Most car enthusiasts prefer to buy cars on the secondary market. This way you can save a lot and buy a decent car for little money. But this is not always possible. Trying to inflate the price, unscrupulous sellers deliberately inflate the mileage of the car. You need to know how to identify it visually and using technology. In the article we will look at how to check the mileage of a car (wound or not) and what nuances you should pay attention to.
What should you be afraid of?
Odometer readings are adjusted on absolutely all cars.
Even 2-3 year old cars are subject to adjustments to their readings. This is usually done by greedy sellers who want to hide all the shortcomings of the car, trying to “sell” it at an inflated price. Inexperienced drivers often fall for this.
How to check if a car's mileage is wrong? Anyone can do this, you just need to carefully inspect the car. What should you be afraid of when buying a car with low mileage? When buying a car with low mileage, you run the risk of buying real junk cars, which will require a lot of money from you for maintenance. Thus, the odometer is often adjusted at mileage from 90 to 110 thousand. And this is due to the fact that during this period of time the car is undergoing the largest scheduled maintenance. In order not to spend money on repairs, unscrupulous sellers inflate the odometer numbers and put the vehicle up for sale, convincing the buyer that the car has already passed all the necessary maintenance.
Determining whether the mileage is twisted: how much is it being deceived?
Mileage is often reduced by a quarter. Thus, a car that, according to the seller, has covered 200 thousand kilometers, has a real mileage of 240 thousand. But there are other values, because when adjusting, you can set any number, even 6 units.
It all depends on the conscience of the seller. Although in fact this action is fraud and is subject to punishment, every second car on the secondary market has a twisted “meter”. Under no circumstances should you trust the numbers and the words of the seller. A famous proverb says: “Trust, but verify.”
Electronic odometer
There is a popular belief that it is impossible to twist such a counter. In fact, adjustments are possible both on classic mechanical odometers and on modern electronic ones. Of course, the best option is to go to an official dealer for diagnostics. But what if the buyer does not have such an opportunity? How to check if a car's mileage is wrong?
Computer diagnostics
This is perhaps the most accurate and fastest way to verify the authenticity of odometer readings. This requires a laptop and an OBD-2 cord. By connecting to you can see the real mileage of the car. Be careful! Some sellers make adjustments by resetting the data in the electronic unit.
How to check the mileage of a car (wound or not)? To verify the authenticity of the kilometers traveled by the car, we look at individual components. The mileage is recorded not only in the engine and gearbox, but also in small systems (for example, the light control unit). And they are most often protected from overwriting. Here we can catch the seller “on the hook” by pointing him to the correct mileage. But there are other ways to find out the real mileage of a car. Let's look at them further.
How do you know if the mileage is twisted? Dashboard
Pay attention to how the front dashboard and the instrument panel itself were assembled. If it had signs of disassembly (and these are scratches and places pryed with a screwdriver), then there is reason to think about it. By the way, the instrument panel itself is covered with a thin layer of varnish on the reverse side. If the mileage has been twisted, it will be immediately visible. But to do this you will have to completely remove the shield out.
If it is a classic drum-type odometer, pay attention to the gaps between the numbers. They should not stand crookedly or at different distances from each other. Otherwise, there is every reason to confirm the mileage adjustment.
Interior details
We continue to tell you how to check the mileage of a car (twisted or not). An important detail during inspection is the steering wheel. Based on its condition, you can determine how accurate the odometer readings are. car? The steering wheel begins to wear out at 250 thousand kilometers or more. Moreover, early wear cannot be attributed to poor build quality.
A car with a steering wheel like the one in the photo definitely cannot have a mileage of less than 100-150 thousand kilometers. Also note that sellers reupholster the steering wheel, and often use cheap materials for this. If there is a non-factory stitch on it, then the element has been restored.
Don't neglect the seats either.
It will be quite difficult to change them. Yes, you can do this, but it won’t pay off when you sell it. Some people install disassembled seats taken from cars with less mileage. In this case, pay attention to the adjacent seats and the back row.
