Dealer Fraud, or coincidence?
 

So about a month ago I bought a 2009 R3 (which I love!) new, with about 900 miles on it. The dealer claimed it had been moved several times, and given the $5500 rebate I was eager to scoop it up before all the 09's disappeared. So recently I logged into mazda's mymazda.com site after the initial setup, and while browsing around I discovered the service record shown in the attachment.

On the day I bought the car, a large number of services are shown performed, with the mileage at 913. On the day before I bought the car (but after I had informed the dealer I was coming to get it), the mileage is shown at 4,638.

The car seemed to be in great shape when I got it, except that the leather on the left side of the driver's seat seemed a little worn. Given how difficult it can be to get out of the recaros without rubbing the leather, I didn't think much of it, except that it does seem a bit excessive for what should have been just 2 long distance transfer trips, esp since using it as a DD for a month, the leather wear looks the same. 2nd and 4th gears are noticeably less smooth to shift into than the others, but I think I remember reading somewhere that this is common and has to do with some sort of synchro coating.

TL;DR: Did the dealer accidentally let me know that they altered the mileage on a used car in order to sell it as new, or is this some sort of odd mistake in the service history and I'm being paranoid?

Aside from calling mazda and risk having the record removed before I can investigate further, what should I do?

there isnt a way for the dealer to drop miles on the car, it's an error with the report.

Perhaps the 4,638 was the actual odometer reading and the 913 was the trip odometer? What did the actual odometer show when you picked up the car? I can't imagine the seat would show wear from 913 miles.

If it were me I would ask the dealer to explain and if I was not satisfied with their explanation, I would contact MNAO directly. (Phone number is in your owners manual.) I believe there is a federal law against tampering with the odometer.

i can't imagine the seat showing wear from 4,638 miles either...

Something doesn't sound right

Seat wear could be due to people getting in and out of it at the dealership. You have to remember that even with only 900 miles on it its still a 2009 and has been sitting on the lot for almost 2 years. Thats a lot of time for different shoppers to climb in and out of it. These cars attract a lot of attention on the showroom floor even if they aren't selling much.

Im actually surprised it had 900 miles on it though. I bought my 09 R3 at the beginning of the this year (4 months ago) and it only had 25 miles on it. Maybe someone at the dealership was using it as a company car or something. Or 900 miles equals a LOT of test drives, which would explain your seat wear.

EDIT: If youre really worried you could get the CarFax report, that should tell you original date of sale.

i say get a new one!

I also think the 4K is the actual mileage and the 913 is what is showing on one of the trip odometers....that was the case with my car....the odometer (or so I thought) showed like 47 miles when in actuality the real odometer had 110 miles on it.

He said he bought it new....4000 miles new is a bit intense...

how can you misread the odometer?
you cant switch it off unlike tripometer.

The odometer definately read 913 when I bought it, (and it reads 4955 now). They claimed it was driven from somewhere in alabama to south carolina, and then from there to Atlanta when I bought it. The miles are within reason for those transfers, but I hadn't thought of the showroom floor point. As sexy as it is, I'm sure lots of people wanted to sit in it :D. Lots of people who didn't show much care as to how they got out :( .

I suspect it's an honest mistake, but I'll definitely follow it up. Thanks for all the responses!

wait what?
you bought it when it had 913mi and when you got it it had 4995mi?
how long did you wait?

My car has got 46K on it, and I have now wear on the seats..... weird...

Nono, i bought it at 900, but the service record shows it had 4800 the day before i bought it. Odometer definately read 900 when I got it, it's just the online service record showing the high number.

to be honest with you, there ARE ways to modify the odometer. Which I wont talk about it at all.

but I seriously think this is more like some sort of error than someone at dealership smart enough to do that.

must be an error

if you think its fishy have another mazda dealer check it out....

I still have 3 carfax reports that I paid for when I was looking around to buy my 8.. Im not going to use them and they expire end of next month. so, if u want me to carfax it for ya just let me know.

Yeah unfortunately its extremely easy to modify the odometer on the rx8. I found this out by mistake when I was cleaning and preparing my car to sell it.