Odometer

I'm thinking of buying a used BMW; can I trust the odometer reading?

"rikoski" > a écrit dans le message de
...
> I'm thinking of buying a used BMW; can I trust the odometer reading?

No, there are many companies (e.g. in Switzerland and in Germany) which
reset the odometer at a very low cost.

--
Best regards.
Giovanni Tarantino
Bevaix (NE)
Switzerland
1997 Audi A4 2.8 Q 231,000 km (144,000 miles)
1997 BMW 535i 230,000 km (142,000 miles)

> I'm thinking of buying a used BMW; can I trust the odometer reading?

Not in the slightest.
Mine's been stuck on 345,000KM for at least five years.

-mark

"rikoski" > wrote in message
...
> I'm thinking of buying a used BMW; can I trust the odometer reading?

What makes "BMW" relevant to this question? There has never been a vehicle
made that can't have an altered odometer reading. At worst it simply
involves swapping out the part(s) that display or maintain this figure.

If you're concerned, only consider cars with good service history
documentation, as the mileage will be shown on the service invoices. You
can see an orderly progression that lines up with the services performed, to
give you confidence in the accuracy of the current readings.

-Russ.

Yes.

Tampering with the odometer reading is fraud. BMW Dealerships will not,
n-e-v-e-r, alter the odometer reading. Private party sales, and smaller
independent used car dealeres _might_ alter the odometer, but the risk of
being caught exceeds any potential gains.

If the odometer is set back, the signs will be things like worn pedals or
carpeting in the driver's footwell. If you select a Certified Used Car, the
odometer should be reliable.


"rikoski" > wrote in message
...
> I'm thinking of buying a used BMW; can I trust the odometer reading?

Jeff Strickland wrote:

> Yes.
>
> Tampering with the odometer reading is fraud. BMW Dealerships will
> not, n-e-v-e-r, alter the odometer reading. Private party sales, and
> smaller independent used car dealeres _might_ alter the odometer, but
> the risk of being caught exceeds any potential gains.
>
> If the odometer is set back, the signs will be things like worn
> pedals or carpeting in the driver's footwell. If you select a
> Certified Used Car, the odometer should be reliable.

I believe BMW dealerships are probably more honest than most, but they're just
car dealerships. They get most of their used cars from the same place as anyone
else -- auctions. And the whole system of auctions and wholesaling is rife with
opportunities for this kind of fraud. Dealers are usually "innocent" -- they
don't know, and don't want to know, where their cars came from -- as long as
they get a good deal on a car that's easily saleable.

So for me, it's private party only, w/ records. Certified, schmertified --
which is too expensive anyway.

More than odometer rollbacks, I'd be wary of the tens of thousands of flood
damaged cars from the recent Florida hurricanes.

Matt O.

"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
...
>"rikoski" > wrote in message
...
>> I'm thinking of buying a used BMW; can I trust the odometer reading?

> Yes.
>
> Tampering with the odometer reading is fraud. BMW Dealerships will not,
> n-e-v-e-r, alter the odometer reading. Private party sales, and smaller
> independent used car dealeres _might_ alter the odometer, but the risk of
> being caught exceeds any potential gains.
>
> If the odometer is set back, the signs will be things like worn pedals or
> carpeting in the driver's footwell. If you select a Certified Used Car,
the
> odometer should be reliable.

Why should one trust an odometer in a BMW? Can you tell the pedal wear
difference between 150,000 miles and 250,000 miles? How about the
difference between 80,000 and 120,000? What if the owner had an aftermarket
floor mat ($20) and replaces the pedals ($20)?

Dealerships won't alter it, but that wasn't the question. I don't think
independants would either for the most part. It's the private guy selling
to the auction or dealer that puts the thing into the system, and the dealer
just accepts it at face value as a good deal to pass on to a customer.

A Certified Used car is more likely to be ok, since they mostly come from
newer serviced vehicles, but without a history, you don't know anything.
And neither does the dealer.

Most dealers are indeed honest. But the answer to the question "I'm buying
a used BMW, can I trust the odo" has to be no. Just like any other used
car. History is everything.

