I am shopping for a used car (2006 Volvo XC90) and encountered the following situation:
The car itself has odometer reading 110k miles. I intend to appraise and price at as if a 110k car. The seller claims that the car in fact has about 85k miles on it, but at one point the odometer failed, and was replaced with a used odometer (to save money) which at the time had 105k miles or so.
The owner seems reasonably trustworthy and provided me with extensive records for the servicing of the car. An independent mechanic I spoke to said that he hadn't heard of such a thing, and they could not verify the "true mileage" of the car (beyond what the odometer says).
The situation by itself does not bother me. What concerns me is that:
- I should treat this situation as a red flag indicative of other problems with the seller.
- Even if I manage to get the odometer fixed and correct the mileage, when I attempt to sell the car down the line, I will have to explain this situation.
I lack the expertise to judge this situation. Is it common for an incorrect odometer reading to come about like this? Is it a minor issue, or is it a serious problem? Is the story I was told by the seller plausible?