odometer rollback

[nookie]

i did a car fax on this 97 240 le that i was hoping to buy. but after a carfax i noticed that it said it had 86000 miles in january of 1999. whlie the odometer says it has 45000 miles. i believe that i copied the VIN # correctly. a really nice old couple is selling this car and it wouldn't have occured to me that they would actually rollback the odometer. i was planning on taking one more look at it before buying it. Is there a way i can tell that the odometer has been rolled back? thanks

[Grant]

hmm check the vin again, does it mention anything about "not acutal milage on odometer" on carfax? They could have had the instrument cluster replaced??

[sykikchimp]

don't ever trust nice old people.  They are just as likely as anyone to rip you off.  They are more likely to get away with it though, because you never expect it.  Go by what the car fax says.  I would be willing to bet that is the real mileage on the car.  Also look VERY closely at how the body panels line up to make sure it hasn't been in a wreck.  Also look at the frame for bends, and odd weld spots...  sure signs of wreck.  I say that b/c a lot of times if they had replaced the cluster, there was probably a reason.

[Tuck&Poke]

GOD damn OLD PEOPLE! &nbsp;they think they're so damn hard core! &nbsp;they're sneakey little f*ers i tell ya <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sly.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':sly:'> . &nbsp;dont trust them for a second just cause theyre old <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':angry:'> . &nbsp;have a mechanic come with you...a mechanic you trust...and make sure hes not old and... *men in white coats grab mini and begin to drag him out of the room* wait im not done! let me go!

[nookie]

thanks guys for the replies. im taking to a shop that i trust soon. the carfax cameback absolutely clean without any records of any car wrecks or an "not actual mileage" on the odometer. is there a way i can take out the cluster and see if it's been changed or altered in any way? could the state inspectors mistakenly read the odometer wrong?

[f1seb]

I don't know about state inspectors cause when I bought my 240 2 weeks ago nobody inspected my car. Here in NY I just filled out what the odometer said the other guy who sold me the car signed it and I turned it over to DMV and viola i had my registration and that was it. It could have been a wrong number entered like a computer error or something. For a 1997 80k miles seem alot so a mechanic will be able to tell if there's anything wrong with the car. Other than that you can always walk and not buy the car.

[my240likenoother]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (nookie @ April 12 2002,12:25)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">thanks guys for the replies. im taking to a shop that i trust soon. the carfax cameback absolutely clean without any records of any car wrecks or an "not actual mileage" on the odometer. is there a way i can take out the cluster and see if it's been changed or altered in any way? could the state inspectors mistakenly read the odometer wrong?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
if you can take the car for a few hours you can remove the cluster and take off the black caseing that cover the guages and peal back the overlay to look at where the numbers clip on the metal bracket if that bracket looks like its bent out of shape or there r some gouges in it that would be your best bet on seeing if it has been f*cked with <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/nervous.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':nervous:'>

but if you find out that it has you can get that car for alote cheaper than you think "blackmale'' <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sneaky.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':pissed:'>