How does mileage "Exempt" affect the value or salability of a vehicle?

Here's my dilemma, on 9-24-2005 I purchased my 1999 C5 convertible from a former business associate with 19,301 miles on it while living in South Carolina. I moved to Georgia the next June and registered the car there with around 23,000 miles on it. When I received the new GA title, I did not notice that the 23,000 had been changed to read 230000. Two days ago a Car Fax was run and the 230,000 mile title leaped off the report so I grabbed my title and took it to the "Tag" office to get it corrected. I had my original Bill of Sale with the 19,301 miles on it, service records that show the progression of the mileage from the 23,000 to today's 46,150. I also have a 2007 Car Fax report that shows 23,145 miles as of 10-04-2007. The "Tag" office says there is nothing that they can do for me since I now live in Hall County, GA and I originally registered the car in Effingham County, GA. They tell me that I'll have to go back to Effingham County which is 200 miles away. Rather than drive, I called Effingham and was told that I have two options: change the Title to mileage Exempt (since the car is 18 years old) or I can file a mileage discrepancy form which will be sent to the State office but there is NO guaranty that they will change it. I don't understand that form's application to me since I am the "Owner" and not the "Transferor". Obviously, the 230,000 miles currently shown on the Title creates an expensive situation for me as KBB has about a $6-7k lower value for the high mileage.

So, back to my original question. If my Title has the mileage Exempt on it, how will this affect the salability and value of the car even though I can provide a record of the actual mileage progression of the car to the "true" and accurate mileage of 46k? I might add that the car is in extremely good condition and very nearly show quality.

I am going to try next week to get an appointment at the state Tag office in Atlanta but one can only guess if I'll find anyone there with enough common sense to realize the error that was made back in 2006.

I may be screwed, but your thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks,
Tom

 

Maybe you could file a complaint against the Effingham County Tax Commission with the State of Georgia. Or at the very least, you could find someone with some form of common sense (an extreme rarity in anything government related) to speak with that could correct the mileage affidavit, then immediately contact CarFax directly to resolve yourself. CarFax is trying to stop mileage rollbacks with their service and you need to find someone there with common sense as well (good luck with that). I do believe that CarFax requires the documentation to be less than 6 months old, so get things changed in Georgia first, then call CarFax yourself. Don't depend on any government agency doing anything. http://consumer.georgia.gov/consumer...ng-a-complaint

I suppose you could take them to small claims court where a judge could help out. A judge (not all) typically have much more common sense than any paid gov't employee (who really doesn't give a rat's azz about your "small problem"). That might get someone's attention and the story of "no guarantee that they will change it". Make the State of Georgia change the mileage affidavit and CarFax will probably accept it then.

 

I always look at the mileage on title before buying a car, and I have bought well over 40 in my life. If I see "exempt", it throws up a red flag and I have more questions to ask the seller, many times they don't even know it's there. It's not as bad as a salvage or rebuilt title, and some buyers won't even notice, but I would push to try and get it removed.

 

If I was looking at your car and you had all the records showing "actual" mileage, I'd believe you and not the title. Still, if I was the buyer, I'd be worried about resale myself. Tough situation you are in. Hopefully you can get it worked out.

 

go through the effort of fixing it with the original county and if it doesnt pan out then, just tell your story when you go to sell the car.

 

Yep, that is what I would do...good luck

 

Thanks for all the input! Next week will tell the tale....

it it just makes me sick that this happened.

Tom

 

Affidavit from former business associate?

 

I can't speak for other states, but in AL ALL cars over 10 years old are marked exempt. So all C4, all C5 and some C6 will be marked that way. Titles issued before the car turns 10 are annotated with mileage, but it will change if a new title is issued.

 

Yeah that's the same thing here; my state marks all cars as old as the C5 as "exempt" on mileage. They'll note it if the person who supplies the title gives that info, but otherwise it's still going to read "exempt". You can't get past it here.

