THAT MILEAGE IS NOT CORRECT

I have seen several threads on this topic. I, like you, would like to know the true mileage. If there was restoration (or whatever the case may be) that is fine, just have the documentation to prove it.

 

My worthless 2 Cents EU.

I bet that anything after being 2nd hand, EVEN WITH DOCs, the chances of the ACTUAL milage being shown on the ODO, drop faster than an (insert major pro sport here) player's pants in a house of ill repute staffed by this years Playmates with a 2-Fer sale going on.

 

As a rule of thumb, I'd say it's important that you're able to justify whatever mileage to the next owner whether it be docs, extent of wear on the car etc. Even if you don't ever intend to sell. Obviously some ultra low mileage figure will be cause for suspicion on whatever else is claimed about the car.

 

You should be able to get some idea-- there are lots of ways. If the car has a complete service history, you should be able to match up the mileage in the history at each service. Carfax will give you some of this on modern cars, and FML can often give you some data on older cars.

On modern cars, I don't know how easy it is to disconnect the odo between services. It's true that on older cars this used to happen once in a while.

Ferraris as a whole get far fewer miles per year than most other cars, if for no other reason than that Ferrari owners almost always have at least one or two other cars to drive.

 

FYI, I believe the laws in many states allow dealers to use a 'TMU' (true mileage unknown) designation on any car after a certain number of years have passed. After 10 years or (?), the odometer is presumed to be unreliable.

Secondly, for old cars with the original odometers (my 328 has its original unit), the accuracy isn't all that great. The speedo reads about 5%+ too high, and I suspect the odometer runs a tad fast as well.

Beyond 10-15 years, if you're paying an odometer premium, you should have extensive documentation of that mileage. And even then, recognize that one dishonest person could tamper with it and the other owners would be none the wiser.

 

low milage (and esp ultra low milage) cars should not be all that hard to verify. Ultra low milage cars are not cars that's generally gone thru alot of hands. usually a couple or three owners maybe. And just because a car has low milage, if there's no other reason to believe it's not accurate, then there's no other reason to believe it's not accurate. I believe people tend to "over-think" this issue sometimes. I guess they have their reasons.

ps...and I'm with you on restored cars. It's really nice to know the actual milage even if restored, not just "miles since resto". But sometimes, people genuinely do not know.

 

It is actually listed as mileage "exempt" on the title (at least in the states I have seen).

What would be fair, IMO, is to list "mileage since restoration", and just state actual mileage unknown (unless you have complete documentation all the way back).

 

Yes, that's what I was trying to think of.

 

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