Dodgy mileage

[Terryg]

This is probably going to open a can of worms but what the hell.

I have seen a few posts on various forums saying that the mileage must be correct because of all the MOTs and service histories line up and in some cases I think this is not true.

First off the car is not MOT'd for the first three years but that won't matter much because the owner will probably keep the service history up to date so that's fine because that creates a record of the mileage. However, if the vehicle is leased and tied in to an agreed mileage all of this goes out the window simply because guys are clocking their vehicles prior to each service simply because its cheaper than paying the penalty on the lease. This is a double whammy for second owners simply because the mileage between services is extended and in order for this to be viable the car has to be doing serious mileage and yet will actually show a very low mileage.

I am happy to hear any argument and I am sure there are some about internal systems that log all this, in reality though, is it in the car worlds interest to acknowledge this.

[Jonttt]

Yep happened all the time in the 90's / early electronic speedos. Not too sure its as easy with later cars are there are so many memories that have to reconcile. I know its pretty easy to check based on driving hours and mileage stacking up but like any "computer" at the end of the day they can be tampered with by someone with the right tools and knowledge. It certainly won't be as easy as it used to be though.

Makes me laugh when 996 owners accuse all 993's of being clocked when it was just as easy to clock the electronic unit in the 996 (and I presume early boxsters ?)

[Jason986S]

On my previous late 90's car, I took the new (used) speedo apart that I bought and simply adjusted the odo reading to match the car. Took me a fiddly half hour at the dining room table. Never questioned or queried. Probably helped the car was on a completely different engine from factory and was a grey import. But still. Always do-able especially on older stuff. 

My 986 reads 29,XXX on the swapped in 996 clocks, when it's actually on circa 110k now. I have a signed/dated letter to confirm the clock swap mileage so it's accountable. (And I have the original clocks which if plugged in I'm sure would confirm the mileage they were removed?!)

[topradio]

Story from when clocks were mechanical.

Chap takes his speedo apart to adjust the mileage and finds a note inside that says 'oh no not again!' 

When I fitted the 996 gauges to my 986 I kept the original instruments and added the extra clocks so that the stored info such a VIN and mileage are correct. However as its all stored in the EEPROM I could simply have read my old one and cloned it into another cluster.

[Mr96er]

I'm secretly hoping to get past 208k before I turn 50 in my Boxster. Then I can claim to have done half the mileage. I'll be proud if the use. 

Is clocking boxsters popular? I kinda thought maybe there was a "code" due to the fact the engines are known to last... 

[Terryg]

I doubt it applies that much to Boxsters, however anyone buying a repmobile owned by a small private firm, hmmm, well I wouldn't trust the mileage.

Another anecdote, a friend of mine in Wales sold a banger with 180,000 miles on it, he got a call from a friend in customs at Holyhead an hour or so later, it now had 80k on the clock on its way to Ireland.

[Jonttt]

Don't know why you think it would not apply to boxsters, it applies to any car where more money can be involved. As always buyer beware and make sure condition stacks up. 

[Terryg]

12 hours ago, Jonttt said:

Don't know why you think it would not apply to boxsters, it applies to any car where more money can be involved. As always buyer beware and make sure condition stacks up. 

You could be right, my thinking was they were less likely to be high mileage company cars, but I don't know the market well enough to say that for a fact. The thread was prompted by an ad in the for sale section, I didn't want to put this on that thread in case it damaged the posters chances of a sale, another reason for making it non Boxster specific

[Nobbie]

I think it's a lot harder to clock cars now and get away with it as everyone has access to MOT records. When I bought my first Corrado, the service history lined up fine with the mileage, but something didn't seem right, so I called up the garage that did the last service and they had never seen the car?, took it back and got a full refund, no questions asked.

Even now, if you're determined, I'm sure you could just disconnect the speedo between MOTs/Services and then clear the alarms. 

[That986]

Is very easy to clock mk4/5 golfs, you just tickle a couple of values in the Instrument portion of Vag com and you can wipe a third off. I've no doubt that 986s are as easy to do.

[edc]

This is why stamps in a service book may look nice but they are easy to forge and fabricate. 

[That986]

1 hour ago, edc said:

This is why stamps in a service book may look nice but they are easy to forge and fabricate. 

I never go by them when buying an older car, anyone can get a mate to run a couple of stamps in a book. FFS, I know someone who will MOT a car without seeing it.

[richardy]

4 minutes ago, That986 said:

I never go by them when buying an older car, anyone can get a mate to run a couple of stamps in a book. FFS, I know someone who will MOT a car without seeing it.

Wish I knew some colourful characters.

[That986]

16 minutes ago, richardy said:

Wish I knew some colourful characters.

When you've been a part of the car scene for as long as i have you get to know people. 

[edc]

16 minutes ago, richardy said:

Wish I knew some colourful characters.

I used to work in the security industry. I knew of some guys who took a guy and buried him up to his neck before they stopped until he he said he did have the money to pay back his debt ... 

[rowbos]

23 minutes ago, edc said:

I used to work in the security industry. I knew of some guys who took a guy and buried him up to his neck before they stopped until he he said he did have the money to pay back his debt ... 

Remind me not to lend any money off you  

[edc]

It wasn't a debt to me  

[RCS]

A local business guy spent sometime sourcing a Navaro double cab that was in good shape, especially in the load area etc.  Found one just on 3 years old with new MoT from a car dealer in Scotland with 50k odd miles.  Shortly after purchase it threw an abs light which is allegedly a fault with them, so he took it to the local Nissan Dealers to be fixed.  They rang him up and said it had been serviced at the Nissan Dealers in Aberdeen 2 months earlier with 90k on the clock!!  He eventually got his money back after stories of 'well wasn't me, a guy px'd it for a RR', but then said he could contact said guy as he didn't know who he was blah blah, basically dealer didn't want to know.  Trading standards were invoked and full refund followed very swiftly.  Not sure whats happened to dealer.  

Whoever clocked it was smart in getting a high miler coming up to 3 years old, so no MoT records. 

[topradio]

90K on a Navara. That's just about the time that the cam chains go and lunch the engine.

[RCS]

Possibly another reason why it was clocked, and a lucky escape for local bod

[Terryg]

On 2017-4-27 at 1:54 PM, Nobbie said:

I think it's a lot harder to clock cars now and get away with it as everyone has access to MOT records. When I bought my first Corrado, the service history lined up fine with the mileage, but something didn't seem right, so I called up the garage that did the last service and they had never seen the car?, took it back and got a full refund, no questions asked.

Even now, if you're determined, I'm sure you could just disconnect the speedo between MOTs/Services and then clear the alarms. 

The serious mileage is done before the first MOT with company cars which is why I specifically mention them, I can't say any more but I am not guessing it's happening lets put it that way, no I am not doing it myself as I don't do much mileage and I run "bangers" anyway.

[hs0zfe]

I hear you. And I remember my Dad's experience decades ago at a rural VW dealership where he traded in a Mercedes 280 E W 123. That dealer messed with the odometer. 

Got 300 pounds and an old notebook running XP? Then you could read out the data. Checxk the hours the ignition was on, the airbags were activated. Find a discrepancy? Calculate the average speed of the car. Normal would be 3x mph, not 1x mph.

When you are at it, check if the engine had been revved (abused)? I wouldn't touch a car with stage 2 or 3 violations! 

 

People are people and you all know the level of dishonesty in real life. And then it's not a matter worth a thousand pounds! 

(I overlooked a re-painted fender. You might as well check the thickness of the paint when you are at it)