Is it possible to 'roll back' a digital odometer ?

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Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Back in 01 I knew a guy that was leasing at 99 F150. Can't remember how long he was leasing it for but he still had a long while to go and was very close to going over. So he unplugged the speedometer/odometer. Not sure if he got away with it as it should of raised some flags.


Why bother?

Fords (mainly Mustangs and F-150s)of that era had a faulty ground and the odometer doesn't work 1/2 the time anyway.
The speedometer will still work but the odometer is just a blank space on the dash
It's an easy fix but you gotta take off a hundred (exaggeration....there are a lot though) screws to get to it.
 
Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
On the original topic, some cars can be driven with the odo disconnected. Or in the case of my first tundra, a speedo-healer can remove 20% or more. When I sold that tundra with 220k I knew it was closer to 300, but at that point, who cares.

My '91 escort GT was sold with 196k, i used to disconnect to odometer cable before I did highway trips. Mostly so no one would know how many miles I was really driving. Considering how many time I drove from NY to Fl in any given year, there Is no telling how many miles were really on it, but again - at 200+k ,who cares.


If it doesn't make a difference whether a car has 200k miles or 250k miles, then why did you tamper with the odo/speedo? Obviously it mattered enough for you to do what you do, and it isn't for you to decide whether it matters to the next owner.




And why would you advertise that in an open forum? Has the statute of limitation expired on it?

- Vikas
 
No problem at all! In Poland its big business they roll back every high KM German car they steal (thousands) and re hash or for shady dealers over the border.
Its done in a less than few min,i'm told it easier and quicker than the old mechanical units if you have the right equipment and knowledge.
 
Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
Why would a one-owner car make odo tampering less likely?

Nothing beats visual inspection. The interior of a 25k car should be consistent with a 25k car. A car with that low miles should also be on its original tires

Not true on some cars.

My '04 Honda S2000 was on third set of rear tires and second set of front tires by 25k miles.

My '00 MB E430 was on on second set of tires by 14k miles and third set of tires by 30k miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
On the original topic, some cars can be driven with the odo disconnected. Or in the case of my first tundra, a speedo-healer can remove 20% or more. When I sold that tundra with 220k I knew it was closer to 300, but at that point, who cares.

My '91 escort GT was sold with 196k, i used to disconnect to odometer cable before I did highway trips. Mostly so no one would know how many miles I was really driving. Considering how many time I drove from NY to Fl in any given year, there Is no telling how many miles were really on it, but again - at 200+k ,who cares.


If it doesn't make a difference whether a car has 200k miles or 250k miles, then why did you tamper with the odo/speedo? Obviously it mattered enough for you to do what you do, and it isn't for you to decide whether it matters to the next owner.




And why would you advertise that in an open forum? Has the statute of limitation expired on it?

- Vikas


It was not done to deceive a future purchaser, in both cases the odometer error was disclosed. In the first case i was doing it to keep someone out of my business, the second one was after a tire size change that got undone. My point is when you are selling a car for $600 (escort) what difference does it make if it is 200 or 300. It's not like selling a car with 100k as 25k.

Think about all the guys who put 35 inch+ tires on their truck that came with 27 inch tires. Their odometer is not even close to accurate.
 
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I knew a guy some years ago who had the odo turned back on a leased late 'nineties Ford pickemup, which he used for his moonlighting landscaping jobs, so it is quite doable.
He was way over the mileage allowance of the lease, and wanted to avoid either buying the truck or incurring the penalty.
When you look at any car, the overall condition and the way it runs and drives should jibe with the miles shown.
If not, I'd say you have a pretty strong hint that the mileage depicted is not accurate.
Also, a detailed maintenance history is worth a great deal, since it will allow you to view the care given the car over time, is hard to fake, and will give you mileage vs time, allowing you considerable assurance that the stated mileage is correct.
The service history folder for the BMW was a considerable comfort factor in my purchasing the car.
Carfax is probably better than nothing, but maybe not much better, based upon what I have seen.
 
In theory couldn't you rack up say 30,000 on the oem cluster, go to junkyard pull another cluster, no matter the mileage, drive it around for a couple years, put back in original cluster and still have 30,000?
 
Originally Posted By: babyjay8495
In theory couldn't you rack up say 30,000 on the oem cluster, go to junkyard pull another cluster, no matter the mileage, drive it around for a couple years, put back in original cluster and still have 30,000?


There is no limit to human imagination and creativity.
I'm sure this has been done.
 
