Hello guys. I have a big dilemma. In my 97 Sebring convertible BCM (body control module) went bad so I had to go to junk yard to buy another one. I installed BCM and now instead of 90k it shows 25k. I need to sell the car but the mileage is different and I can't sell it because the mileage is not accurate. I have the old BCM and called Chrysler dealer they estimated to fix the problem $1000. I was told that I have to buy a new BCM which cost $800 plus $200 for labor. I would like to know if I can connect BCM memory IC directly to my pc and download and upload all the data from old IC to a new IC. I have a good experience soldering IC's in the past but never had a problem like that. I'm not asking for step by step info just someone can point me to the right direction such as datasheets, software, etc.
I sold a motorcycle a few years ago and accidentally checked that 'incorrect mileage' box. The buyer had to send me the paperwork to change it back to be unchecked again, what a pain! Frenchy
Do you think that the buyer is going to believe "It really has 90K miles on it but I changed the BCM with one from a wrecking yard and so it only looks like it has 25K" Most buyers would not.
I might believe him but even if I was buying the car I would tell the buyer that I cannot trust that it doesen't have 90K miles on it, that I think it is more likely it has 130K miles or even more. Why - because I know every other dumbass buyer that cannot inspect a car mechanically would think that, and would not offer him what the car was really worth. Why be magnamimous and offer him more than what everyone else would, even if I believed him? This is just business.
The US average for miles driven per year is 14K miles, that is from the US DOT. This is a 9 year old car. per US DOT if it has average mileage it is gonna have 126K miles. And this is a convertible which is a sporty car and those are typically driven more anyway. The seller shows a very good grasp of the used car market when he thinks that the odometer discrepancy is going to impact the sale price - it is!
What the seller needs to understand is that yes - he is gonna probably take at least a $1K hit on the car price because of this - but he already got that $1K back when he got out of paying for a new BCM and used the wrecking yard BCM. In other words there ain't no free lunch.
One of the sad facts of life is that when you do your own wrenching your work isn't going to have market value if you ever decide to sell the car. For example in my case, last year I did my own transmission swap with a new rebuilt transmission. Do I have receipts showing that the rebuilt transmission I bought actually went into my van? No! I have a receipt showing I bought a rebuilt transmission, and that is it. For all a buyer knows my van has some wrecking yard transmission that is 2 shakes from death's door and the receipt is for a trans that went into some other van.
If you do your own wrenching you have to accept that it's going to impact the resale value, that is life. If you don't like it, then pay others to work on your car.
As others have said make note in the appropriate space on the title. Especially if your state has pollution inspections because the state dmv will know based on that. Coasty
On the other hand, Ted, I doubt that there are many cars in the used market with the kind of high miles that are on yours and mine when we sell them that aren't DIY maintained. Any buyer in that market is gonna assume that. Who can afford to *pay* someone to maintain a 200+k mile car these days? And if they can afford that, they aren't going to keep it that long - they will already have bought new and sold the otherwise "junker" years ago.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
I should have been more specific on the mileage and age ranges. Per Kelly Blue Book, anything over 19 years is worthless (ie: under $500) And I think per the blue book anything over 200K miles is also worthless.
I really don't consider a vehicle that has a resale value of under $2K to be impacted by it's service history or lack thereof. The people worrying about resale value are exactly like the OP - a '97 or newer, and under
100K miles. Most cars that meet that criteria are worth more than $2K. Once they get under $2K, their overall condition becomes more important than service history, or anything else.
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