How to know if the car's odometer is rewound
Many people who buy used cars often worry that the car's odometer has been rolled back to a lower distance, so how can you tell if the car's odometer has been rolled back?
It is quite common to buy a used car with the odometer set back, making a car with a lot of mileage look like a car with little mileage. These cars may have their odometer set lower than the actual odometer, and the interior may be refurbished and worn parts replaced, making the car appear to have been used less.
Old cars must be overhauled and have major maintenance after a long period of operation, usually 100,000-200,000 km. If you buy a car with the odometer down to only 50,000 km, customers may be subjective and not perform major maintenance milestones as recommended, causing the car to deteriorate further.
Here are some ways to identify that car buyers should know to avoid buying a car with a odometer that has been rolled back.
Track distance traveled and usage time
Normally, a car model used for personal or family use will fluctuate around 10,000-20,000 km per year, a service car will be about 3-4 times higher than this number. If the car is advertised as a service car, the car model is old but the number of kilometers traveled is shorter than estimated, it is very likely that the car has been rewinding, making the car "newer" than it actually is. Therefore, it is necessary to consider more carefully in cases where there is too obvious a discrepancy between the distance traveled and the time of use of the car.
Request to check maintenance and repair history
Vehicles always need regular maintenance to operate optimally. Whether maintained at an authorized workshop or an outside workshop, the vehicle's current condition is recorded, including vehicle information such as chassis number, engine number, and mileage at the time of maintenance.
The previous owner may have kept these maintenance invoices, in written or photographic form, and customers should request them when choosing a used car, with the maintenance schedule and mileage fully displayed in chronological order. A car without a clear maintenance schedule is more likely to have its odometer revved than a model with a full maintenance schedule.
Observe natural wear details
The natural wear and tear details on the car that consumers should pay attention to when choosing to buy a car include the clutch/gas/brake pedal, steering wheel, gear lever, seats, function buttons, and floor mats. These are the locations that wear and tear over time such as cracked, wrinkled seat leather, worn pedal surfaces, frayed seat/steering wheel leather, old floor mats, or faded function buttons. If you choose a car that has been purchased for a long time, rarely used, but these details have been completely replaced, it is very possible that the car has been re-tuned to "refurbish" into a car with little use.
In addition, experts advise customers to check the condition of the vehicle's exhaust pipe. Vehicles that have been used for a long time often have rust, oxidized, and are no longer shiny because this part is often made of metal, located close to the road surface, and is exposed to high temperatures for a long time, so it is more susceptible to wear than other parts. If the vehicle has low odo but the exhaust is rusted, customers should suspect that the vehicle has been odometer-corrected.
Test drive
Test driving a car will give you a feel for its performance, noises, vibrations, throttle delay, etc.
After checking some of the above details yourself and still not completely satisfied, you can take the car to a reputable garage or an authorized service center. Although it will cost more, this is the most reliable way to check the overall condition of the car before you make a decision.
Observe the vehicle for abnormalities
If the vehicle uses a mechanical odometer, you should check for signs of odometer modification, including scratches on the dial, fingerprints, loose clamps and screws around the meter, signs of opening, the meter being replaced, and scratches on the numbers on the odometer. If the vehicle uses an electronic meter, it will be more difficult to quickly determine the actual odometer level most accurately, and can only be checked with separate tools, machines and software.
The above signs are not to conclude whether the car has been rewinded or not, but only to help customers recognize that the car they are about to buy is likely to be rewinded. Therefore, if these signs are detected, the next step should be to check more carefully at the genuine service facilities, where there are tools and machines to comprehensively check the car's condition to get the most accurate conclusion.
