Cheating in odometer, Fake mileage data Options

[G3D45]

Well... Then you are buying a car, you cannot be certain that the shown mileage on the odometer is the real one.

Previous owner could cheat you. Some strangers say that it's easy to set back odometer data. For example your car run 200'000 km. Set it back to 120'000 km and your will find more potential buyers who will think that car is in good condition... And so on... I think you caught what I'm talking about.

So what are you thinking about your cars? Are their mileage real one? Or is it a fake? I believe that my 1994 GT's 170'000 km is real one, because of several invoices written in the past...

The second point. How it is "popular" in Italy. I heard some rumours that some guys are setting back their odometers because of some state's tax policy depending from car mileage. I was really surprised; why in example Celicas in Italy have even twice lesser mileage then in Germany?

Particularly I'm waiting posts from Italians

[Gary]

Well, I'm not Italian but I do know that it is VERY easy to turn back the odometer. However, in the US, the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) in many states keep track of the vehicle mileages. Every time a car is sold, mileage must be reported. You can also CARFAX it. But like I said, it is very easy and you would never know.

[ExSane]

I think my mileage is correct. (186,000) I bought it about 2 years ago which was at 150,000. But the engine ran STRONG for the first year. After I abused it (racing crap) I tend to lost alot of low and high end horsepower. I use to floor it in gear 40mph-60mph in literally 2 seconds! Now it takes 10 seconds. I believe my car had a engine swap. Becuz the engine itself (valve cover, exhaust manifold, intake manifold, sparks, etc) were clean. I didn't even need a tune up, but I went ahead anyway becuz I wanted to. But yeah, I ALWAYS watch out of the fake mileage crap when buying another car.

[CelicaST202]

the DMV does not have records over cars that are 10yrs or older.

[wind]

everytime I go for smog testing they ask for milage. I think they ask for it when I insure the car as well.

[uberschall]

mileage doesn't mean much to me anymore. my second car was an '82 that only had 24k on it, but it constantly required work to run decently.

my first celica was purchased with 124k on the clock, and never missed a beat...even when i sold it with nearly 200k showing and after several fender-benders.

the clincher was my last car, a mercedes 190e. it supposedly had 90k on it when i bought it, i would have been the third owner, blah blah. only a couple of days after i bought it the odometer mysteriously stopped working, so i got another cluster with intent to set it to the proper mileage and carry on. when i removed the unit, i found that the "safety tab" that held the mechanical odometer shaft in place had been tampered with and the gears were...um, modified. when i finally went to sell it because i was getting bad vibes, some guy did a carfax on it and told me i was the 7th or 8th owner and that the last time it was registered it had 120k on it. by looking (even closely) or driving, you'd have never known.

my current celica was bought with 92k showing. i did get a carfax for it, and everything checks out. but honestly..... it starts, stops, turns, and the radio works....that's all that really matters to me.

in summation: mileage doesn't really give you any useful information anyway!

[BloodyStupidDave...]

So what are you thinking about your cars? Are their mileage real one? Or is it a fake? I believe that my 1994 GT's 170'000 km is real one, because of several invoices written in the past...

I know my mileage is real - although I am not the only owner (it was an ex-company car), I've been the only regular driver. Like many countries' department of vehicles, the UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and Vehicle and Operator Services Agency now collects mileage information every year when issuing tax disks and processing the MOT (vehicle safety test) certificate.

It is also worth pointing out that the ECU stores its own record of mileage. While it is possible to change the ECU record also, in most countries there are heavy fines if you willfully mislead the buyer as to the mileage when selling the car. Having said that, in the UK at least, there is nothing wrong with setting your odometer to anything you like as long as you clearly document the old and new values and ensure any buyer fully understands the 'real' mileage of the car.

This post has been edited by BloodyStupidDavey: Jan 15, 2007 - 5:47 PM