If there is more wear on them than on the driver's seat, it means the seat has been replaced. Some sellers attach “T-shirts” or covers to hide wear. Don't be afraid to look underneath them. Perhaps the owner was trying to hide signs of wear in this way.
Another factor is the door trim. Few sellers deal with this little detail. Often their deception ends with adjusting the odometer readings and resetting basic data from the ECU. No one “bothers” with the condition of the door trim and handles. When purchasing, pay attention to these details.
Also inspect the condition of the parking brake lever and boot. Noticeable signs of wear appear on them no earlier than after 200 thousand kilometers.
Pedals
Another little thing that sellers forget about is the condition of the pedals. Often original linings are not available, so cars are sold with worn ones. They also wear out with significant mileage. At a hundred thousand they should not be “bald”.
Don't be fooled by the pretty wrapper
To make the car seem as attractive as possible, its body is tinted. However, do not rush to determine the integrity of the mileage by the quality of the paintwork. If the body repair was carried out with high quality, even an experienced motorist cannot determine this. The only thing that can be done is to check the thickness of the paintwork using a thickness gauge. It also determines how much putty was applied to the body (if the car was after an accident). The mechanism “breaks” the distance from the top of the paintwork to the metal.
However, it makes no sense to look at the quality of the paint by checking the rolled mileage. After all, an accident can happen at any mileage. Here everything depends on how well the repair was carried out. Well, if you are buying a car that is 20+ years old, inspect the hidden places - sills and technological plugs on the bottom. Corrosion does not depend on mileage, but rust is a significant reason to reduce the price.
If the car is up to 3-5 years old
How is the car rolled up or not, on relatively “fresh” cars? Ask the seller for a service book. It should be noted here at which mileage the maintenance was performed and what work was performed. If such a book exists, this is a big plus. Such a seller has no intention of deceiving the buyer.
So, we found out, We hope the information provided will help you avoid being scammed.
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Every third report from the Autocode service shows that the car’s mileage is incorrect. On average, each car travels about 20 thousand km per year. However, on sale you can find many 5-7 year old vehicles with mileage of 50-60 thousand km, or even less. Owners of such cars may claim that they only used the car “on major holidays.” But, most likely, the actual mileage is much higher than that indicated on the dashboard. Let's figure out what methods fraudsters use and how to determine the twisted mileage.
Why do they twist the mileage?
Most often, the odometer readings are changed in order to sell the car at a higher price. However, there are a number of other reasons why sellers resort to this procedure. Twisting of readings may be caused by the need to:
- avoid expensive maintenance (the on-board computer of some foreign cars contains information about the time of maintenance; if this schedule is violated, it begins to issue alarm messages);
- hide the fact of replacing the dashboard (after an accident or for other reasons);
- keep silent about malfunctions of components that may affect the correct operation of the speedometer (for example, generator, battery, etc.).
You may be faced with the fact that the mileage of used cars imported into Russia from those countries where the amount of transport tax is calculated depending on the kilometers traveled by the car over a certain period of time is increased.
For example, such a system has been in operation for several years in the Netherlands, where a car’s mileage is tracked using GPS. In some US states, car owners have to pay $0.012 per mile.
By the way, under American law, mileage abuse is a criminal offense. Serious liability for such actions is provided for in Germany and France (up to 1 year and up to 2 years of imprisonment, respectively). Russian legislation does not provide for punishment for mileage inaccuracy.
Ways to twist mileage
Fraudsters have several techniques in their arsenal to deceive gullible customers. The choice of one method or another primarily depends on the type of device installed on the machine, which is responsible for calculating the distance traveled.
Here it is necessary to clarify and talk about the fact that many inexperienced car owners mistakenly associate the increase in mileage with adjusting the speedometer readings. In fact, it shows the speed of movement, and the number of kilometers traveled by the vehicle is recorded by another device - odometer.
