I went to look at an R reg fiesta 1.4 ghia last night which was being sold for £1250. Thought it was going to be too good to be true. Unfortunately it was.
The car has had its mileometer replaced at some point and so it only had 4000+ miles on the clock. The true mileage of the car wasnt known to the mechanic selling it nor did he know why it had been replaced. All we could tell from the service history was that it was replaced at some point between the 2003 MOT and the 2004 MOT but there was nothing in the service history or papers to say why. The garage thinks the mileage is somewhere around 80,000 but he cant be sure. Do any of you know why this would have been done? Was I right to walk away from it?
Also, the car has had 8 registered owners which concerned me slightly.
I dont think i'm going to be getting the car as there were too many other little problems with it which amounted to quite big problems really but just wondered why this would have happened as I've never come accross it before.
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The only reason that anyone would replace it is because it had stoppedf working. I would think that it's an honest change too, as no one would be stupid enough to clock a 9 year old car back to just 4,000 miles with a view to tricking buyers!
It's not common but I've seen one or two cars that seem otherwise fine but their odometers just don't seem to advance along with the miles.
You were probably right to walk away though if there were other problems, but bear in mind that at this end of the market you're best off buying from condition rather than mileage, if the mileage is genuine then bonus!
Blue
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Are you sure the mileage wasn't 104K? I know old Fiestas odometers only went up to 99,999 miles.
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My mother had a Honda Prelude a few years ago. Bought from new and needed a replacement speedo after about 6months.
Amazingly she also had a Honda Civic which had the same fate, also at around 6 months old!
Both were replaced under warranty by Honda, and both showed "00000" miles when collected.
Both were accompanied with signed & stamped certificate listing the previous mileage, including serial number of old clock set and confirming legitimacy of the change.
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"Also, the car has had 8 registered owners which concerned me slightly."
I'd be far more worried by that than a replacement speedo - there's plenty more to choose from that will have had just 2/3 owners.
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This car had no such certificate with it otherwise I wouldnt be so bothered by it. But there was nothing like it in the service documents. I suppose it could be legitimate but without some sort of proof I'm wary of it.
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The replacement itself is nothing to be worried about, perhaps the fact that you just can't know the true mileage is.
But it's all a moot point, you mention that there were several other bad points about it, and that the car doesn't feel good to you, those are reasons enough to avoid. If you're ever unsure about a car, walk away, there'll always be another.
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Walk away. As others have said above, a replacement odometer should be certified if done correctly. Pick another, there are thousands out there and if you get the right one they are a great car.
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I had a 306 that had to have the mileometer replaced at just under 100k miles so never saw it go over, sadly
My current Laguna also had it done early on in its life
Seems relatively common ?
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Odometer integral to speedo so if that goes you get mileage re zeroed. Happened twice in a BX we owned, stickers on the speedo showed both changes though.
Can you work out the mileage from old MoT's etc?. Shouls not be too bigger part of the equation anyway, overall condition much more rlevant.
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I've had several cars that required a replacement speedo for various failures, but as already said the number of previous owners is what would make me walk away.
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no reason why the mileage can't be adjusted by the fitting dealer on digital speedo's so a new speedo should read same mileage as the old one
most cars allow mileage to be increased using the diagnostics equipment
on some newer cars - volvo and vw for example - the mileage is stored on the cars ecu not the instrument cluster so if the speedo is replaced the mileage stays the same... i know it doesnt help with older/analog speedos but worth mentioning
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Or the garage could clock it the 'irish' way - ie. give it more miles!
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Me too in my last car, speedo went, mileometer was reset when they replaced it.
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Thats what I thought would have happened. I would have thought that when the mileometer was replaced it would be put forward to the actual mileage of the car rather than beginning at zero. Or if that wasnt the case then the car would come with a certificate of authenticity or something.
As I said other little things put me off like the clutch having no travel, it moved about 2 cm, not kidding, I didnt think it was right. The mechanic told me it was normal but I'm not sure. Might only be 21 and female but I've been in enough cars to know a clutch should travle more than that. Also the rear view mirror falling off when I went round a corner instilled me with confidence. But I think the number of owners is the one that got me. 8 since 1998 just doesnt seem normal to me, not if its a decent car. Last owner only had it 3 months. I know this could be for a number of reasons but it just didnt instill me with confidence.
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Long time ago I had a Cavalier Sri with a whiny instrument pod. I jammed a pound coin in and that solved the problem, but at 16,500 miles the dealer replaced the whole thing under warranty, which cleared the problem up.
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probably on a different tack but i once bought a mk3 escort xr3i with 19 previous owners (from the block so didnt know until it was paid for).With regards the high number of owners i agree for the time scale involved it does seem high but do remember that these little cars are usually bought for sons/daughters/wifes and are quite often traded on after a year to something better as driving experiance now allows.The clutch sounds faulty i would walk too.
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Again on a different tack. Some years ago my Daughters Polo needed a new speedo. We found a replacement pod in the local breakers which had a mileage of 72000ish which was within 100 miles of the old one!
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