Mileage of car, how do you tell?

The traditional measure is the wear on the driver's seat bolster - another is the edges of the seat belt - obviously either can be replaced but even that should leave signs

 

There's a bigger chance the speedo was not connected / working for some of the time, rather than having been around the clock.

Service records, even if you have none, there wouldnt be too many Ferrari repair shops in S.A, contact them to see if they know the car, worth a shot. Also trace prior owners, possibly through the local Ferrari Club ?

Age of tyres ? Date code will tell you when they where made, does this relate to the age of the car?

A 400 with 130 000k's on it will probably be a bit smoky through the valve seals, and be on its 2nd timing chain. What's the compression in the motor like?

Things like the presence of original suspension bushes, hoses and brake pads will all give you a clue as to the true mileage of the car.

And some people don't get to use their Ferrari's much (me), so the mileage could be correct. (eg I have a 21 000 km GT4 that's done about 200k's a year in the 17 years that I've owned it) - a by product of too many cars and not enough time to enjoy the toys

M

 

Hello,
I think a 30.000 km 400 would have a nice driver seat, clean pedals (slightly worn rubber), if a pre-1982, the rear cantilevers should be in good shape, after driving around a bit, the car should not look "low" on its rear wheels. The engine bay should look clean, the paint on the cam covers should not be "chipped" (if missing paint there, expect the car has more than 100.000km). The timing chain adjustment should be about half way down, not more. While driving the car, the feeling should be that all is very tight.
If the car had a restoration, there is a possibility the counter was reset, which makes the visual evaluation even more difficult.

 

Hello,
Some pictures, first two for a 400 Auto from 1978 (127,809km), middle two from a 412 manual from 1988 (9,761km), last two from a 512 BBi from 1983 (38,966km). Of course the brake pedal is used a lot more with a Auto gearbox car. Note that the BBi clutch pedal has lost its rubber, this is because the clutch control of this car is particularly hard (thanks to this photo session, I finally noticed that a replacement rubber is needed!). The brake pedal rubber is quite clean by comparison.
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This is the pedal of my 400 automatic (1979) with today exactly 100.000 km on it. Not sure if the rubber ever has been replaced before.
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I figured he posted it that way so it would look normal to you southern hemisphere folks!

The brake pad wear is one thing to look at but the mix of city driving and highway driving, where the brakes are not used much, can throw that off.

Of course, if I had a high mileage car that I wanted to misrepresent as low mileage, the first thing that I would do is look at the brake pedal pad and, if it was worn, replace it. Not expensive, super easy to do.

The truth is, with an old car, it can take a lot of detective work from several sources to try to reconstruct the mileage and its history. Where has your car been in the past, what service records might be available, are there any old registration documents, etc. ?

 

Usually its seats, steering wheel, pedals, rubber seals and check underneath the car to give a general idea. But you can't really tell because some have just been harshly treated or driven in a harsh environment. I think sometimes it might be better to a higher mileage example but one that has been treated well with regular driving and servicing.