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The device works in close connection with the speedometer. And the panels that display the readings of these two devices are usually located next to each other. Apparently this is where some confusion in concepts arose. In order not to confuse the reader even more, we agree that the use of both definitions is acceptable.
A car can be equipped with one of three types of odometers:
- mechanical;
- electromechanical;
- electronic.
Mechanical and electromechanical devices were used in the automotive industry until the end of the last century. They are distinguished by a rather primitive device: the speed of the gearbox gearbox is transmitted through a special cable to a meter, the readings of which are displayed on the dashboard. It is easiest to check the mileage of such a device.
Method number 1. The odometer is disassembled, and the necessary readings are set on the meter manually.
Method number 2. To implement it, you will need to disassemble the dashboard and attach any power tool with high rotation speed (screwdriver, drill, etc.) to the speedometer cable using a special attachment. After this, the readings are twisted to the desired value. Of course, this can be done manually, but using a power tool speeds up the process many times over.
For an electromechanical odometer, twisting is carried out in a similar way. The only difference is that if, when taking readings from a mechanical device, the on-board power of the car is turned off (the terminals from the battery are removed), then when carrying out manipulations with an electromechanical device, the power cannot be turned off (otherwise the meter wheels will not rotate). Therefore, there is a high probability of a short circuit occurring.
The cost of the work is quite affordable and ranges from 1 to 1.5 thousand rubles. It’s quite easy to find advertisements in newspapers or on the Internet for companies willing to provide such a service. They are usually hidden under signs like this: “Speedometer adjustment and repair.”
Quite a few home-grown “Kulibins” in their own garages make a living by turning mileage. Usually people find out about them through word of mouth.
Rolling up the electronic odometer
The operation of devices of this type is based on reading the readings of special sensors (they can be optical or magnetic), which are installed on the gearbox shaft or directly on the vehicle wheel. The readings go into the on-board computer, which records them and transmits them to the electronic display.
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On expensive car models (Toyota, Audi, etc.), mileage data can be stored in several memory blocks at once. According to experts, it is most difficult to change the mileage traveled on a BMW (the car can have up to 10 backup storage points). However, experts unanimously claim that if you have the appropriate equipment, you can check the mileage of absolutely any vehicle.
Several tricks are used to manipulate electronic odometers.
Method number 1. Designed for fraud with budget cars. To implement it, it is enough to remove the dashboard and connect the car’s on-board computer to a laptop on which the appropriate software is installed, or to a special device - a programmer. After this, the actual readings change.
Method number 2. Used for fraud with expensive cars that have several backup data storage units. In its principle it is almost identical to the first. However, it is very important for the fraudster to detect all information storages, otherwise during further operation the car computer can restore data from the backup storage, then the real mileage will again be displayed on the display.
The cost of the service depends on the complexity of the work and can vary from 2.5 to 10-12 thousand rubles.
How to check if the speedometer on a car is twisted
In order not to overpay for a supposedly “almost new car,” you need to remember how you can find out about the fact of fraud.
Unfortunately, there is currently no technical means of checking whether the mileage has been adjusted or not on a vehicle with a mechanical or electromechanical odometer.
Here you will have to be guided by the data of the external examination. The fact that the speedometer is twisted can be determined by the presence of traces of removing the instrument panel, the degree of wear of tires, brake discs, etc.
How to find out if the mileage on a car with an electronic odometer is wrong
To establish the fact of fraud, you will need to conduct computer diagnostics. If you have the appropriate software, equipment and knowledge, you can check the car for twisted mileage yourself. But it is better to contact a trustworthy service center.
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The ideas of many car enthusiasts about the wonders of computer diagnostics are too exaggerated. Those who think that there is a special item in the memory of the on-board computer, by looking into which you can check the real mileage, are mistaken. Most often, you can find out about the fact of interference in the electronic filling of a vehicle only by indirect signs.
