When checking out a roro car

[pugboy]

make sure to look in all the little nooks and crannies where a jap service mech might have put their little stickers with mileage recording.

I bought a field in november with a certain amount of mileage according to the dealer.

found some tiny stickers in the gas tank cover which show the mileage when the oil was last changed and believe me it is nowhere close to what the local dealer has stated

[venum]

how does the mileage stated on the stickers compare to that on the odometer?

this is interesting, especially since there are rumors taht the roro dealers roll-back the mileages

[trini_ravi]

well give us some more info... how much of a diffrence was it and which dealer??

[Chiney]

yeh man.. speak up.. this sounds real interesting...

and is it really possible for dealers to roll back the odo meter??

[altec]

nobody ever wonder why the km on those vehicles usually between 24000 to 48000 kms? a good bit of them vehicles coming down here was fleet vehicles aka delivery.


anyone can buy it
http://odometerwizard.com/


from carfax.com


Digital Odometers
Unfortunately, digital odometers that have been tampered with are even harder to detect than traditional mechanical odometers (since they have no visible moving parts). A vehicle's condition and a detailed history report are the best clues a buyer has for determining whether clocking has occurred.

Auto manufacturers developed the digital odometer, in large part, to alleviate the problem of odometer tampering. Unfortunately just as quickly as the technology is developed, scam artists learn how to use it for the wrong reasons. In this case, they are using the very tools meant to correct mileage on digital odometers to rollback odometers. And it is as easy as surfing the Internet.

Digital odometer calibrators are being purchased online, and despite "disclaimers" from sellers, are being used to perpetrate odometer fraud.

"Just like a hacker can do damage to a computer, someone with the right software and hardware can make a digital odometer read whatever number they want," explained Pat Goss, Automotive Expert and Co-Host of PBS MotorWeek in a video news release. "There are all kinds of problems that used cars have which are virtually undetectable to the untrained person. Digital odometer fraud is one that's becoming more common."

"People mistakenly think digital odometers can't be rolled back, but this scam has gone high-tech. Foreign companies are selling software on the Internet, so that anyone who wants to roll back even a digital odometer can do it," Jack Gillis of the Consumer Federation Of America and author of The Car Book in the video release.

[pugboy]

Toyota Fielder 2003 purchased from [edited by admin, business complaints or accusations not allowed], officially had 23k on it.


What had me suspicious also was when I opened up the dash to clean behind the a/c filter there was more than a lot of crap behind there that certainly implied a lot of mileage.

My belief is that they are rolled back in Japan after the cars have been delisted, because when I initially went there I saw cars which had just come off the port and they allowed me to see the cars in their dirty state with mold on the steering wheel etc without any qualms.

I also shopped around at a few dealers and as mentioned above they almost always have around 20-35k on the odometer, it is impossible to believe that everybody in Japan who has a 3 year old car happens to coincidentally only drive about 7-8k per year especially for wagons which tend to be working vehicles unlike cars.

Mind you I have seen some cars which look really new with little on the odometer.

[RichieRich]

all RORO cars mileage are rolled back.

[sweeks]

Good info fellas... I heard the same rumours especially with the more recent RORO... the older ones (pre - 2002 ) came with true mileage but after that.... well....

These days I tending to look more towards a local used cars partially because of this. The technology to change the odometer is here but not too much people aware of it.

[hong kong phooey]

good info there pugboy realy found that the mileage on most of those vehicles low,
well at least it will open up some people eyes, hope these dealers dont remove these stickers.

dealers should know this,this is fraud ?

[SmokeyGTi]

ah boy, we ketch dem, dey should drop de price in half

[red5FWD]

Man that is fcuked up but thanx for the heads up....this is another check to make before buying

[RichieRich]

you cant blame the local dealers as the cars are coming already rewinded, knock down vehicles use to have true mileage

[Dion76]

fellas i bought an almera from a dealer in chagunas and the mileage was 16,577 do u'all think its orginal or rolled back

[Scoop]

really good info there!

