Selling vehicle

[pugmom]

We are getting ready to sell our 2015 Honda Pilot. It is in very good shape, and only has 104445 miles on it. The problem is, we had a minor dent repaired last month (hit and run in a parking lot), and the repair shop put in the wrong mileage. I think this is because I guessed the mileage (over) and they simply put it in without checking.
Now it looks like the mileage has been rolled back, by about 10,000 miles.
Needless to say, we did not do this.
Has anyone run into this? Is the best thing to simply explain and hope that a private buyer will not care?

 

[pacergal]

Honesty is the best policy, I say. Do you have the receipt from the repair company to verify if potential buyer asks?
I can't think that 10,000 mile discrepancy would make that much difference to a buyer.

 

[OldShooter]

If you're telling a potential buyer that the mileage is higher by 10K miles, he has to conclude that you are an honest person. If anything, I think it's a plus.

 

[pugmom]

Thanks! I agree that honesty is best.

 

[freedomatlast]

You can easily explain that to any potential buyer and 10,000 miles won't make a difference in the value anyway.

 

[njhowie]

Call the repair shop, explain what happened, and get them to correct it - it was their mistake for not verifying the mileage. If necessary, bring the car back and show them it is still well below the mileage they entered. Tell them that you are going to sell the car and this mistake may well cause problems.

 

[MC Rider]

Did they roll back or replace the odometer? Or just put a wrong number on the bill?

 

[Jerry1]

You can easily explain that to any potential buyer and 10,000 miles won't make a difference in the value anyway.

This is my thought as well. Just explain it and move on. As a buyer, I’d be more concerned about understanding the accident/repair than the 10K miles.

 

[JoeWras]

Call the repair shop, explain what happened, and get them to correct it - it was their mistake for not verifying the mileage. If necessary, bring the car back and show them it is still well below the mileage they entered. Tell them that you are going to sell the car and this mistake may well cause problems.

I agree with this.

It is ok for OP to explain, but some people are going to want to look at Carfax. The repair shop likely reports to Carfax. If the CF algorithm sees something off, the fox is going to complain. Best for the repair shop to get it right. And if OP hasn't pulled their own Carfax, they probably should.

 

[Car-Guy]

Just tell them the truth about how it happen, if they ask. Anyway, with that many miles, 10k more or less doesn't make much difference.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Did they roll back or replace the odometer? Or just put a wrong number on the bill?

Yeah, if you're including the invoices for the maintenance record, you probably have a previous bill that shows it was over 94K, proving it was a clerical error by the body shop. They should be using the actual mileage on the dash anyway, or at least verifying it, although it's not a big deal IMO.

 

[pb4uski]

We are getting ready to sell our 2015 Honda Pilot. It is in very good shape, and only has 104445 miles on it. The problem is, we had a minor dent repaired last month (hit and run in a parking lot), and the repair shop put in the wrong mileage. I think this is because I guessed the mileage (over) and they simply put it in without checking.

Now it looks like the mileage has been rolled back, by about 10,000 miles.

Needless to say, we did not do this.

Has anyone run into this? Is the best thing to simply explain and hope that a private buyer will not care?

What was it that the repair shop put the wrong mileage on? The invoice to you for fixing the dent? If so, how would a would-be buyer know? I don't get why you are concerned. You don't have to show or give the buyer the repair invoice. I have never given any buyers my maintenance records.

 

[njhowie]

What was it that the repair shop put the wrong mileage on? The invoice to you for fixing the dent? If so, how would a would-be buyer know? I don't get why you are concerned. You don't have to show or give the buyer the repair invoice. I have never given any buyers my maintenance records.

Because places that work on your car may be forwarding info on to Carfax. When they do that, when someone pulls up the Carfax info, it will show date of work, mileage, and a description of the work performed. If OP puts another 10,000 or 20,000 miles on the car it would be irrelevant. However, if they go to sell the car right now and current mileage is below what Carfax shows on the date of the recent repair work, it would likely raise red flags.

 

[JoeWras]

The Fox will literally be wagging his finger. Yes, the cartoon fox shows up right in the report.

