How to Identify If the Mileage of a Used Car Has Been Tampered With?
2 Answers
Methods to identify if the mileage of a used car has been tampered with include: 1. Check the wear and tear on the accelerator pedal, clutch pedal, and brake pedal, which can generally indicate the vehicle's mileage. If the tread patterns are completely worn out, the mileage is likely over 100,000 kilometers; 2. Inspect the vehicle's OBD port for looseness or signs of use; 3. Visit a same-brand 4S dealership to look up the vehicle's last maintenance record, comparing the recorded mileage during maintenance with the condition at the time of transaction for any obvious discrepancies; 4. For vehicles that have passed the warranty period, you can check with the insurance company, as the insurance policy may also contain some mileage records.
Having driven for half my life, I know all the tricks behind odometer rollbacks. Don't just trust the dashboard mileage—check overall wear. Focus on the steering wheel and seats: daily contact leaves marks. Be wary if the 3 and 9 o'clock positions on the wheel are shiny or if the driver's seat is heavily worn while the passenger's looks new. Brake disc thickness is key—normal wear is about 3mm per 100,000 km; paper-thin discs with low mileage are suspicious. Tire tread depth matters too—brand-new tires on a car showing 50,000 km are likely fake. Check maintenance stickers in the windshield corner—discrepancies with the odometer expose fraud. Inspect door hinge screws for tampering—they're often disturbed during odometer adjustments. Finally, compare the car's age to its mileage—a five-year-old car with only 30,000–40,000 km is questionable. Only by piecing these details together can you uncover the true condition.
