1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Odometer

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Manhal K Alrashdan, Nov 25, 2015.

Tags:
  1. Manhal K Alrashdan

    Manhal K Alrashdan Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2015
    81
    16
    0
    Location:
    jordan
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Is there away to know if the distance on the odometer had been altered or reduced from the car computer?
    I know you can check it from the carfax,but I intend to buy a European prius that has has no records.
     
  2. mindfk

    mindfk Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2015
    16
    11
    0
    Location:
    United States
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Typically odometer reading is stored in multiple computers through the car, not just the ecu & gauges; could be light module, could be transmission controller, every manufacturer uses different methods/locations. A computer with adequate software can change the reading without any traces meaning that only visual inspection will give you an approximate miles on the car. Problem is, just like with women, you can find one with high mileage that looks like it's new and vice versa. Good luck.
     
    privilege likes this.
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,463
    38,101
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    That's kinda depressing.
     
    ThePrius11 likes this.
  4. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2010
    3,524
    981
    8
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    when the digital odo was phased in we were told it was impossible to tamper with. turns out to be the opposite. same with smart keys. BTW, toyota is very easy to roll down miles/km, GM, not so much.
     
    privilege likes this.
  5. burrito

    burrito Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2021
    274
    114
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I bought my 2015 Prius from a used car dealer. It had 19k miles on it. The first thing I did was take it to a shop to get a catalytic converter shield installed. I asked them to look it over, since I had just bought it. The guy says, "I don't think your car has 19k miles on it..."

    As alluded to earlier, a visual inspection reveled that the brakes had way more wear than one would expect to see on a hybrid vehicle with regenerative braking. His estimate based on brake wear was 80-90k miles.

    They hooked it up to their computer and spent quite some time poking around. The only concrete finding was "Travel Mileage After Battery Removed" showing >40k miles.

    In my case, someone must have reset the odometer at least twice, or perhaps they just dialed in whatever they wanted using their software.
     
    ThePrius11 and Mendel Leisk like this.
  6. privilege

    privilege Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2021
    659
    165
    0
    Location:
    Birmingham
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    no.

    yes.

    both.

    no= if the odometer is changed no you can't find it just by looking at the onboard computer. see voting machines, smartphones, obd dongles etc

    yes= if there are outside records of services, insurance write offs, OEM service records etc then yes you can compare the current recorded milage vs what the OEM/issuance says.

    both= sometimes you'll find a car that has very low milage , the insurance/OEM vin checks agree, but the body and wear surfaces say it's lying. this is probably a vin swapped body.

    long distance, high commitment sales are a gamble.

    I've seen cars flipped on fb market (dealers and private sellers) that went from 270k miles to 80k miles in less than a day.
     
    ThePrius11 likes this.
  7. privilege

    privilege Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2021
    659
    165
    0
    Location:
    Birmingham
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
  8. burrito

    burrito Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2021
    274
    114
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Interesting...
    I wonder why they didn't bother to mention how these people are tampering with the odometer, especially given that the one they showed is digital. Also, what are the repercussions if they did it on cars less than 10 years old?
     
  9. privilege

    privilege Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2021
    659
    165
    0
    Location:
    Birmingham
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    1 plug in OBD2 dongle, change milage, clear codes, resell for 2-4k more profit

    2 well, first there would have to find a da that cared (politically motivated) enough to prosecute whoever rolled it back. of course, any car lot would blame their mechanic and say "I didn't know that undocumented alien was an undocumented alien or that he was rolling odometers back with my equipment on the side, after business hours"

    I've caught several privates sellers on my local fb marketplace that went from 275k to 92k (or similar) in less than a day. they're so lazy that they don't even take new pictures for the ad, forget about them paying tax... they're selling cars with "open titles" .

    it's sleazy, sleazy, sleazy, but an easy profit for them, so it happens
     
  10. privilege

    privilege Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2021
    659
    165
    0
    Location:
    Birmingham
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    the last one was a nice looking Highlander that dropped from 270k to 95k miles or so, same pictures.

    when I contacted the original seller, he said "that guy told me he was buying it for someone at his church so I gave him a really good deal. I guess the good deal wasn't enough, he rolled it back and listed it for $3k more than my original price"

    the new flipper/seller had 30+ vehicle sales... all low milage
     
  11. burrito

    burrito Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2021
    274
    114
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Wow...

    Is it correct to assume that CPO cars from proper dealerships are much less likely to have tampered odometers?