That's why OP needs to get the shop to fix it. I found Carfax to be invaluable when buying a used car.

 

[MC Rider]

What was it that the repair shop put the wrong mileage on? The invoice to you for fixing the dent? If so, how would a would-be buyer know? I don't get why you are concerned. You don't have to show or give the buyer the repair invoice. I have never given any buyers my maintenance records.

I have given maint records, figured it helped with the sale, they can see I took care of it. When I traded in the Ducati the sales guy said they would not have taken the trade without those.

 

[pb4uski]

But if the shop didn't report the repair to Carfax y'all are doing a lot of worrying for nothing.

 

[JoeWras]

But if the shop didn't report the repair to Carfax y'all are doing a lot of worrying for nothing.

True. Just sayin' a lot of shops do report, including independents.

Why are even discussing this? OP just needs to make a quick call and ask them if they report. If yes, have them fix it. If no, move on. Their own records will be sufficient for the sale.

 

[Aerides]

The OP told the shop "I think it had 100k" - the shop entered 100k.

Now the OP says "I was wrong, it had 90k", so I doubt the shop will change it and lower it without some evidence. (I would not if I were the shop guy). But maybe they will if they take your word for it and don't document themselves...

But yes I'd mention it to a buyer as a silly mistake.

 

[old medic]

I found Carfax to be invaluable when buying a used car.

NOPE.... Its a great tools to use, but take it with a grain of salt. If you pull up my truck, it will show over 265K miles and no kind of Maintenace at all in over 120K miles. Or the accident....Just each years inspection.
Wife picked out a beautiful Dodge years ago... So called local trade at a reputable dealership. They bragged about a perfect clear Carfax... Had an Officer friend run the VIN and discovered it was from the NC coast. It was a hurricane flood damaged car, massive rust UNDER the dash board..
If there is no insurance claim or police report, The system misses it.

 

[JoeWras]

The OP told the shop "I think it had 100k" - the shop entered 100k.

You know what? Finding the mileage of a car can be a daunting task. I'm not joking.

Back In The Day it was easy, right? Just look at the rolling numbers. Not anymore.

You may have to press the correct button. When I test drove my Honda Odyssey, it took me a while to figure out how to find the mileage. The ODO was on "Trip A." The button to change it was hidden on the back of the wheel stalk (hard to describe). The front buttons cycle through various parameters of the current ODO setting, which was "Trip A". You know, MPG, Range, etc. To change between Trip A, Trip B and full ODO, you have to find the button behind the front button.

So... I can see how the shop may not find the ODO and ask the owner. This is a lesson. Don't just give an estimate. Body shops will report it. Body shops are very tied into reporting to CarFax.

 

[JoeWras]

NOPE.... Its a great tools to use, but take it with a grain of salt. If you pull up my truck, it will show over 265K miles and no kind of Maintenace at all in over 120K miles. Or the accident....Just each years inspection.
Wife picked out a beautiful Dodge years ago... So called local trade at a reputable dealership. They bragged about a perfect clear Carfax... Had an Officer friend run the VIN and discovered it was from the NC coast. It was a hurricane flood damaged car, massive rust UNDER the dash board..
If there is no insurance claim or police report, The system misses it.

OK, can I say this to balance your NOPE? CarFax "CAN" be a great resource.

I come in peace, your point is well taken. People hide stuff. If one does their own maintenance, it won't report.

For my case, it was very helpful to see that the timing belt was replaced. The previous owner was a either hiding stuff or didn't take good records. I lean to the latter. So, I pulled the carfax and it helped to see what maintenance she had done.

Of course, not all shops report. Self maintenance is not reportable. I'm going to be self maintenance, so if I sell in a few years, it will show a hole.

BTW, for some reason the fact that the previous owner hid that they left open the sunroof and let it rain inside was not on the carfax. I only discovered this by finding the water in the spare wheel well, directly under the sunroof. And no, it is not leaking, nor was it a flood vehicle. It was clear there was a rain event. I was an idiot for not looking in the spare tire well. I won't make that mistake again. I could have squeezed them for another $500 off. I think I'm OK on electrical issues, but who knows?