C5_

I'm in the market for a C5. Can odometer readings be manipulated? Is there anything I should be cautious about regarding odometer readings?

Thank you!

JR-01

You should be able to verify mileage with the Carfax and service records. Dealers can manipulate mileage but it is pretty difficult without the right equipment. Not to mention they can get into big trouble.

bj1k

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about this issue . Mileage doesn't mean that much on a low miles car anyway if the snot was beat out of it . You should be looking for signs of abuse meaning bald rear tires , dirty or leaking engine , rough interior , neglected paint , etc. These and more are signs of little to no maintenance. Turning back mileage would be pure insanity today with so many paper trails on all vehicles and the penalties are high so that is the least of your worries. Do your research before you buy because there is plenty of information out there.

Vetteman Jack

Just not worth the legal trouble someone can get into to roll back the mileage. Not saying it can't be done, just not worth it.

racebum

not at all true

it's only a crime if the car is ten years old or newer in most or all states

mileage is very easy to alter and i came across at least one c5 i'm certain was altered when i was shopping

absolutely check carfax, at a bare minimum pull a manifold vacuum reading on the manifold when the car is warm at idle and look over the undercarrage for any concealed leaks or damage

thisMSGgood4me

Never heard that before. I highly doubt it. I'd bet that in all states (I know for a fact it is in TX), the seller has to disclose if he/she knows if the odometer reading is not a true indication of actual miles on the vehicle, regardless of age of the vehicle.

On the Application for Texas Title, the seller has to attest to the mileage, given this warning: ODOMETER DISCLOSURE - FEDERAL AND STATE LAW REQUIRES THAT YOU STATE THE MILEAGE UPON TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP. FAILURE TO COMPLETE OR PROVIDING A FALSE STATEMENT MAY RESULT IN FINES AND/OR IMPRISONMENT. Nowhere does it qualify the warning only to vehicles of a certain age or less.

JR-01

Tens years and older is the rule in Wis:

kennedy759

bought my 97 in June with 89k on it, finally bought a car fax and showed Nevada emission checks at 95k and 98k, then shows change of ownership at 85k, figured it was set back 15k to help it sell well below 100k, so yes it can be done, I do not think the person I bought it from knew of the change, as it had been owned by several people and dealers over 4 states. There is a long gap of no car fax info, in which all the mods were done and odometer messed with while in Nevada, car was bought in Ill moved to Maryland and I live in Indiana.

thisMSGgood4me

Good to know that about WI. Thanks for pointing it out.

Choreo

No... they are not all accurate any more than all women are faithful. I have found odometers and women to all be off a little bit in one direction or the other. What you see is not always what you get, both tend to lie about their mileage.

DanSavage

It looks like JR-01 meant to write that in WI, it's 10 years and newer are required to be accurate. ('Vehicles ten years old or older, or with a gross weight rating of more than 16,000 pounds are exempt from this requirement.')

It's as easy to alter the odometer reading as simply swapping in an instrument cluster for one with a lower odometer reading.

Let's say you have a car that you want to sell that has 150,000 miles on it. You swap in an IPC that has 45,000 miles and don't have it reprogrammed, and now you have a car that shows 45,000 miles.

Is it legal? According to WI laws, it is legal. Is it moral? Definitely not.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-question.html

C5_

Scary stuff...

racebum

you live in one of the only states i know of with a state code that can punish fraud that doesn't have the ten year clause {i think}

texas penal code 727.002 http://law.onecle.com/texas/transpor...27.002.00.html

is a rather unique law, most states don't have this and it's a big part of why fraud is such a big problem

in my state, oregon, it's ten years

this is straight off nhtsa.gov and how most the country works

racebum

absolutely, only most people aren't stupid enough to make a 150k car a 45k car, they would make it a 90k car or a 200k car a 110k mile car, something believable but enough to make them a couple thousand dollars. the car i'm speaking of seeing i was fairly sure was tampered had 84k miles on the clock, showed 60k in 2005 and the seller told me where he worked and that he drove it everyday, all freeway miles he says. he had no idea i checked the mileage via carfax either. anyway, he had a 40 mile each way commute times 8 years, well 80 miles a day 5 days a week is 20,800 miles, times 8 years is 160k+ the 60k on it. maybe he didn't drive quite that much but the car looked like a 200k mile car to me based on seal condition, hinges, paint and feel of the plastic. one of my friends was a dealer for awhile and said roughly 1/4 of all cars that were brought to him over 10 years old had altered miles

bj1k

Your facts are not right. They only ask for odometer statements for 10 years or newer but it is still illegal to tamper with any mileage. Try it and tell any law enforcement officer that you did it and see what the outcome is , then report back to us.

JR-01

Without documentation you would be dumb to trust the odometer on any old car. Restoration, modifying and part replacement could have occurred. I replaced the broken speedometer in my 66 Mustang with one I got in the junkyard with a 20K mile difference and I do not believe I was breaking the law. That is why they have the ten year and older exempt law.
Documentation is the key for old cars with low mileage..

racebum

read the post before you type this nonsense

i've checked my states legal code, the federal law i posted,

research your own state and post up the legal code of what you find

texas is one of the only states i know of with a law that seems to apply to vehicles of all ages, most the others would seem to follow the feds. if no written signed mileage statement is required it literally would be word against word even if you did find proof mileage was not accurate. like i said before in the posts above you didn't read. one of my friends was a dealer for awhile, he looked into this. the police have no interest unless the car is ten years old or newer in our state

JR-01

For older cars all the seller/dealer has to say is "For all I know, the mileage on the odometer is correct." and he is off the hook even if you sue him. For ten years and newer if you can prove the mileage has been tampered with you can file a complaint.

thisMSGgood4me

In light of what racebum quoted in post #13, I think the bottom line is, in situations unlike here in TX, there is no requirement to disclose whether the mileage as shown on the odometer of vehicles 10 years old and older is accurate or not. However, if an odometer reading is disclosed on such a vehicle and it can be proven to be incorrect (and not disclosed as being incorrect), then that constitutes fraud. So if the vehicle is 10 years old or older, the safe thing to do is to just not disclose the odometer reading when transferring title, as it appears you're not required to according to the law. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), here in TX, one MUST disclose the odometer reading regardless of the vehicle's age. I personally think this is a good thing, as it would tend to reduce the occurrence of this type of fraud, knowing that there are severe penalties for doing such. It seems lots of other states and the feds don't really care as much about this type of fraud occurring as we do in TX.

racebum

pretty much. if you look at the fraud angle, you would have to prove the seller knowingly altered the odo. the seller could say, well that's what it said when i bought it or really about anything. very hard to build a criminal case.

the best approach is to be very guarded as a buyer, do your homework and look the car over and ask yourself "does this mileage seem accurate"