Definitely possible. When I was at a friend's body shop last month, I saw a '06 Lincoln Town Car Executive Series, which was a grey import from the States. I reckon was used as an airport transport vehicle/livery vehicle or something along the lines, considering there were holes in the dashboard and an exterior mounted antenna that was removed. It was at the body shop to plug all the holes, and a complete paint job. The mileage was hand written on the left rear door glass, both in miles and kilometres - 382,000 miles and 611,200 kilometres respectively. I sat in the driver's seat and started the engine, just out of curiosity. The digital odometer read 57,750 miles.

99.9% of used American grey imports here are either flood cars, totalled by insurance companies and brought in to repair here or just high mileage vehicles. Someone with connections on the inside manages to bring them in, and this is how they sell them here.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
On the original topic, some cars can be driven with the odo disconnected. Or in the case of my first tundra, a speedo-healer can remove 20% or more. When I sold that tundra with 220k I knew it was closer to 300, but at that point, who cares.

My '91 escort GT was sold with 196k, i used to disconnect to odometer cable before I did highway trips. Mostly so no one would know how many miles I was really driving. Considering how many time I drove from NY to Fl in any given year, there Is no telling how many miles were really on it, but again - at 200+k ,who cares.


If it doesn't make a difference whether a car has 200k miles or 250k miles, then why did you tamper with the odo/speedo? Obviously it mattered enough for you to do what you do, and it isn't for you to decide whether it matters to the next owner.




And why would you advertise that in an open forum? Has the statute of limitation expired on it?

- Vikas


it's alot harder to sell a vehicle with 300k miles than with 200k miles
smirk.gif
 
I've seen what people can do...no car is safe.


I personally know a task force member, and the things you can do with a labtop is jaw dropping....not to mention easy.


Could I do it? Yes. But why the heck would I want to go to jail for selling a compact car?
21.gif



I agree with everyone else...you really have to take a good look at the car. I've already found a car here like that..pointd it out to the dealership...they were not happy (they did not do it, the customer did.) And this was just a simple saturn Vue...
 
Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
Why would a one-owner car make odo tampering less likely?

Nothing beats visual inspection. The interior of a 25k car should be consistent with a 25k car. A car with that low miles should also be on its original tires


Yes...depends on the tire though...
 
Originally Posted By: PhillyJoe
Wouldn't you be able to find a late model wreck at the junkyard, and swap the low mileage cluster into your car that has the 100,000 mile cluster?




Yes. Some makes you can...
 
With the late 90's fords before they went to digital, when you replaced the odometer, the dealer would do it, then affix a sticker to the jamb of the door telling to add mileage to the odometer, as it had been replaced with x amount of miles.

I had a 96 thunderbird that had one of these stickers.

With the new cars, what was the procedure for the dealer when replacing a broken odometer? They must just program it, surely they don't put in a new one with 0 miles on it. There has to be a bit in the computer that can be changed with a factory scan tool.
 
Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
Definitely possible. When I was at a friend's body shop last month, I saw a '06 Lincoln Town Car Executive Series, which was a grey import from the States. I reckon was used as an airport transport vehicle/livery vehicle or something along the lines, considering there were holes in the dashboard and an exterior mounted antenna that was removed. It was at the body shop to plug all the holes, and a complete paint job. The mileage was hand written on the left rear door glass, both in miles and kilometres - 382,000 miles and 611,200 kilometres respectively. I sat in the driver's seat and started the engine, just out of curiosity. The digital odometer read 57,750 miles.


I am always VERY SUSPICIOUS of very low mileage cars...Especially if the car is on the second or third owner or if the car is from a Used Car Dealer...Unless it is a one owner car from someone over 80 years old with service records from the time it was bought I have my suspecions.

I would rather get a [well serviced high mileage take home] decommissioned police interceptor then a low mileage car from a used car dealer or a car from private citizen that is on it's second or third owner.

That is just IMHO.
 
Originally Posted By: babyjay8495
In theory couldn't you rack up say 30,000 on the oem cluster, go to junkyard pull another cluster, no matter the mileage, drive it around for a couple years, put back in original cluster and still have 30,000?


Back in the days of mechanical odometers, yes. I've seen low mileage clusters for sale at junkyards.

The digital ones at least sometimes talk to the PCM and BCM and presumably a discrepancy would make them read "error". If your cluster was completely dumb the PCM would remember the mileage and both clusters report the true mileage.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: babyjay8495
In theory couldn't you rack up say 30,000 on the oem cluster, go to junkyard pull another cluster, no matter the mileage, drive it around for a couple years, put back in original cluster and still have 30,000?


Back in the days of mechanical odometers, yes. I've seen low mileage clusters for sale at junkyards.

The digital ones at least sometimes talk to the PCM and BCM and presumably a discrepancy would make them read "error". If your cluster was completely dumb the PCM would remember the mileage and both clusters report the true mileage.



Sometimes....
 
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