Reset mileage

[tunna]

Hi I have replaced my bsi ecu and key fob from a donor cat but now I have the mileage from both cars I have the vin number from the donor car is there any way to get just my original mileage I’d appreciate any help thank you.

[GiveMeABreak]

Unfortunately not through legit means. The vehicle mileage is retained in both the BSI and in the instrument display ECU - so will always display whichever is the highest mileage of the 2 units. The idea being to prevent fraud. If you were to have had a new BSI fitted for example - it would take the mileage from the instrument panel ECU and synchronise with that on first time connection.

[Michel]

There are companies that will do this for you and as far as I’m aware it’s not illegal. Google “mileage correction”. It’s illegal to sell a car that’s been altered without notifying the buyer.

The guys who bought my C4 GP had the mileage “corrected”... it had 124k on it when I sold it and 113k when I checked it they’d MOT’d it a few weeks later. As it has 111k on it for the previous MOT, they got away with it.

[GiveMeABreak]

From Autoexpress:

Another reason for the rise is said to be the fact that the practice has been made easier as more cars are fitted with digital odometers. That’s allowed mileage correction companies to start up, offering services to alter your mileage if your read-out gets corrupted. The European Union is looking to outlaw mileage correction firms by May 2018, a move that's gained support from the UK retail industry.

The European Parliament has now gone a step further and announced a complete ban on firms that offer to wind back the mileage on cars and other road vehicles. A Czech motoring organisation - an equivalent to the AA - pushed for the clampdown.

EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said: “The directive explicitly stipulates that if the odometer is found to have been manipulated with the aim of reducing or misrepresenting the distance record of a vehicle the Member State shall ensure that appropriate penalties are in place. Consequently the Commission considers that offering services linked to the manipulation of the tachometer cannot be considered as a legal activity.

Maybe if you had evidence from the log book showing the VIN of the donor car and some recent evidence that shows the mileage of that car - and the same with your car - then you might be able to evidence the legit mileage on your car and get it corrected. It's the evidence and the paper trail that is needed for a legit operation and some of these companies won't do it without evidence.

[Michel]

How odd that the guys who bought mine were Czech..

[Stickyfinger]

Jack it on blocks and spin the wheels backwards ?

[Paul-R]

Maybe in the olden days but not now.

[Stickyfinger]

Ahhh, the good old days when all you needed was a pin and a small screw driver to clock a car.

[wheeler]

Ahhh, the good old days when all you needed was a pin and a small screw driver to clock a car.

All you need now to clock, sorry correct the mileage in the majority of cars is a laptop & OBD cable. If anything its probably now easier than the olden days & more difficult to detect. Some manufacturers even store the mileage in the key now but even that can be changed.
It would be a shame if they outlawed it completely as there are legit reasons for altering mileage, they could just put stricter controls on it like having to log any changes with the DVLA etc so it would appear on the V5 or some sort of checkable database.

Yes, spinning the wheels backwards on a modern car will just continue to make the miles go up