ok well i bought a car with clean title originally from texas and im in new york. the car was clean just a few scrapes in the front n ding on the driver door. my question is the car was vandalized and they replace mostly all of his interior including the cluster. the cluster was a brand new one with 0 miles and they put the mileage that the owner before me said it had before theft in the glove compartment saying this is the valid mileage known. he told me to add that number to what the cluster says so added says 55k and now what do you guys do when you resell i mean anybody gets spectical is there a way to actually know the real mileage or you just have to believe its that. i know most of you has got there cluster stolen because i see them on b20vtec.com all the time. any information would help thanks alot.

 

just put whatever u think it is and make sure it corresponds with the carfax, aside from that the engine's health is more important. don't think anyone cares as long as its not ridiculously low like 20 miles on a 13 year old car.

 

There is no way to know for certain; you just have to take their word for it. Sometimes you can verify it fairly closely via a CarFax or AutoCheck report. The car can only be sold as TMU (True Mileage Unknown) now and will have to carry a flagged title along with the corresponding smaller buyer market and lower market value.

FWIW, it doesn't matter much if the car is in good condition and has extensive service records. A rust-free Texas chassis is more desireable here in the rust belt than a clean title/accurate mileage IMHO, provided that it is in good mechanical condition as well. Just be aware that it will be more difficult to sell the car if you plan to resell it any time soon, and it will sell for considerably less than the market value for a comparable car with a clean title. In addition, if you don't receive any service records or proof of service history when buying the car, budget in a bit of extra money to do a thorough inspection and change all fluids/belts (including timing)/etc. along with any brake, suspension, and drivetrain repairs that may be needed.

 

the guy showed me proof of all mainteance done at honda since he leased it from honda, plus all of the proof of the insurance claims he made when they changed all of the parts. im just afraid that people will think im lying about the mileage even though the car runs perfect. thanks for your input guys

 

You'll always have that possibility. Despite the service records and other proof, many people will still have reservations about buying a car with an altered odometer even if it was done in honesty. It gets into their head that this is somehow a bad thing and it's a hard concept to change in someone's mind. That's why the potential market (and therefore the price) is smaller when it comes time to sell the car.

If you like the car and intend to keep it for a long time, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Once the car ages past a certain point, the mileage arguably doesn't factor into the value much anyway.