Mileage Correction - Wiped ECU

[Pauljames]

Long story but I bought a 2014 C220 Estate (205 model) in a Merc Finance Auction sale, when car was 18 months old had done 18,000 miles. Used the car for 18months then sold it about 12 months ago.

Chap who bought it had a problem of some sort and took it into Mercedes Main dealer. Dealer has now told him to fix the problem they needed to download an update to an ECU.

As they have done this they have found a mileage discrepancy. This has caused a major software failure and the car now is completely dead - and needs a new ECU & re-coding etc at a cost of £2500...

I don't do clocked cars! so car was either clocked before I got it, or something else has happened..

Now, about a month before I sold the car to its present owner the Sat Nav system packed up completely and I took it into a Merc Main dealer - first they said it might just need a software update, I was then told it needed a Control Unit which they fitted - I was then told the Sat Nav software in the car wouldn't work with the new control unit and I needed to buy the new sat nav software - which i had no option to do. They had the car for about 2 weeks in total - it was a nightmare.....

Someone has suggested that the Navi update and likely software upgrades could well have something to do with the current "mileage discrepancy" problem...I am waiting for the dealer hopefully confirming when the mileage discrepancy was done - which I'm expecting to be either before i bought the car or when it was in for the sat nav repair....

Has anyone else come across a similar problem....

 

[A.J.]

Is it a big discrepancy in the mileage ? Would an MOT history check give you any clues I wonder. Check it out here https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ . I wonder whether 12 months since you owned the car does somewhat admonish you from any involvement

 

[Blobcat]

“Mileage correction” is quite common on PCP Finance cars... done repeatedly and often to keep the miles within the punitive mileage allowance...
Problem is that Mercedes stores the mileage in quite a few units and the mileage correction usually works on the dash one.
@alexanderfoti had it with his S65

 

[barian]

Long story but I bought a 2014 C220 Estate (205 model) in a Merc Finance Auction sale, when car was 18 months old had done 18,000 miles. Used the car for 18months then sold it about 12 months ago.

The timeline doesn't add up. If it was a 2014 car bought at 18 months old, used for 18 months and then sold, that would put the sale date at the latest about 3 years ago, not 12 months.

 

[Pauljames]

The owner has asked the merc dealer to confirm when mileage was changed and by how much. Currently he's just been told it's dead and needs fixing..

Am I correct then in thinking they should be able to identify which of the units have a discrepancy...Because if so I'd be hoping its anything to do with the sat nav will be the problem ....And therefore related to when this was replaced and updated a year ago at the merc dealer.
Am i correct that the dealer can't somehow wipe the car clean...Leaving no trace of any alleged mileages and therefore discrepancies...

Also when the Sat nav was changed and updated should it not have shown the mileage discrepancy at that time? Because it's only been in the possession of the new owner since then?

 

[Pauljames]

Sorry about the dates....I've not yet dugout the actual documents with precise dates...But basically I bought the car, used it for a while, had the sat nav problem then sold it...And now have mileage problem. I will clearly need to dig out the documents with the exact dates if this goes legal...But principal is exactly as above....

 

[sonic]

A starting point should be the milage on your bill of sale when you bought it & the service history that came with the car.
Next your service & MOT records whilst you had it.
Is the current owner suggesting you are involved with the discrepancy in the milage? If not I would keep well out of it.

 

[Pauljames]

The car was bought with warrantied mileage, no service book ...As this is electronic..Since I bought the car the service mileages and mots all correlate....As i had the car and did nothing to adjust the mileage..My interest is in trying to understand exactly what mileage and date information is held in the cars ecu or modules as if I can find out when the problem occurred and which elements were changed it will point to who had the car and thus who did it..Hence the post about can the dealer who has the car currently wipe things as I'm honestly thinking the problem is related to the sat nav problem and this latest ecu upgrade has some how crashed the whole thing..And they are pointing to a mileage problem which may well have been created when the sat nav was changed...

 

[A.J.]

As long as you didn't have your fingers in the dash I don't see what the problem is, you havn't a problem