The problem is not the motor replacement. The problem is the odometer discrepancy that has to be disclosed for the vehicle to be sold.

In the newer vehicles with digital odos the mileage is stored in the PCM and if the engine is replaced in its entirety the dealer should be able to have it reset to 00000.

 

But then you are falsly reporting the mileage/wear on the rest of the vehicle.

 

Your mileage is for the vehicle, not the motor. Some people will keep track of the different mileage if they replace a motor when the vehicle is 10 years old (or maybe 150k miles). However, this is really still a new vehicle getting a very slightly newer motor. If, when you sell this vehicle, they find the motor was replaced at only a few thousand miles and you keep the paperwork for why it was replaced (and that it was a factory complete motor - not a junkyard or rebuilt one)....I don't see that it will have any influence on the value of your vehicle.

That does not mean that some slick salesman won't try to give you less for it on a trade. Those kind of excuses happen all day long. It's part of the negotiation. If they get you to take $1000 less for some lame excuse, that is $1000 more they make. Trade-in value is negotiable just like the new car price is negotiable.

The dealership is required to make you whole. By installing a new factory motor from the production line, they are doing that. I, personally, would not worry about it. Heck, it sounds like you will get a free extended warranty out of it.

I think you are being treated fairly. That's my 2 cents.

 

I wouldn't buy it with a replaced motor.

 

Then you likely wouldn't buy it with a replaced anything. When you buy it it's not new. All kinds of things can and will be replaced. Depending on when it's sold it could have new tires, filters, bushings, brakes, linkages, and a host of other parts. You have no logical basis for your decision other than bias, or that you really wanted a new car in the first place. The fact is, this car will be as good as, if not better, than any month old Durango.

 

I agree! Well said.