BMW Financial Services NA is suing an Armonk woman for allegedly tampering with an odometer to avoid paying an excess wear penalty on a leased SUV.
BMW accused Katica Djurasevic of violating the Federal Odometer Act, fraud, breach of contract and intermeddling with the car company’s use of property, in a complaint filed Aug. 15 in U.S. District Court in White Plains.
The car in question is a 2020 BMW X7 M50i that was valued at $103,293 when Djurasevic leased it from BMW of Springfield, New Jersey on Feb. 18, 2020.
She agreed to pay $22,750 plus fees at signing and $840 a month for three years, for a total of $52,500. For every mile over 22,727 at the end of the lease, she had to pay 30-cents for excessive wear and use.
Djurasevic extended the lease by two months and surrendered the car on April 3 to BMW of Greenwich. The odometer showed 39,949 miles, or 17,222 extra miles.
Then, BMW claims, it discovered evidence of odometer tampering. The housing of the dashboard instrument cluster was missing, for instance; the instrument cluster was fastened to the dashboard with nonstandard screws; and a fault code from the car’s internal computer indicated a failure at 36,728 miles.
BMW says it is unable to ascertain the true mileage, and under state and federal laws it must disclose to prospective buyers that the mileage is unknown. And that, BMW says, “significantly depreciates the value of the subject vehicle.”
The lease required Djurasevic to notify BMW if the odometer malfunctioned, according to the complaint, and to have it repaired within 30 days.
She knew, or should have known, of odometer tampering before surrendering the car, the complaint states, but failed to get it fixed.
BMW is seeking three times the cost of economic damages for a sum that has yet to be determined.
Attempts to find contact information for Djurasevic, the ask for her side of the story, failed.
BMW is represented by New Providence, New Jersey attorney Steven A. Andreacchi.
Would’ve been a lot cheaper for her to pay the $5k for the overage!