So I was checking out E550s online and noticed one for a good price but when I checked the carfax it said "potential odometer rollback" I figured that's why it was priced cheaper than the rest. It also says check with dealer to verify miles. How serious is this? Is it like having an accident on record? Just curious as I've never seen anything like this before

 

Obviously it could be serious, but it could also be as insignificant as some tech transposing numbers when they recorded the mileage during service or inspection. Back in the 90's before car-fax and databases kept track of this my dad had a p-car and the state inspection recorded the mileage as 372xx instead of 327xx they didn't think it was a big deal, but when you only put a few thousand it can take a year or two in order to catch up (that car probably has 49k on it now 20 years later). What does the car-fax mileage history indicate.

 

^ exactly, and it's fairly common.

 

Thanks Rediesel! I checked the carfax history and it does show that on 6/2015 it was 19k miles and then on 11/2015 16k miles. Always thought it was really hard to do something like that on a Benz

 

Could just be a typo. The 9 and 6 keys are close together on a keyboard.

I never heard of any way to rollback digital mileage except to change the dash cluster or the chip on the circuit board behind the cluster. It's a huge hassle. Why bother on such a low mileage car?

Could be contact the seller and just ask the mileage?

 

With the right tools the odometer can be set to show whatever number. This is a big problem in Germany where very high mileage TAXI cars are sold with way lower than real mileage (kilometers). The cars look very new as all German TAXIs have the yellowish wrap on them and when it is removed you have a brand new paint under it. The car looks brand new outside but the odometer gives it away unless it is tinkered with, which is very common in Germany.

There is some point in the car's computer where it records the real miles that cannot be changed but this is deep in the system.

 

While odometer tampering isn't as prevalent in Germany as you implied, it is more prevalent in former eastern bloc countries. The devices to roll back odometers sell for about $15,000

Odometer fraud on a modern car in the US is less common, but still happens. It is a dangerous business and the odometer fraud folks at NHTSA are some of the few gun toters in the agency.

In this case, it is unlikely that the odometer was actually rolled back as rolling the odometer back from 19000 to 16000 makes little sense - but - now that it is listed on CARFAX, it will stay with it for life and the explanations become more muddled as the miles pile up. the car will always be branded as one with odometer issues and that will affect the value.

 

Not necessarily. If an owner has records showing mileage at service intervals CarFax will correct the mistake and remove the discrepancy.

 

Of course. The OP would need to get all of the service records, assure that they are accurate and then submit them to Carfax. Carfax will want a notarized statement from the service provider explaining the discrepancy.

Quite simply, that may be too much trouble.

 

I had a car before for a while and 1/2 way through owning it in the carfax it said "Offered for sale at dealer" and also the potential odometer warning, when the car was always in my possession. I guess a dealer must have incorrectly entered my vin into the system.

 

CARFAX is often wrong but many rely upon it for valuation.

 

Yeah I'm not messing with that. Now I'm curious and want to call the dealer to see what they say lol.