IMHO I don't see what the deal is anyway. When you re-up your registration yearly you typically have to state mileage to when you supply your info (even if I don't go in person and re-up online I have to note it), which is noted by the DMV. Anything noted by the DMV will be entered and show up on a vehicle history report. Plus I guarantee you it's not hurting value. I'm sure there's a mess ton of '63 split windows that read "exempt" and trust me, it's not hurting them.

 

I've dealt with something similar before, and the state DMV office needed to straighten things out. Having the CarFax with all inspections and services noted was valuable documentation. The gal that handled this for me at DMV was extremely helpful. So I think it's worth a try. Don't lose too much sleep over this.

 

Very good advice. Document everything as you go along just in case the DMV route doesn't pan out.

 

Illinois marks the titles exempt if the car is 10 years old or older. When I purchased my 2001 in 2014 that is what my title is marked. I would type up a letter of the situation and keep it with the documentation of the car to clarify what happened.

 

[QUOTE=TomG3;1595806098]How does mileage "Exempt" affect the value or salability of a vehicle?

Here's my dilemma, on 9-24-2005 I purchased my 1999 C5 convertible from a former business associate with 19,301 miles on it while living in South Carolina. I moved to Georgia the next June and registered the car there with around 23,000 miles on it. When I received the new GA title, I did not notice that the 23,000 had been changed to read 230000. Two days ago a Car Fax was run and the 230,000 mile title leaped off the report so I grabbed my title and took it to the "Tag" office to get it corrected. I had my original Bill of Sale with the 19,301 miles on it, service records that show the progression of the mileage from the 23,000 to today's 46,150. I also have a 2007 Car Fax report that shows 23,145 miles as of 10-04-2007. The "Tag" office says there is nothing that they can do for me since I now live in Hall County, GA and I originally registered the car in Effingham County, GA. They tell me that I'll have to go back to Effingham County which is 200 miles away. Rather than drive, I called Effingham and was told that I have two options: change the Title to mileage Exempt (since the car is 18 years old) or I can file a mileage discrepancy form which will be sent to the State office but there is NO guaranty that they will change it. I don't understand that form's application to me since I am the "Owner" and not the "Transferor". Obviously, the 230,000 miles currently shown on the Title creates an expensive situation for me as KBB has about a $6-7k lower value for the high mileage.

I would definitely persevere with the various county agencies to get this corrected.
If they don't work with you to correct the error, and this is THAT IMPORTANT to you, you may be able to take them to Small Claims Court to force them to correct the mileage
But, if not-as others have said you've got a legitimate detailed paper trail and history showing the mileage that obviously works in your favor.
But, I see a bigger problem with the CarFax showing 230,000 miles.
Anyone looking at your CarFax sees 230,000 miles, they'll never contact you and you'll never know how many people saw this and as a result never responded
Have you been in touch with CarFax and will they make the correction?
I know of others who have had issues with incorrect CarFax info that really hurt their value and Carfax was unwilling to correct.

 

It's very normal for a car to be exempt from mileage - it was that way when I lived in WI. It's not a red flag like one guy said. The 230,000 miles is going to have to be explained, but I would also believe that if you were to send a certified letter and keep the response with your paperwork, that would go a long way toward supporting your story.

 

I would just get it checked out and make a decision off of that. If you're concerned about resale value in the near future, then maybe not the best choice. If you're going to keep it forever, and its fixed correctly, then it may be ok!

 

This thread is from 2017! I'm pretty sure the OP has resolved the situation by now.

 

I don't see why the suggested form for this problem wouldn't work, you have good records. Some people like to make problems, so that is why the form is given out in such a way as to avoid grief from some cheating scum who think yelling at clerks will get what they want, no matter the reality. Hey it works at the department stores for crooks.

One can buy devices over the internet to change milage displays, so I would have the paperwork corrected if at all possible, rather than have some 'splining to do at time of sale, even with such an outrageous number.