For what it's worth, when my friends in Hilo wanted to buy a slightly used Prius (think it was maybe a year old and 8k miles on it), they bought it from a dealership in Honolulu and paid to ship it over. Says a lot.
I think most cars made in the last 5ish or so years shouldn't be susceptible to this nonsense anymore. The odometer is actually contained in a central computer in the vehicle, and it is communicated to the instrument cluster. And you can't just swap out THAT computer either, it has to be programmed to the same VIN so that all the other computers will talk to it.
Also, anything that does have a odometer in it, cannot by law be capable of getting programmed to a lower reading than it current has. You can roll the reading UP, but never down.
Of course, I had a older truck, a 2007 Chevy, and it had a dead instrument cluster when I bought it. When I ordered a new one, they just asked "how many miles you wanna put on it?" I said 180k, but I could have just as easily told them 80k. That's what Carfax's are for. That stuff shows up and the vehicle gets flagged forever.
(05-21-2024, 12:53 PM)leilanidude Wrote: Watch out for the craigslist/Facebook flippers. A common scam is that they buy a used instrument cluster from a salvage yard and swap it out, reflecting much less than actual miles.
I think most cars made in the last 5ish or so years shouldn't be susceptible to this nonsense anymore. The odometer is actually contained in a central computer in the vehicle, and it is communicated to the instrument cluster. And you can't just swap out THAT computer either, it has to be programmed to the same VIN so that all the other computers will talk to it.
Also, anything that does have a odometer in it, cannot by law be capable of getting programmed to a lower reading than it current has. You can roll the reading UP, but never down.
Of course, I had a older truck, a 2007 Chevy, and it had a dead instrument cluster when I bought it. When I ordered a new one, they just asked "how many miles you wanna put on it?" I said 180k, but I could have just as easily told them 80k. That's what Carfax's are for. That stuff shows up and the vehicle gets flagged forever.