Usually this is a discrepancy in data, for example, about the time of an event recorded by the on-board computer. For example, if during a check the car’s odometer shows 75 thousand km, and the memory contains information about an error recorded after 150 thousand km. Or the owner swears that his “iron horse” has run no more than 50 thousand km, but when dividing the kilometers traveled by the number of engine hours, the average speed of movement is 4-5 km/h.
The more such oddities revealed by checking the car’s speedometer, the more reason the buyer has to wonder whether he needs such a “dark horse”.
How to find out real mileage online
You can check whether the mileage is twisted on the website. To do this, just enter state in the search bar. vehicle number. After this, within a few minutes you will receive a full report about the desired vehicle.
In addition to data on actual mileage, using the service you can obtain information about the number of accidents in which the vehicle was involved, former owners, the presence of fines, check for restrictions and find out a lot of other information from the car’s history.
The article describes a simple generator on a 555 timer, with which you can check the functionality and correctness of the readings electronic speedometers using an electronic Hall sensor as a speed sensor.
Many modern cars, such as GAZelle (GAZ 2705, 33021), Volga, KRAZ and others, use electronic speedometers with a microammeter and a stepper motor. Such speedometers work in conjunction with an electronic Hall sensor mounted on the gearbox. When the vehicle is moving, the sensor is driven into rotation by the gearbox secondary shaft gear. For one revolution of the sensor shaft, six pulses of electric current are generated.
These pulses enter the speedometer circuit. The speed indicator in the speedometer is a microammeter. In addition, amplified pulses from the transmitter are fed to a stepper motor, which rotates the drums of the distance indicators.
According to the technical documentation, which can be found in, to check the serviceability of such a speedometer, it is necessary to apply rectangular pulses of positive polarity with an amplitude of 6...7 V, a duration of 200...250 μs and a frequency of 100... from the signal generator G5-54 to the input of the Hall sensor connected to the speedometer. 200 Hz.
If the user or fleet mechanic is not interested in the high accuracy of checking speedometer readings, but only needs to occasionally check their performance, then the design of a simple rectangular pulse generator proposed by the author can easily cope with this task.
Electrical circuit diagram generator shown in Fig.1. It is assembled on a 555 universal timer chip. The connection circuit is typical. The values of elements C2, R2-R4 are selected in such a way as to obtain a square wave with a frequency of 100...200 Hz at the output. The required pulse frequency of the assembled generator can be adjusted using trimming resistor R3. The circuit is designed for use in cars with an on-board voltage of 12 V. If the voltage of the vehicle's on-board network is 24 V (for example, in KRAZ), then the circuit must be supplemented with an integrated stabilizer DA2, connecting it to the power circuit break as shown in the dotted line in the diagram .
Construction and details
All elements of the circuit are assembled on a printed circuit board made of one-sided foil-coated fiberglass laminate with dimensions of 30x20 mm. The printed circuit board drawing and the arrangement of elements are shown in Fig. 2. For ease of repetition, the drawing is shown from the foil side. The design uses output radio components installed vertically. There are no special requirements for them. Conductors are soldered to the XT 1-KhTZ points, at the other end of which a connector similar to the connector for connecting the Hall sensor is installed. This connector contains all the circuits necessary for the operation of the generator: plus/minus power and the speedometer input. The printed circuit board is mounted in a suitable electrically insulated housing. The author used for this purpose a piece of plastic cable duct with a cross section of 25x16 mm.
Assembly, adjustment and use
A correctly assembled generator does not require adjustment. You should pay attention to the correct connection of the connector pins, since if the supply voltage accidentally reaches the output of the generator, it will fail:;0. There is no need to use radio measuring instruments to configure the device. It is enough to have a known working speedometer. The device is connected instead of the Hall sensor and the trimming resistor R3 is used to achieve the desired speedometer reading, for example 60 km/h. If the control range is not enough, then to increase the limiting frequency of the generator, you should slightly reduce the resistance of resistor R4, and to decrease it, increase it.
