Odometers

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toocrazy2yoo

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Hi guys..

Was wondering if any of yall have any idea if it's possible these to mess with an odometer to reflect lower miles than actually driven? My buddy is looking at an Elantra sedan, 2005, and an AccentGT, 2005 just like mine, and the Elantra has only (supposedly) 14K miles, and the AccentGT has only (supposedly)11.2K miles.

These cars are bank re-pops, resales, and will get full warranty transfers, etc. Is it possible, 1:The miles were phoney, but will be in the computer somewhere screwing him out of his warranty if the dealer pulls the truth off a chip? and 2:That they could have disconnected something or other to not register miles? I looked at the vehicles, they've been detailed, cleaned up and whatnot. But to have THAT few miles on two, two year old cars makes NO sense..

Are these things tamper-proof these days?
 
I know that the odometer can be disabled on at least some newer vehicles. I don't know if it's possible to set them back though.

Some people don't drive a lot. It doesn't seem that unusual to me. I don't give nearly as much credit for low mileage on a used car than many for reasons like that, as well as the fact that those 14K miles could be harder on the vehicle than 100K miles, depending on how it was driven. If it's a good price, I wouldn't worry about it. Of course, I don't see myself ever buying a used car except directly from the previous owner!
 
Yes, the mileage may be true. I drive 12K each year spread out among three vehicles.

Otherwise, judge the car on its merits.
 
Nothing is tamper proof,,but there are federal laws that make it too risky for most sellers. Plus what are the odds that both cars have been tampered with?

Bob
 
They are hard to tamper with, my guess is that they just didn't put a lot of miles on them. I put about 5K on my daily driver.

I worry about repo cars though. If they can't afford the payments they probably couldn't afford the maintenance either.
 
The newer Fords with independent electric speedos and odos easily can have either disabled. Simply unplug the motor(s).
 
I caught a "suspected" mileage adjustment one time on a Ford Escort by using CarFax. Several dealer service/transactions showed up on CarFax that implied that this car had more miles on it a year earlier than when it was put up for sale.
 
The VIN typically will be shown in the DMV records if they're from an enhanced emissions area ..the mileage, that is,

It's not an easy thing to do (altering a PCM). The dealer typically does it. You shouldn't be able to buy a new PCM without turning in the old one. They'll then transpose the VIN and the ODO reading to the new PCM. They need to flash them to make them functional.

The only way I can figure that the owner can get away with it is to find a junkyard PCM and swap in the original a few months before your inspection.

Anyone ever notice how the dealer that sold you your car knows exactly how many miles are on your vehicle with those service reminders and "speacials" without you ever going to the dealer ..or not having gone to the dealer for 8 or 9 months?? I was told they get it through the DMV records of your OBDII emissions inspection. The dealer knows when your inspection is due and can just look up your VIN ..which will state the mileage. My inspection garage sees my last years mileage when he's putting on the new sticker. It's in the DMV's database This is even for the dyno/sniffer OBDI vehicles since they have to verify the under 5k for an EXEMPTION. That they can lie on ..but that would not prevent another inspection station from viewing the data that they put in last year assuming you went to a different station.
 
Big Brother is coming your way...
On Star emails monthly with total mileage, %oil life left, and other vitals. If I'm getting it, no doubt GM is, and via network, the dealer is too, just in time to notify me of an oil change special. About the Hyundai's. There are a bunch of hacks on the web for different vehicles. Could be the odos are set to KM? Or maybe someone has one of these gems... OdoWiz
 
I know someone who rolls back odos for a living. There are countries where it's not strictly illegal to do so. Very easy to hack into ECUs and can be detected only by comparing data with ABS computer.
 
Quote:

I caught a "suspected" mileage adjustment one time on a Ford Escort by using CarFax. Several dealer service/transactions showed up on CarFax that implied that this car had more miles on it a year earlier than when it was put up for sale.

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Sometimes carfax isn't always correct. If the service writer transposes a number when you take it in for service you will have a heck of a time trying to get carfax to correct it. There is someone on this board that had that problem, it made it a puppy mother to sell his car. Just saying...
 
Quote:

I was told they get it through the DMV records of your OBDII emissions inspection. The dealer knows when your inspection is due and can just look up your VIN ..which will state the mileage.

Click to expand...


In Virginia there's a website you can go to where you can input a VIN and it will display the emissions inspection history dating back to 1999 or so when they started saving it online. It's free and anyone can access it.
 
Quote:

I know someone who rolls back odos for a living. There are countries where it's not strictly illegal to do so. Very easy to hack into ECUs and can be detected only by comparing data with ABS computer.

Click to expand...


Just another reason that detailed maintenance records are so valuable in a used vehicle purchase!
 
Then how do you keep track of your maintenance? My simple logbook method secured a number of used car sales, which gave the buyer a warm, fuzzy feeling buying a car from me.
 
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