Piston Slap: Hacking the Unrollable Odometer?

by Sajeev Mehta

October 18th, 2019 3:06 PM

piston slap hacking the unrollable odometer

Brian writes:

I had a conversation with someone the other day who claimed his mechanic rolled back the odometer on his car. This is a late-model car with a digital odometer. I always thought digital odometers were protected from this, but a quick Google search reveals that it’s actually quite common and easy to roll back a digital odometer. I guess this is now something a buyer has to worry about on top of everything else when buying a used car.

For example, how could you ever tell a car was rolled back — say, 10,000 miles — when the car is legitimately in good condition?

What are your thoughts on this? And how can a buyer protect themselves?

Sajeev answers:

My thoughts are simple: as mentioned in previous Piston Slaps, get a PPI if you’re worried about buying a misleading motor. Carfax might catch an odometer discrepancy — paste the VIN here to check. You really need a PPI for peace of mind, and if a truck, van, etc. isn’t necessary (and you have [s]good[/s] some credit and five figures to drop) buy a new, entry-level sedan that’s being disposed of at loss leader prices.

You can indeed put a price on your peace of mind, even if it means owning a vehicle you’d rather not be seen in. The threat is real — older digital units are re-programmable with a chip swap, as this video shows. There’s also an OBD-II tool you can plug in for “mileage correction.” Or, in the case of this VW Bora (Jetta), there’s an app for that.

Buyer beware, it’s a brave new world. Get a PPI, learn the basics of used car inspection, and do a VIN check on Carfax.

[Image: Shutterstock user iQoncept]

#Chip #Digital #DigitalOdometer #MobileApp #OBD-II #Odometer #OdometerHack #OdometerHacking #Reprogram #Rollback

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15 of 42 comments

Richard on Mar 07, 2017

Buying used is real easy; 1.One owner 2.Complete service history (CarFax) Preferably @ dealer 3 Clean CarFax It's that simple Footnote 1st. choice TOYOTA

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- See 6 previous
- Paragon on Mar 07, 2017
  
  As I shared one other time, my dad taught me to buy a decent late model (or older) used car from the previous (original) owner, who most likely has the complete service history with receipts. Thus, you're not merely taking somebody's word for it, they have the documentation to back up what they tell you. And, if that original owner is somewhere between your parents and grandparents age, they are much less likely to be a rip-off artist. Well, providing that they don't rebuilt clean, high-mileage wrecks as low-mileage good deals.
  
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- Golden2husky on Mar 07, 2017
  
  @Paragon And cars preferred by these original buyers can make great used cars. Makes like Buick depreciate quickly and are reasonably well built and reliable. Chances are the original owners drove them only occasionally (preferable to the daily driven car that sees 3 miles a day) and you can often get a low mileage, low cycle car for $7 or 8K and you have at least another 100K miles to add. Shop smart and you can get great used cars. If you insist on a Toyota, you are going to pay a lot more or end up with a car with much higher miles. Is that cheaper in the long run? I suspect, no it is not. A delta of $4 or 5K in the purchase price will buy a lot of repairs - repairs that you may not ever have to make. YMMV.
  
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- Art Vandelay on Mar 07, 2017
  
  Contrary to the prevailing opinions in these hallowed forums, I find it best to buy pretty much anything not German or FCA and be the original owner.
  
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- Jalop1991 on Mar 07, 2017
  
  @golden2husky "buy American cars used, buy Japanese cars new".
  
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- Gtem on Mar 08, 2017
  
  @jalop1991 Literally every single car my family has bought in the past 25 years of residing in the US has been a used Japanese one (aside from the Fit my dad bought new), we found them to the the sweet spot in overall value when reliability and features are taken into account. Starting with a rusty '82 Civic Wagon bought for $750 and ending with an '09 RX350 (15k miles, 3yrs old) bought for $32k. I've gotten great service so far out of a 208k mile Lexus ES300 that's old enough to drink that I bought for $1600, I'd argue at the time of buying it, it was the best (most reliable, comfortable) car $1600 could buy locally. But I'm hoping to take a walk on the "wild side" with my first older used domestic truck here shortly if all goes to plan.
  
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- Vulpine on Mar 08, 2017
  
  @Art Vandelay I'll agree with being the original owner of a vehicle. I might even agree with avoiding German. I won't agree with avoiding FCA; they've been more reliable than you want to believe. Most people who actually own an FCA that I know (granted, I live in a moderately small town) don't want to let go of them.
  
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- Vulpine on Mar 08, 2017
  
  @gtem Please don't let it be a certain blue over tan, 2WD, 1990 F-150 XLT Lariat with the 5.0L EFI under the hood.
  
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Mmreeses on Mar 07, 2017

If the gain is high and the chances of being caught are low, someone/somewhere is going to cheat. Self-evident aphorism from Dilbert.

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Dal20402 on Mar 07, 2017

Buy only ridiculously high-mileage vehicles. Problem solved! - Sincerely, someone who bought a 186k mile Acura

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- Bumpy ii on Mar 07, 2017
  
  Only 186? It's not even broken in yet.
  
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- Dal20402 on Mar 07, 2017
  
  @bumpy ii Up to 191 now. We're trying.
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Mar 07, 2017
  
  @dal20402 Lend it here, you can count on me!
  
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Felix Hoenikker on Mar 07, 2017

Here in PA, mileage is recorded at registration by the owner and at annual inspection by the inspection mechanic. Both mileage readings and OBD codes are uploaded to the DOT. All of that is turned over to Carfax. The only way to get away with odometer fraud without leaving a trail is to roll back the odometer annually before each inspection.

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- Jalop1991 on Mar 07, 2017
  
  Or launder the car through one of the more lackadaisical states.
  
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