or else they can certainly point you to the agency you need to talk to.
If true, could be a sign of a major repair requiring computer work - definitely check the Carfax.
I am sure. How they did it - Pulled the cable on the odometer.
REALLY?? The trip meter runs off the same cable so how did the trip meter register 20k miles when the cable was disconnected.
Your mechanic did not notice this during the pre-purchase inspection? You did not notice this during your test drive? These issues are dealt with easier before all the legal guns come out.
Don’t know the lexus but look a little closer. Maybe, as on mine, the main odometer doesn’t show tenths but the trip odometer does show tenths ? If you’re really correct, see if the main odometer even adds miles , it may be time for repairs.
I’d be surprised if the vehicle in question (which we know nothing about exc. that it’s a late model Lexus) even has a cable at all and it would be the first tripmeter I’ve heard of that reads to 5 digits even if one counted the tenths.
As mentioned, if someone tampered with a cable (using the argument that it even had one) this means nothing in the speedometer head would operate at all because the cable drives the speedometer needle and odometers/trip meters are driven through small gears which are driven by a gear on the speedo needle drive assembly.
Check closely to make sure that the numbers you reported are correct. If so, contact the state police to see what to do. They may help you themselves or direct you to another state or local agency. But do it tomorrow, not Thursday. Sooner is imperative in matters like this.
Well, I could be way off base here, but I think that the OP is looking at the odometer in miles at approximately 12,000, and kilometers at approximately 20,000.
It’s just the odometer measuring in miles, then kilometers and isn’t the trip set at all.
The math works out perfect.
Yes, that’s why I mentioned it.
As you know, a kilometer is about 5/8 of a mile. Therefore, you’d multiply 12,000 by 8/5 to calculate kilometers, and 12,000 times 8/5 = 19,200. Assuming the OP is rounding the numbers in both cases, the math works out just about right.
I am sure. How they did it - Pulled the cable on the odometer.
It’s electronic. There is no cable.
Some vehicle have the odometer and 2 trip meters.
Could it be that you are observing the 2 trip meters? Could you post pics of these?