Retrieved stolen car - mileage upped by 40k

PCros · 22-12-2014 09:23PM #1

Hello all,

Awhile back I posted here about my stolen car, long story short I managed to get it back myself.

However one of the few things they have done is upped the mileage from 89k to 125k. I'm not sure how or why they would up it but the only thing I can think of is that they have swapped my odometer or something from another car? It was found with false plates which was an exact model and colour as mine.

Any ideas what to do here as it devalues the car? VW Ireland wanted €100 just to plug the computer in. If thats what I have to do I will but would love to now if there is any other garage that can look at this.

Eric Cartman · 22-12-2014 09:29PM

are you sure they didn't actually drive 40k in the car , if it was on false plates and a while ago they could have been using it a lot.

colm_mcm · 22-12-2014 09:30PM

Could have swapped the clocks?

It was hardly a cloning attempt was it?

ba_barabus · 22-12-2014 09:30PM

Was it taxied? Do you know the false reg number? See if it shows up as a PSV on a search. Strange one however

Probably swapped clocks though for so,e reason. Was it gone long?

PCros · 22-12-2014 09:32PM

Eric Cartman wrote: »

are you sure they didn't actually drive 40k in the car , if it was on false plates and a while ago they could have been using it a lot.

Sorry forgot to say it was only gone 5 days...

Eric Cartman · 22-12-2014 09:45PM

is anything else changed , locks, radio etc ? some cars the coding is all tied together and it might have had to be done as a result of a swap.

in cases like these I always wish the car turns up burned , just so you don't end up with any horrible issues like this. A stolen car will almost never be right.

PCros · 22-12-2014 09:48PM

Eric Cartman wrote: »

is anything else changed , locks, radio etc ? some cars the coding is all tied together and it might have had to be done as a result of a swap.

in cases like these I always wish the car turns up burned , just so you don't end up with any horrible issues like this. A stolen car will almost never be right.

Nope nothing else was changed. Strange one alright.

barryoneill50 · 22-12-2014 09:52PM

Are you sure it's your car?

PCros · 22-12-2014 09:53PM

barryoneill50 wrote: »

Are you sure it's your car?

Yes, I new it was mine when I saw it on done deal, never mind sitting back into it.

Pipmae · 22-12-2014 09:58PM

PCros wrote: »

Yes, I new it was mine when I saw it on done deal, never mind sitting back into it.

Off topic somewhat but how the hell did you manage to get it back and were the Gardai involved. I totally understand if you can't or don't want to answer that in the interest of a pending prosecution but fair play to you. I was sure it was gone for good.

iwillhtfu · 22-12-2014 10:00PM

Have you any kind of proof of the mileage before it was stolen although I'm not sure what that would be. You didn't happen to have it NCT'd the day before?

Speaking with the insurance assessor head on I'd have to call BS.

Perhaps they swapped out the on board computer for some reason but i'm sure that would lead to all other manner of issues immobiliser/locks etc.

It's an odd one alright.

punisher5112 · 22-12-2014 10:04PM

They were selling car so do history check on cloned plates will prob show the mileage on yours.

They have a car for free sell for 3 or 4 grand 100% profit .

Well done for getting back

PCros · 22-12-2014 10:04PM

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Have you any kind of proof of the mileage before it was stolen although I'm not sure what that would be. You didn't happen to have it NCT'd the day before?

Speaking with the insurance assessor head on I'd have to call BS.

Perhaps they swapped out the on board computer for some reason but i'm sure that would lead to all other manner of issues immobiliser/locks etc.

It's an odd one alright. What did your insurance company say when you brought it up with them?

Honestly no proof, only thing I would have had would have been a service history which showed the car at about 15k a year but they kindly removed that from my handbook too.

Insurance company said to bring it in to a dealer to have a look at it. Just want to do a bit of homework first.

iwillhtfu · 22-12-2014 10:06PM

PCros wrote: »

Honestly no proof, only thing I would have had would have been a service history which showed the car at about 15k a year but they kindly removed that from my handbook too.

Insurance company said to bring it in to a dealer to have a look at it. Just want to do a bit of homework first.

Terrible luck altogether man.

visual · 22-12-2014 10:09PM

Yes tell the story of how you discovered your car on DD and how you got it back.

To change mileage and confirm the computers are correct it will need dealer software.

