United States Department of Justice Victim Notification

Hello - I'm new to the group and purchased a 1997 4Runner SR5 in 2013 with an odometer reading of 157,000 miles. I received a letter from the United States Department of Justice Victim Notification System (VNS) in August 2019 - basically telling me the odometer had been rolled back by the used car dealership. I didn't run a Carfax (my mistake) as the purchase price was around $5,000. I ran a Carfax this year and the 4Runner had 304,000 miles on it right before my purchase in 2013. The odometer now reads 187,000 & I've invested in the repairs/maintenance as listed below. My question is, how much can I sell it for and how in the heck do I explain this to a potential buyer? Thanks in advance.


New Camshaft Seals & Oil Change – 12/2021

New tires and factory refurbished wheels - 2/2021

Front End Alignment – 2/2021

Power Steering Flush – 2/2021

New Rack & Pinion – 2/2021

New Valve cover gaskets – 2/2021
New Radiator – 2/2021

New Hatch Gas Struts – 2020
New Spark plugs & Wires – 1/2018

New Windshield – 2018

New Seat Covers - 2018

New Battery – 2016

New Carpet – 2016

New Viper Power Door Key Fobs – 2016

New Pioneer radio with Bluetooth - 2015

New Front and Rear shocks/coils – 5/2014

New O2 sensor - 5/2014
New Fuel filter – 5/2014
New Catalytic Converter – 5/2014

New AC compressor – 5/2014

New Alternator - 2014

New Rear drums and shoes – 2013

Turned Front rotors and pads - 2013

Tinted Windows – 2013

New Console pad

New Cup Holders


Other Information


Timing belt replacement – 2009

4X4 is fully operational

Sunroof is fully operational

Towing Package/hitch

Carpeted floor mats

Clock works

Power Windows are fully operational

Owners Manuals

 

In NC they just mark every title for cars 10 years or older as "odometer exceeds limits". They don't care. Maybe your state does the same.

Otherwise, if you just tell a new buyer the approximate number of true miles and why, they will probably believe you as a crook would never do that.

On vehicles this old, things like this matter less and less. It's up to the buyer to look over the car.

 

Fuck that sucks, sorry to hear that. You legally have to disclose that info obviously. Just be straight and tell them that it wasn't you and that the previous seller had rolled it back and that it has over 300k miles.

Now obviously a car couldn't go that far if it wasn't well maintained, play that as a strength

 

I’ve lived in several states, and most DMV’s have a provision for odometer discrepancy and that essentially means that no one has a damn clue what the mileage is.

Given how old it is, I don’t think that is a red flag for a potential buyer as long as you don’t try to cover it up.

 

The timing belt being changed last in 09 is definitely a mark against the vehicle, you should let any buyer know that it will need to be changed for age. It still looks better than my 4runner.

Not the first person to learn the dark side of the vehicles history after the fact. I didn't do a car fax when I purchased mine, when I did I learned about 3 other owners and a minor collision that happened in 9/19/01

 

Why sell it? Vehicle is clean and you have done a lot of work to it and put a lot of money into it. Only other thing that needs to be done is the timing belt and water pump. I would keep it.

 

I agree. You paid $5000 for it 8 years ago. At this stage, it's worth much more than the money you would get out of it by selling. Especially if it has little to no rust. In my book, that's a keeper. As mentioned - do the timing belt, water pump, and you're probably good for another 100k+.