Can the odo mileage be "turned back" on a late model?

Sam8950

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Mar 13, 2001

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Haslet, Texas

Apr 4, 2009

#1

• Apr 4, 2009

• #1

Anyone know if the electronic odometer can be "turned back" on a late model 'stang?

I was looking at a 2003 GT yesterday and the reading was 80k, but there seemed to be an awful lot of interior wear for just 80k. The wife's 2002 that we traded in a few months back had over 100k of hard use, and it looked way better than this 2003. Then I found an oil change sticker almost out of sight at the top of the windshield that read "Your next change due at 178K". Obviously, that made me even more suspicious. The guy had a CarFax printout, but those can be easily altered. This was at one of those "used to be a gas station" places near a big college campus. The sales guy became really irritated when I called him on this; that's when I got back in my truck and drove off.

 

1992 2.3LX

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Dec 5, 2002

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Apr 4, 2009

#2

• Apr 4, 2009

• #2

believe it is regulated by the computer.
Could have had a computer out of another car with less miles installed in it.

Did you run a carfax????

 

Sam8950

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Apr 4, 2009

#3

• Apr 4, 2009

• #3

No, didn't run my own CarFax. After seeing it, I wasn't that interested.

 

RedDaemon

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Mar 31, 2005

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Apr 4, 2009

#4

• Apr 4, 2009

• #4

1992 2.3LX said:

believe it is regulated by the computer.
Could have had a computer out of another car with less miles installed in it.

Click to expand...

i was going to reply with this exact statement. however then i got to thinking. is it the computer or a module on the gauge cluster itself?

i remember a while back talk about swapping in a mach 1 cluster to their GT and the concern that the mileage will be off

which one is it?

 

bhuff30

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Dec 11, 2001

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Olathe KS

Apr 4, 2009

#5

• Apr 4, 2009

• #5

Sounds like something funny is going on. I can't imagine why there would be a sticker in the window that says 178k unless that were true. I bet if you go back, the oil change sticker will be gone.
It's certainly possible to change an electronic odometer. From what I was reading online, it's stored in the engine computer and it's as easy to change as turning off the rear O2 sensors or changing the speedometer for gearing.

 

Sam8950

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Mar 13, 2001

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Haslet, Texas

Apr 4, 2009

#6

• Apr 4, 2009

• #6

bhuff30 said:

I bet if you go back, the oil change sticker will be gone.
It's certainly possible to change an electronic odometer. From what I was reading online, it's stored in the engine computer and it's as easy to change as turning off the rear O2 sensors or changing the speedometer for gearing.

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No question that sticker wasn't on there 60 seconds after I drove off.

It's not that hard to overwrite EEPROM with the right interface & software. Just don't know how hard it is with late models. This guy had some high-end European models, too, so it would certainly be within his means to buy the equipment to do it.

 

B

blubullett

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Jun 22, 2006

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Apr 4, 2009

#7

• Apr 4, 2009

• #7

If you do your own carfax then you wont be asking us.

 

Sam8950

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Haslet, Texas

Apr 4, 2009

#8

• Apr 4, 2009

• #8

blubullett said:

If you do your own carfax then you wont be asking us.

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Duh! I wasn't asking anything about CarFax. That wasn't the subject. If I was interested in the car after seeing it, THEN I would have gotten my own report. Why pay money unnecessarily?????? Maybe you have it to burn; I don't.