If the ECU was changed the mileage is stored there as well as clock display. If they changed ECU it may have forced clock display to change

Guy:Incognito · 22-12-2014 11:26PM

Have you owned it since new? If not, are you sure it wasn't clocked before you got it and them messing with something reset the clocks to their true mileage?

quadrifoglio verde · 22-12-2014 11:32PM

Has it been through an nct test recently

Damien360 · 22-12-2014 11:44PM

Could it be your actual mileage for the car age looked suspicious for a quick sale on done deal and someone would flag it (here most likely

). Therefore they upped the mileage for something more appropriate ?

lifer_sean · 22-12-2014 11:51PM

As others have said ... Most likely they set the mileage to tally with the mileage of the "donor" car used for the new identity (false plates) on your car. Then if a buyer does a history check on the "new" reg, the history check would come up clear ... otherwise it would come up as a mileage discrepancy.

joujoujou · 23-12-2014 12:28AM

Anyone with vagcom software would compare ECU odometer with dash odometer in just a few clicks.

pudzey101 · 23-12-2014 01:17AM

Sitec wrote: »

They might have done a history check on the false plates and reprogrammed the km reading to that figure.

x2

first thing that springs to my mind too.

is it the old odometers or the new electronic ones ?

23-12-2014 01:20AM

It hardly just switched from KM to miles if they were playing about with it?

EDIT: Sorry, just seen it went from 89 to 125. Wouldn't make sense.

cerastes · 23-12-2014 03:39AM

PCros wrote: »

Yes, I new it was mine when I saw it on done deal, never mind sitting back into it.

I was going to ask how you got it back, now Im wondering how you got it back. While Im visualising something ala Ronin car chase, obviously not, I still cant see someone trying this scam on would be willing to let it go easily or lie and insist its genuine or not turn to violence?

So how'd you do it?

joujoujou wrote: »

Anyone with vagcom software would compare ECU odometer with dash odometer in just a few clicks.

If I was selling a car, Id be damned if Id let anyone plug anything into it, wouldnt know what kind of dicking around they could get up to, or if not malice, maybe ignorance could be worse.

Frankly my dear · 23-12-2014 03:54AM

Congrats on getting it back, also wondering how the whole thing went down! Don't keep us hanging

braddun · 23-12-2014 05:23AM

how did you get it back

dr.fuzzenstein · 23-12-2014 12:08PM

braddun wrote: »

how did you get it back

+1, the question on everyone's mind.

Cleveland Hot Pocket · 23-12-2014 05:29PM

Maybe our own toasty pickle has engaged in some car theft - given his annual mileage in an astra!

(JK)

Cleveland Hot Pocket · 23-12-2014 05:29PM

How did you get it back.

PCros · 23-12-2014 08:34PM

Apologies!

So basically the car was stolen 2 weeks when I had left it to defrost in the driveway. I taught it was gone for good.

Kept checking done deal and 5 days later a 2008 golf was up for sale (mines a 2007). Car had a dink over the wheel arch and also had same tyres as mine. Rang the guards and they wanted to setup a meet so they could sweep in and get them. Rang the chap and he told me what area he was from and to meet up the next morning and I was to ring him near a local shopping centre. I relayed this to the guards and it was all set.

However I started to think what if the chap rings back and tells me its sold etc, kept thinking that I was never going to see the car again. So I decided to post up a photo of the car (on here - last thread I started before this one) and a boardsie came back with a google maps link to where it was located.

We then took a drive over with the spare key and low and behold it was the 5th car parked up in this estate. Rang the gaurds and they came out to take it away.

Don't know or care now if the chap got stung in the end.

Just glad to have it back, but with getting the locks recoded, stolen pram, baby seat and replacing tax discs etc I'm about 1k down. Better than being 7k down with no trade-in.

cerastes · 23-12-2014 10:16PM

Maybe you could have continued to enquire about the car after you stole it back, then see what he said and maybe if he had anything else? And try at least get them that way? He still had your key,if he had it on him somewhere, would it have a serial no. to match your other key?

bear1 · 23-12-2014 10:27PM

Glad to hear of the Guards taking it seriously and well done for your own detective work.
Pity that you lost money regardless but as you say 1k is much much better than 7k, at least now you can enjoy your Christmas.
Will you need to do much work on the car to get it back to normal? How much do you reckon to get it back to before?
Consider yourself lucky and don't go defrosting the car now like before

Retrieved stolen car - mileage upped by 40k

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