[equipped2ripp]

most of the cars have rolled back mileage...

but some do have the genuine mileage... they'll come with like 13k with the inside still smelling like new, plastic on the door scuff plates/sills, seats like new etc.

well i came across a singapore sunny/almera like this anyway

[Dion76]

ohk well i hope i am a lucky one

[pugboy]

a lot of these dealers buy from agents in japan who know what our market is looking for, more than likely its those japanese agents who are doing the fraud
when i was by the dealer he took an overseas japanese call from one of those agents and it was basically along the lines of the guy telling him he has good cars at good prices, no kind of verifications etc, not any different than buying vegetables in the market

[sweeks]

Believe me the dealers know that the mileage is rolled back but unfortunately this is what the market wants.... low mileage and this is what they get... low mileage.

[Dion76]

lol^^

[IceQueen]

Well i just bought a roro...mileage...hmm if it rolled back wateva lol the car still rolling like a new one suspensions, shocks, smells like new....engine purrs...lol hey if we buying roro we mus kno iz foreign abused stuff...so why hate on the dealers if we know bout their "scams" and yet we still purchasin the vehicles?...

[bleedingfreak]

That's why you purchase from "reputable" dealers... Don't ask me what reputable means.

One way to get a good vehicle is to buy it pre-auction. But you WILL pay a premium for it.

[spam]

look how i eh feelin to by a roro again

anybody sellin a decent lancer local used

[sweeks]

same here Spam.... same here.

[Funk_Master]

A south dealer told me about some of "those dealers" down here who actually do the odo change themselves. He was showing me the auctions where he bids on vehicles and you see the vehicles history etc and he said he saw a few of the cars that were up for auction that were bought by local dealers and they changed the odo so it reads much less than what the milage actually is....

[xxSTAY TUNEDxx]

Now i understand y my parents allways buy local vehicles
But that's pretty messed up

[sufferrar]

Check the web site of various froeign used car dealer and look at the mileage of their vehicle and you will see that that are all the same . I looked at a few vehicles on the website and that are all 32xxx km.

I went to another location looking for a car and all of them are 12xxx.
They are sure rolling back the numbers but that cars seem to be newish.

[greyfox2501]

i can tell you that most dealers roll back the mileage, 70% of the times it's the dealer down here that requests it.i bring in alot of RORO part time and my dealers ask how much i want it rolled back?only like 2% of them will send with normal mileage or they will say that they don't do that.the price of a foreign car will drastically sky rocket if it has the natural mileage on it. hence dealers down here buy cars that have about 55-80km or higher and turn it back...and in turn they make over like 20k on cars, suvs worse!i will get PM cuss for this lol cause am selling out alot of dealers on this site!!!from the time you see 15-32km it was turned back, 100% sure !!!
on top of that dealers sell you based on the mods done to the cars...and these mods were either done by the previous owner or by the company that owns it now, those kit up corollas that going for like 85-88, i have brought them down and sold them for 75-80,i brought in my subaru TS for 70 on the road, thas with momo steering, shifter,sti bodykit, sports spoiler, gold subaru rims...
the vtec civics with the sports mode and leather interior that selling for 85 i brought down one for a friend for 65 on the bloody road man, reallllll rippppp off allyuh getting as usual!so think of the other brands, i guarantee you if you bring it in on your own, all you have to do to bring it own for yourself is get an import license, yes u can get one to use if you are bringing it down private, one time use and they limit you to one car per person. another limitation is that u can't sell the car within 3 years and why would you if it's for personal use...
vehicles that i have brought down , trust me were grade 4 and higher vehicles, price wise a good couple thousand cheaper!just made enough to eat and pay my broker heh, cause i find it was real rip off down here dread...right now am only bringing for close friends and relatives though...cause when too much ppl know it gets crazy, but i just thought you guys should know what's really going on!hope it was helpful, i expect to get reallllll cuss from other dealers, hahahha but they don't know who i am

[greyfox2501]

o i forgot to mention, the only way i request to turn back mileage is if whoever is buying they just want it for personal use not resale and i stress no resale, but i let them know the real mileage cause u must know , so u will know what belts and what work needs to be done in advance tunning wise!fair is fair!

[A33_VQ35]

Wish it had more dealers like u man.

Another way which my mech showed me to know if yur meter has been tampered with is 2 try an unscrew your instrument panel finisher. it the screw turns with no fuss then it has been removed. I believe he told me it suppose to have locktite there so if u eh get some resistance or hear a crack, then u know wha time it is....

[greyfox2501]

i would have never thought of that... that's a good one...learned something new there yes...