Victordnet Posted February 13, 2007 Posted February 13, 2007 Hi, I have a 2001 LS 430 that I have reason to beleive that the car odometer has been altered. Is there any way to go into the car computer and verify if the odometer has been removed and or altered? Regards, MV
JIBBBY Posted February 13, 2007 Posted February 13, 2007 Yes there are several ways... 1) First ask for dealer service records...Assuming the car was service under warranty the Lexus dealership will list mileage for each service...You need to go in person and ask the Lexus dealer for a history of maintenance service for your newly purchased lexus... They will print you out one for free... 2) Locate the long vin number on your registration card and go to carfax.com...They will provide a history of registration and smog checks where they list mileage... Those two should give you the answers you are looking for...Good luck...
Victordnet Posted February 13, 2007 Author Posted February 13, 2007 Yes there are several ways... 1) First ask for dealer service records...Assuming the car was service under warranty the Lexus dealership will list mileage for each service...You need to go in person and ask the Lexus dealer for a history of maintenance service for your newly purchased lexus... They will print you out one for free... 2) Locate the long vin number on your registration card and go to carfax.com...They will provide a history of registration and smog checks where they list mileage... Those two should give you the answers you are looking for...Good luck... Thank you, I have already done what you mentioned, are there any ways to find this out using soley the cars computer?
JIBBBY Posted February 13, 2007 Posted February 13, 2007 The only other way that I know - If the car previously transferred ownership before you (bought and sold) you can find the previous owner and or owners of the car and contact them thru the DMV records to find the facts.... You need to go to the DMV and let them know you believe that Odometer fraud may have occured with your recently purchased vehicle and you would like the prior owner or owners contact information... Then call or write the previous owners and ask them about the mileage....From my past experiences the previous owners will be more then willing to help you out in anyway possible.... That is about your last alternative which is really your best way to prove OD fraud in Small Claims Court, or to get compensation from the crook outside of court......If previous owners are willing to go court and testify you will win your full $5000 claim everytime regardless of what the car is worth...When you prove a federal offense has been committed against you in court the Judge will automatically award you full compensation without explaination or reason.... I know all this because I owned a used car dealership for 5 years and purchased cars a few times from private parties with incorrect OD reads...
SW03ES Posted February 13, 2007 Posted February 13, 2007 Isn't it pretty hard to roll back the odometers on newer cars?
JIBBBY Posted February 13, 2007 Posted February 13, 2007 It's hard to roll back digital odometers, easier to reset back to 0....that is true.... What these clowns do is call up local junk yards asking for instrument clusters..The junk yards have mileage listed for each digital cluster they sell...They keep calling til they find the cluster with the right mileage for let's say a car like yours and purchase it for maybe $300-$400... Once the new cluster is hooked up it will show the mileage from the car it came out of... So now instead of having let's say a 150,000 odometer reading, it will now show maybe 50,000 miles with the new instrument cluster junk yard purchase...Makes the car worth much more money at re-sale as you well know... Anyway, telling signs of high mileage use in a 2001 lexus model would be foot pedal pad wear, maybe a little steering wheel wear, pitted front windshield, and or excessive little pit marks on the front of the cars paint...These details are always present in high mileage vehicles... Why you may ask? 1) Newer high mileage cars drive regularly on the FREEWAY at speeds of 65mph... Little rocks and debri's hit the front of the car and windshield making pit marks... This usually is not evident in low mileage city driven cars... 2) Since the car is being driven alot, wear on the driver side seat, steering wheel, and foot pedals wear usually is more evident and noticeable when comparing the same car with maybe half the mileage... 3) Looking to see for big changes under the hood like timing belt, aftermarket spark plugs, stock battery, etc.. See alot of those changes on a low mileage car you need to worry.... High mileage cars need more maintenance then lower mileage cars... 4) Obviously also look for oil change stickers on the side doors... Those tell the story...Check the manuals for maintenance log records, look under seats and trunk for any records indicating mileage... These are just a few ways to detect Odometer fraud when you are purchasing a used car... Even if you find out the mileage is not actual you still need to prove it, or just try and work it out with the seller once you know for sure.... If you don't mind me asking, what makes you think your car has less mileage on it that is being shown?
SW03ES Posted February 14, 2007 Posted February 14, 2007 Ah ha, didn't even think about replacing the cluster with a salvage one...
miamistyle Posted February 14, 2007 Posted February 14, 2007 I thought the mileage was stored in the ECU and not the cluster.
cmshoot Posted February 14, 2007 Posted February 14, 2007 http://web.info.com/infocom.us2/search/web...eter%20rollback
miamistyle Posted February 14, 2007 Posted February 14, 2007 So all someone has to do is swap the cluster for a couple years and then put back the original? That's scary!
JIBBBY Posted February 15, 2007 Posted February 15, 2007 So all someone has to do is swap the cluster for a couple years and then put back the original? That's scary! No, all someone has to do is buy a used cluster with low mileage and swap.... I hope I am not giving anyone any ideas on this thread... Odometer fraud is a federal offense.... It's not worth it....
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