How To Avoid Milometer / Odometer Fraud
Odometers
are often rolled back so the seller can make more money. Cars with low mileage
are priced higher. Omit 35000-40000 KMs and it will artificially inflate the
value to about Rs. 1.0 lakh to Rs.1.5 lakhs.
Digital
odometers were supposed to make it hard for criminals to tamper with them, but
they still managed to find a way to hack them.
Most
vehicles store their digital milometer / odometer reading on the instrument
cluster on a re-writable chip. Once the chip is located, they will have it de-soldered
from the board and get it connected to a computer’s serial port where its data
can be downloaded and manipulated.
There
are many programs known to edit the data from on these chips.
The
data on the chip is coded with inverted hex values. The milometer /odometer
data are then edited and rewritten to the chip, which is then re-soldered
to the milometer / odometer board and put back into the car. On older cars that
sports analogue counters, the milometer / odometer is manually rolled by hand.
Tampering
the milometer / odometer not only raises the value of the vehicle, it also
deceives buyers that the vehicle is in better condition.
Here, we wrote down a few tips that will help consumer’s
determine if the milometer /odometer has been tampered. Make sure that you
keep these things in mind when you buy a used car.
Check The Instrument Dashboard
Make
sure that the numbers on the odometer gauge are aligned correctly. They
shouldn’t be crooked, there should be no gaps. Check if it jiggles when you
bang on the dash with your hand. If the vehicle has an analog odometer, as
opposed to newer digital readouts, check that the numbers are lined up
straight.
Look
for some manmade marks inside the instrument cluster. Look for fingerprints or
smudge marks. If you find some, it is a sure sign that someone has been in the
cluster. Look for loose parts and switches that do not belong. There have
already been reported cases of vehicles being rigged with switches that turns
the odometer off and on.
Check The Wear And Tear
Make sure
that the wear and tear match the declared mileage. Look out for signs such as
worn seats, scratches on the keyhole, the steering wheel and other vehicle
parts. These are indicators that the vehicle has been used a lot. If it looks
too worn for the declare mileage that means that it has been rolled back. Check
the vehicle’s tires. If it shows 70000 Kms or less it should have the original
tires.
Look For Service Stickers / Service Records
If you are
checking a car with a digital milometer / odometer, it will be difficult to see
physical signs of tampering. You can only know by dismantling the instrument
cluster to see if the odometer has been de-soldered
.
You can
look for service stickers inside the door or under the hood that may give the
actual mileage.
If the milometer
/ odometer has been replaced or if a mileage correction was done, there will be
a sticker / records showing:
· The date of installation / service.
· The service records always tells.
·
The vehicle’s last known mileage
prior to the repair or replacement.
· The mileage added to the vehicle while the milometer / odometer was inoperable, if any.
You
should also look at the owner’s manual for maintenance records. Make sure that
there are no missing pages. It is also smart to contact the service center to
validate the service manager ‘s signature.