Speedometer is a device designed to measure the speed of a car. In the modern automotive industry, a predominantly electronic type of device is used.
The domestic automotive industry began to use an electronic speedometer since the release of the VAZ-2110, the power system of which was based on an injector.
Therefore, if the speedometer does not work even on relatively old cars, the reason should be sought in the electrical wiring elements.
The speed measurement system in a modern car includes such elements as:
- Speed sensor installed in the gearbox;
- Electronic engine control unit;
- Speedometer display on the instrument panel;
- Wiring.
During operation of the engine and gearbox, the sensor removes information about its rotation frequency from the gearbox output shaft and transmits it to the ECU in the form of electrical impulses. The higher the vehicle speed, the shorter the time interval between sensor signals.
The electronic control unit calculates the speed of the machine based on the frequency of the received pulses. This is the operating principle of an electronic speedometer. In parallel with the correction of engine operating modes, the control unit transmits information about the speed of the vehicle to the speedometer and diagnostic block. 
If there is a trip computer with a “K” output of the DC, speed data can be duplicated on its display.
Causes of speedometer malfunction
If the speedometer stops working, troubleshooting is carried out in several directions. The following failures may be the cause of failure:
- Speed sensor failure;
- Damage to electrical wiring;
- Oxidation of “mass” contacts;
- Malfunction of the speedometer itself;
- ECU malfunction;
- Incorrect installation of the instrument panel after removal.
As a rule, no other causes of the malfunction are detected. Sometimes a device failure is caused by a blown fuse in the electrical circuits responsible for the operation of the dashboard. However, this problem can be classified as a wiring fault.
A diagnostic sign of fuse F19 failure is:
- Failure of the entire instrument panel;
- Diagnostic unit failure;
- Failure of the automatic door locking system;
- Reverse lamp failure.
Diagnostics
Troubleshooting begins by disconnecting the wiring block from the speed sensor harness and checking them using a test light.
To make a control light bulb, you need any car lamp that can operate at a voltage of 12 V, and two wires about 1 meter long each. One of the wires is fixed to the positive terminal, the second - to the negative terminal of the lamp. The resulting device also includes a Krona battery. 
To carry out the test, one wire of the warning lamp is attached to the ground of the body or battery, and the second is made with short, frequent touches to the middle contact of the DC connector. If there are no faults in the connector-speedometer section, the speedometer needle will slightly tremble or rise. If the needle shakes, the answer to the question why the speedometer does not work can be considered found - the speed sensor requires replacement.
In cases where the needle’s response to tapping on the central contact of the block cannot be detected, it is necessary to “test” the speedometer power circuit. The procedure is carried out using a multimeter (multitester), or by using the same light bulb - a control.
The wiring harness is first disconnected not only from the speed sensor block, but also from the speedometer itself. One terminal of the tester or warning lamp is connected to the end of the wire located under the hood, the other to the interior end of the speed meter current supply circuit.
If the tester in the “continuity” mode indicates a violation of the integrity of the circuit, further troubleshooting is carried out in this direction. It is necessary to check the fuses, the connection points of the wires, and their integrity inside the insulating braid.
The search area can be reduced by gradually “ringing” individual sections of the circuit. On model 2114 and other VAZ products, the cause of speedometer failure is often oxidation of the “mass” contacts attached to the car body.
In cases where the speedometer needle does not work, but there is no evidence of malfunctions in the electrical supply circuit, a logical conclusion is drawn about the malfunction of the device itself. Additional testing can be done by temporarily installing a known good instrument panel. 
Repair
Repair of the speed measurement system directly depends on the identified malfunction:
Speed sensor
- Clean from dirt;
- Clean the pad contacts from corrosion and oxides;
- If the above measures do not help, the sensor is replaced.
Wiring
- Check and clean “mass” contacts;
- Solder or secure with twists the places where the wires are broken, due to which the speedometer stopped working;
- Cover areas where the braid is damaged with insulating tape;
- Replace failed fuses;
- Clean the pad contacts from oxides and corrosion.
