Is there a way for a new car to be delivered with 0 km on the odometer

The Fiats used to have a H letter on the odometer, as long as it within the first 200 kms

BHPian nova.19_exe recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Well okay, everytime someone posts about them buying a new car, I have always noticed that the ODO reading stand at 3kms, 7kms, heck even 23kms at times! But I've always been curious about this!

Is there a way for a car to be delivered from factory-yard-showroom with 0kms on the ODO?

Curious to see if there are ways to get it done and your takes on it?

Cheers!

Here' what GTO had to say o the matter:

There is a "jugaad" way, although it may not mean that the car has run for 0 km. Many manufacturers allow dealers to reset the odometer one single time before delivery. Here's a related thread.

Here's what BHPian govigov had to say on the matter:

The FIATs used to have a H letter on the odometer, as long as it within the first 200 kms, the odo can be reset to 0 kms at the time of delivery. It can only be done once, so that the customer can get the car with 0 kms on the odometer at the time of delivery.

Here's what BHPian PaddleShifter had to say on the matter:

As per standards expected from a manufacturer, various quality assurance protocols require testing of a product. A pre delivery inspection protocol mandates that dealers also do such testing before delivering the car to an owner.

Having an odometer reading of 5-10km actually shows that such inspections have been done thoroughly. Delivering a car with 0km indicates no road testing has been carried out.

The only way to ethically bypass it is to have a temporary odometer, e.g. in FIAT cars, the odometer reads H 0 to H 200 kilometers after which it resets to 0km to start the permanent odometer reading that can not be reset anymore. During the initial 200km with the prefix H, the odometer can be reset once to zero to begin the permanent odometer counting.

Here's what BHPian condor had to say on the matter:

In India, practically no.

Dealerships have their yards outside the city where the cars are brought to from the factory. I would say the cars would have run at least a km in the factory itself. Then the car has to be brought to the showroom from the yards. So I will not expect a car in India to have a 0 km reading, unless it has been reset at the dealership.

Here's what BHPian brownkaiser had to say on the matter:

In Mahindra XUV 5OO, there is an option to reset the odometer to 0, before it reaches 100. This can be done only once and also before you cross 100 kms.

My car had 13 km on the odo while taking delivery, and I used this trick to reset it back to 0.

Here's what BHPian Gansan had to say on the matter:

The only way is for the dealer to reset the odo to zero before delivery. There is no other way.

In Chennai it is common for Maruti cars to be unloaded at a railhead about 40 km away and then be driven to the dealer stockyard from there. Then there will be a drive from stockyard to the showroom. Then a drive from the showroom to the RTO office.

What some dealers do is disconnect the speedometer right at the railhead and then drive the cars to the yard. In short, even if your brand new car's odo shows a perfect zero at the showroom before delivery, can you believe it.

Just observe the condition of the tyres, it will be very easy to spot new tyres that have not been driven much. There will be telltale signs if otherwise.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.