Buying second hand cars

[v12]

ya even the electronic trip meters can be resetted.

[GTO]

Wow, I wasnt aware of that. I thought that electronic meters were pretty much tamper-proof. Man makes security measure, another man finds yet another back door.

GTO

[ajmat]

Electronic meters are even better, you cannot detected any tampering - no scratches uneven digits etc

[v12]

ya u cant come to know much. unless of course u open up the speedo console and check if the seal [if theres any] is broken or tampered with.

[coloneljasi]

Most digital meters do not have tamper proof seals,simply for the matter that manufacturers (Some,not all) feel that no one's going to try to edit the reading.Small tell-tale signs will be there,but they're hard to spot and would have to remove the speedo assy to find out.Digital meters can be edited,no doubt,any good electronics shop should be able to do it for you.It's common practice in unfranchised second hand showrooms in Europe and the U.S.

I did'nt think people did that kind of thing in India until a few months back I had an Accent CRDi in for a 40,000K service.I knew that the car had done thrice that as the car's last owner was a regular at my w'shop.Imagine the surprise of my advisor when he took the inventory.We told the second owner about the 'adjustment' in the mileage of the car.Poor chap!He was devastated.He had paid hard-earned money for what he thought was a low mileage car.Initially we thought that the first owner had replaced the whole digital odo,but that was unlikely since these meters are not as yet available in parts shops (not in Kerala anyway).And no authorised dealership would do such a thing,atleast we're not supposed to ethically(I can't say if other dealers would do that).Later I came to know that a small electronics shop in my own neighbourhood had done the job for a sleazy car broker a few weeks prior to the sale!!

Infact,you can drive your car for thousands of kilometres without anyone knowing a thing about it.Just because all electronic meters have couplers on the gearbox assy.Any layman can disconnect it at will (on front wheel drive cars,anyway!It's a bit more difficult on rear wheel drivers) and drive off.It's just as easily fixed back.Unless you're really good at looking for signs like the tyres and stuff,you'll be had. It's always advisable to take a car you'd like to buy,to the regular w'shop where it's being serviced before buying.If it's history seems fishy or the car goes to a local w'shop,it's advisable to walk away.Checking the owner's manual for the car's history would also help.As said before there are ways owners tend to work around that to,like going to local w'shops in between services and disconnecting meters.