Can You Tell If the Tripmeter Was Tricked?

How can we know physically that the tripmeter has been changed?

You can't!

Did you buy it off a lot? If you did, it's been changed.

I would hazard a guess that your danger is greater with a private sale. The dealer at least puts his license on the line by cheating. The private risks nothing.

Low mileage gauge clusters were hot items on ebay during the leasing boom for this reason.

One way would be look for consistent mileage throughout the maintenance history if one is available. It could be as simple as "I always have the oil changed at Spiffylube" as they index and record mileage everytime they do a service. The seller could pull the records for you.

I'm not sure if the odometer that is in the car is electronic or the older mechanical style. On the mechanical type you can look for numbers that are a bit misaligned across the dial. The misalignment could indicate tampering.

Well, yeah

But the electronic ones (and foolishly the mileage was stored in the cluster, not the computer) were going as cheap as $25 on ebay.

If you are serious about a used car off the lot, take it to a your mechanic, have him check compression, valve sealing, and if a manual have him check the tranny. If front wheel drive, have him check the CV joints.

Or better if he is a GOOD mechanic, ask him if the condition matches the mileage and leave him to it.

It will not be free, but cars can be a large investment.

You're needing a long look meter

I look at the less obvious things, some items wear proportionate to mileage. Such as pedals and window crank knobs or suspension spring height for example and steering box gear play measurement, even the measurable resistance in the ignition power wire.

The gauge is rough though all things considered a trend may emerge.

I gave you a GA. Why did you give yourself off topic? What you wrote was accurate.

A further point I always look for is the mileage sticker for the next oil change, sometimes its inside the door frame, sometimes its wired to a cable inside the engine compartment.

Often people who are cheats forget to look for and remove them....

The maintenance manual is difficult to forge in a way that works. A low mileage car must have no missing pages, it must have the original dealer's stamp and every service must be noted. Call the dealer and ask who was the original owner, ring him up and ask what the mileage was!

If the book is missing, smell a rat!!!

Look for the log book (or whatever it is called in your country) and see how many previous owners are noted, ring them all up and ask what the mileage was when they sold....

On Mercedes (I know this is a Toyota!), the full original mileage is stored also in the ignition key, a dealer can read it out for you!!! Some other manufacturers do similar things!!!

More often than otherwise, it's simply just a matter of false reporting to the potential buyer. With a 5 digit odometer (not trip meter ... that's the extra meter just for measuring short trips and can be easily rest to zero at drivers' pleasure), a reading of 60,000 could be genuine or could be off by as much as 100,000 or 200,000 (with each actual turn-over of the meter). It is not inconceivable that a car can be quite "old" and still appear quite new...say when kept indoors and used only rarely. So appearance is a good indicator of wear and tear but not as good an indicator of age. If you have the engine thoroughly checked (including compression or cylinder balance) and it indicates an engine with little wear, then you can trust the body appearance and odometer reading more. If engine shows lotsa wear (including oil and fluids leaking/dripping, then best not to trust the clean body and low KM reading.

In the US there are govt legal and license administrative protections that have substantially curtailed false mileage reporting and odometer rollback. If your (prospect) car was originally titled in the US, you might have some recourse to those (US) systems...by ordering a Car Fax report using the car's VIN. The report will give an complete history and any discrepancy in odometer reading will show up.

Some other hints to look for: A new paint job/Bondo, worn brake/gas/clutch pedal covers. Creaks and rattles on a rocky road. Oil film anywhere. Give the rocker panels a good hard hit with the meat of your hand while curling youur fingers under it for rust. Get an $12 inspection mirror. Look for rounded or vise gripped bolt/nuts, etc..

Squeaks and rattles would seem obviousexcept that I inhereted a '99 Mercury Marquis from my father, who bought it new, that has 48K on it. I'm embarassed to drive it through a parking lot with all the creaks and groans coming from both front and rear suspensions. No amount of silicone spray has been able to quiet them. No grease fittings anywhere.

ALWAYS check the lower pinch welds of the body panels below the doors. If the car has ever been on a frame machine, there will always be clamp marks. This is not always bad, as even minor accident damage could send the car to the laser frame machine just for checking for alignment inconsistancies. If you notice any clamp marks, start looking for evidence that major chassis work has occurred, crinkled frame members, welds, doors that close a little wierd, etc.

\When assessing new paint and bondo, keep in mind that a lot of repaint jobs are to correct faded paint and door dings. You might be dismissing a good older car that has been reasonably well cared for but has never been garaged and is no stranger to parking lots.

in USA

www.carfax.com

In the US, all states have a safety and emissions test of sorts, though they vary by state. The mileage is recorded at each annual check. Here, carfax reports are the best way to check for mileage discrepancies.

With older vehicles some people disconnected there odometer but this is not possible with newer cars since mileage is stored in the ECU and disconnecting the speed sensor will cause errors with traction control and possibly engine and transmission control units. However, modern criminals have tools to reflash the ECU with altered mileage numbers.

In places without government intervention to protect people from mileage fraud, I recommend either buying a 1 owner car where the owner kept full service records or getting a certified used car from a reputable dealer.

I only wish you were right. In Alabama there is no emission testing. There is not even a required inspection program.

When I transfered here and asked at the DMV about the inspection requirements they said I could inspect it myself. No sticker is required.

"If you think it is safe enough to drive, so do we".

Isn't that scary?

Paddler

You can check the surface of the pedals, the tires, the knobs on the dashboard, the air filter (replaced or not), the battery, the cleanness under the hood in the hidden corners, etc...