-Russ.

In article >,
Somebody > wrote:
> Why should one trust an odometer in a BMW? Can you tell the pedal wear
> difference between 150,000 miles and 250,000 miles? How about the
> difference between 80,000 and 120,000? What if the owner had an
> aftermarket floor mat ($20) and replaces the pedals ($20)?

It's very unlikely anyone would clock a 250000 mile car back to 120000. It
makes near no difference to the 'book' price. High miles cars should be
bought on condition alone, so require an expert buyer to make sense as a
purchase.

The magic figure seems to be 100000 miles in the UK at least. Most punters
seem be wary of buying a car near that mileage. So the big money is made
by clocking such cars back to a more reasonable figure - say about half
that.

> Dealerships won't alter it, but that wasn't the question. I don't think
> independants would either for the most part. It's the private guy
> selling to the auction or dealer that puts the thing into the system,
> and the dealer just accepts it at face value as a good deal to pass on
> to a customer.

I'd say you've more chance than not of buying a clocked car from an
'independant' in the UK. It's absolutely rife. The rewards are great, and
the risk of being caught small.

> A Certified Used car is more likely to be ok, since they mostly come
> from newer serviced vehicles, but without a history, you don't know
> anything. And neither does the dealer.

Records are kept centrally on all recent BMWs. So any clocking should be
easy to ascertain. Of course, those records aren't available to the public
- one could draw one's own conclusions as to why...

> Most dealers are indeed honest. But the answer to the question "I'm
> buying a used BMW, can I trust the odo" has to be no. Just like any
> other used car. History is everything.

A devious 'dealer' can fiddle the service history all too easily.

At least with a BMW it's slightly more difficult to alter the milage
reading than with some. It's stored in more than one place.

--
*Too many clicks spoil the browse *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Matt O'Toole wrote:
> I believe BMW dealerships are probably more honest than most, but they're just
> car dealerships. They get most of their used cars from the same place as anyone
> else -- auctions. And the whole system of auctions and wholesaling is rife with
> opportunities for this kind of fraud. Dealers are usually "innocent" -- they
> don't know, and don't want to know, where their cars came from -- as long as
> they get a good deal on a car that's easily saleable.

Actually, at least in the US, new car dealers do not usually buy any
cars at auction. They sell what they take in as trades on new car sales
and auction off any they take-in that do not meet certain standards (too
old, too many miles, etc.) Generally, the "dealers" that buy their cars
at the auctions are the used car dealerships.

-Fred W

"Matt O'Toole" > wrote in message
...
>
> Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
> > Yes.
> >
> > Tampering with the odometer reading is fraud. BMW Dealerships will
> > not, n-e-v-e-r, alter the odometer reading. Private party sales, and
> > smaller independent used car dealeres _might_ alter the odometer, but
> > the risk of being caught exceeds any potential gains.
> >
> > If the odometer is set back, the signs will be things like worn
> > pedals or carpeting in the driver's footwell. If you select a
> > Certified Used Car, the odometer should be reliable.
>
> I believe BMW dealerships are probably more honest than most, but they're
just
> car dealerships. They get most of their used cars from the same place as
anyone
> else -- auctions. And the whole system of auctions and wholesaling is
rife with
> opportunities for this kind of fraud. Dealers are usually "innocent" --
they
> don't know, and don't want to know, where their cars came from -- as long
as
> they get a good deal on a car that's easily saleable.
>
> So for me, it's private party only, w/ records. Certified,
schmertified --
> which is too expensive anyway.
>
> More than odometer rollbacks, I'd be wary of the tens of thousands of
flood
> damaged cars from the recent Florida hurricanes.
>
> Matt O.
>
>

With the vast majority of BMWs being leased, the dealerships probably send
more cars to auction than they get from auction. Why would a BMW dealership
go to auction to get a car when they get dozens of lease returns in every
month. They will keep the cream of these returns, and send the crap off to
the auction.

Mom & Pop's Used Cars down on the corner will buy cars from the auction, but
I doubt BMW dealerships are buying very many from there.