Speedometer
If the speedometer stops working, it must be replaced. On domestic cars assembled using an electronic type of speed meter, the speedometer changes along with the instrument panel. You can carry out this operation yourself. To do this, you only need a Phillips screwdriver and pliers.
It is impossible to restore the functionality of the device with your own hands. A master electronics engineer can do this. However, given the fairly low prices for spare parts for Russian-made cars, contacting a specialist is not economically feasible.
Repairing an old speedometer can be much more expensive than completely replacing the old instrument cluster with a new one.
It was not bad in the old days that people did not face the question “How to find out if the mileage is twisted” , when the buyer was faced with the question of purchasing a particular vehicle. I woke up early in the morning to go to the fair, walked through the rows, looked in the teeth and began bidding for the stallion I liked. And after the long-awaited purchase, there is no shame in returning home. If anyone doesn’t understand why they should look at their teeth, I’ll explain: teeth have always been a reliable indicator of age. No matter how good a horse looked based on its external characteristics, it was its teeth that always gave away its age.
What are we seeing these days?
Upon arrival at the nearest car dealership that sells used cars, you can see a unique beauty: all the cars, as if selected, are clean, mirror-like and ready to meet their new owner. And where, and most importantly, who to look in the mouth? Unfortunately, not everything is so simple in our life. Otherwise, I could rely with great confidence on the speedometer readings, which really shows how much our horse has traveled, rather than thinking about how to check whether the mileage is twisted. But, in our time, they have learned to fake horse teeth, let alone iron horses. Want to check it out? Hurry up to place an advertisement for the sale of your car, and you will immediately be bombarded with calls with offers to reduce the mileage of your car for a certain price. How do you like this?
So, it's time to move on to the main topic of our conversation. The so-called corrective actions regarding the mileage of a car are taken through special intervention using a specialized tool or existing equipment in the vehicle components. This is done in order to change the readings of the on-board computer or instrument board in the direction you need.
Not so long ago, when speedometers were mechanical and, accordingly, correction methods were applied to them. During the whole process, the speedometer assembly itself was disassembled and the required numbers were manually set or operated using an electric drill. The chuck of an electric drill was carefully placed on the cable of the device, after which the required mileage was screwed on. Today, most automobile components have become electronic, i.e., mileage is adjusted electronically. It happens like this: specialized equipment is connected to the car’s diagnostic connector and new numbers are flashed. Just five minutes of work and your car can, with extraordinary ease for its owner, transform from a pensioner with considerable experience into a middle-aged man who travels only on weekends. What should you do and what should you do to avoid being deceived?
We suggest that you direct all your attention to those obvious signs by which you can easily guess about false mileage readings.
- Different data in the readings between the speedometer and other electronic components of the car.
It's no secret that today's car manufacturers electronically record a car's mileage simultaneously in several different electronic units. Not bad, right? In many cases, the speedometer itself can be subject to data correction when in such units as ABS or automatic transmission the attacker’s hand does not reach. Often, careless craftsmen simply forget to flash the ignition key, in which all representatives of modern cars also have mileage data. If you tamper with the electronic system of a car, there may be traces left indicating outside interference, which helps answer the main question of how to determine the twisted mileage...
One of the negative aspects of this method is the presence of highly specialized tools, which may be located in areas involved in maintenance.
- There are different data in the readings between the speedometer and the saved car service history, plus readings from official dealers.
And right away we will give an example from life in practice showing one of the ways to check whether the mileage is twisted or not.
A potential buyer inspects a car with just over 50,000 km on the speedometer. After opening the hood, the buyer saw a tag indicating the last oil change. Upon careful reading, one could understand that the oil change was carried out at 120,000 km. When discussing the fact that the mileage data clearly does not match, the latter begins to “blush” and openly admit to deliberately twisting the mileage. Of course, such a life example is too simple and very understandable to everyone. Additional discrepancies can be found in the service book entries.
