Did i get screwed?

[rusty ol ranger]

Just for fun i went to one of those free vehicle history sites...where you plug in the lincense plate number and it gives you a history...

I plugged in my 97 F250 that i bought in december of 2013. It was listed for sale in on 10/31/13 in another town a few hrs north of where i bought it. For 7900.

It said listed mileage "122,393". When i bought it, for 9300 bucks the odo read "62,xxx".

Obviously its been way to long to do anything about it...but im pissed none the less. I pulled the dash panel off to replace the tank selector last summer and nothing look tampered with.

You think the site was unreliable? I dont remember which site it was. How hard is it to roll back an digital odo?

WTF

 

[fastpakr]

Probably easier to swap the cluster than roll it back.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Just went and spent 25 bucks for an autocheck report...the only reported odo reading on that was when it was brand new with 2 miles....

I dont know...guess i wont worry to much. Just pisses me off. Even 9 yrs later.

 

[sgtsandman]

I don't know enough about the service level software to say if it is possible to tamper with that or not. I'm more inclined to go with fastpacker that the cluster was swapped.

 

[scotts90ranger]

With those clusters all the info is in the cluster, they're goofy things, all the math for the speedo/odo is done in the cluster, you can recalibrate them with the two buttons and ignition power but I think you only get like 3 tries (or is it 7? whatever...) and they are locked out or something... Other than paying a premium I wouldn't worry about it too much, the 10.25" rear axle doesn't care about miles, the only real extra wear would be in the transmission and normal wear parts anyway...

Dang, my '97 F350 crew cab long bed 4x4 manual with 7.3L with like 325k miles on it and a reconstructed title was $4500 if I remember right in 2012... stupid thing is probably worth $12k or more in this market...

 

[snoranger]

You can probably sell it for more than you paid for it... at least you have that going for you.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I guess im more so questioning how accurate that website was. I ran it through a bunch of different sites and that was the only one that had that information.

It was "vincheck.info". i read some reviews that said it was inaccurate. I dont know....its whatever i guess.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Did the PCM do and inferred mileage calculation and store it in the PCM back then?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Did the PCM do and inferred mileage calculation and store it in the PCM back then?

I dont think so. I think it was all stored in the chip in the speedo itself. Its a 97 but still EEC IV/OBD1

 

[Uncle Gump]

I wasn't sure... I know it became a "thing" at some point to prevent this type of "thing".

 

[bobbywalter]

Inferred milage is for adaptation....


And was always there.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Yes... it was used for software tweaks for higher mileage strategy. I seem to remember at some point hearing it was used in a secondary way as a way to check against mileage fraud. It was decades ago... my mind gets a bit more foggy as the years go by.

 

[Roert42]

Do you have to report the mileage every year to the dmv?

Is the mileage recorded on the title?

Unless you have to report the mileage to the dmv, how would this hokey website have any idea what the mileage was?

In Pa you must report your yearly mileage when you pay your registration tax.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

I've heard and seen firsthand how Carfax is mostly BS, as are most "vehicle history report sites". The real estate sites aren't much better. Zillow says my house is for sale and worth a million dollars. My house has not been for sale since I bought it ten years ago, for half that.

 

[DILLARD000]

Despite what most car salemen will say, AUTOMOBILES ARE NOT AN INVESTMENT !!!
They are one of the biggest money loosing liablities out there, only Boats\RVs & bad Marriages are worse.
So I look at the price I've paid for all the vehicles in my life, as each one being too much.
All you can do is shop around, use your best judgement to minimize the financial damage, & don't shop vehicles again, until you have to.
Consider yourself lucky if you've got a vehicle that is reliable\maintainable\affordable for your situation.