For this purpose, you should simply look through the appropriate work order form, provided that they have been saved. A good and at the same time valid option would be to request such information from an official dealer.
Any material, including leather products, can indicate the duration of the operational period. You should also look at the back of the seat. For example, minor gaps may not appear until the mileage data shows 200,000 km.
You can often see how, when selling a car, covers are put on its seats, perhaps hiding something important to you. For complete information, you can pay attention to the adjacent seats in the car. In the case when the chair is reupholstered with new leather, you should directly ask the seller a question. The seat belt itself may be greasy and may also have small tears.
- We study the features and external data of the steering part, gear shift unit and armrest on the driver's side.
The steering wheel, as many drivers know, is made of materials that are susceptible to time and mechanical stress. Of course, expensive cars have leather steering wheels. Special attention should be paid to the lower part of the steering wheel, which so often experiences friction with the driver’s feet. Many sellers want to hide the real condition of the steering wheel under a decorative braid.
In addition, the steering wheel often simply needs to be replaced, with the goal of masking all existing defects and shortcomings of the car being sold.
- What could the pedals be hiding?
One of the driver’s feet almost constantly occupies the right pedal even in the case when it is mirrored in its own reflection, and the seller argues for the extremely rare use of this vehicle - this is a sure way to think about the truth and correctness of the latter’s words. In addition, existing carpeting tends to develop holes. Think carefully and understand this information, The pedals will help you find out if the mileage on the car is too high.
- Information about brake discs
The wear resistance of car wheels depends on many reasons. One of these reasons is, oddly enough, driving style, the quality of the disc, etc. There are average indicators for the operational period of disks: from 50,000 to 80,000 km. This data can easily be compared with the mileage of the car.
- Condition of the tires of the car for sale
It turns out that with average use, the tread pattern wears out within 50,000 km. Here you should also take into account the wear resistance indicators of products of different model ranges from different manufacturers. Analyze this information and relate it to what is in front of you. The conclusion will not take long to arrive.
- Timing belt
The required replacement regarding timing belts should be carried out at a mileage of 60,000 to 100,000 km. The condition of the belt is quite easy to check, you just have to look under the hood. Next, we analyze everything together and compare it with the words of the seller. The service history may store information about its premature replacement. It is important to know that on some car models this belt is hidden by the design of the protective casing. In this case, you should inspect the belt of the additional equipment, which has the same service life for replacement.
- Chips are particularly visible defects in various parts of the car.
No matter how carefully craftsmen try to hide the real mileage of a car, the presence of mechanical damage is an ironclad argument. For example, the surface of the hood has numerous chips, and the owner, for unknown reasons, decided to repaint it or the windshield was replaced. The headlight glass has become significantly cloudy due to impacts from small stones, etc. With such an external characteristic, the buyer will never believe in the low mileage of the car being sold.
- Presence of play on the driver's door side
How to determine whether the mileage on the car doors is twisted? First open the door on the driver's side. Next, try to rock it with leisurely movements. It turns out that over time, door hinges tend to wear out, resulting in the formation of a so-called free movement backlash. On new cars, such problems simply cannot happen. Additionally, you can check the doors on the passenger side. A striking example that the driver was “taxing” is the presence of play on the passengers’ side and its absence at the driver’s door.
- Visible marks from numerous openings and dismantling work on the dashboard
Some of you will call this indicator clearly outdated. However, we cannot help but name it. With a speedometer of the mechanical variety, the instrument panel is opened, followed by corrective actions. Today, almost no one uses this method, or quite rarely.
In conclusion, I would like to summarize that all of the above methods that help to verify or, on the contrary, doubt the authenticity of mileage indicators, are somewhat indirect. You should resort to using them to completely clarify the whole picture, but not separately. For example, if the salesperson in front of you is a man of full build, then the fact of high wear on the driver’s seat will indicate the person’s body weight, but not about the artificially twisted car mileage. Be vigilant and careful when purchasing a car.
