Unbelieveble mileage on the odometer

[T0nyGTSt]

I think everyone knows that imports have their clocks wound back. I would be hard pressed to believe that my '95 has a mere 70,000 on the clock.

However looking at the ads online and the attitude of the dealers I've been too, I wonder if they think we are all stupid.

Who would believe a 1991 Soarer with 32,000?

Or a '94 GTS-t with 44,000? Or a '91 GT-R with 57,000?

And the salesman told me they were ridgey didge checked out by their Japanese contact

T.

[MegaGTS4]

As far as I know..

Japanese's dont drive their cars much if they don't have to, parking in japan can be a real pain sometimes too, and personal parking(in front of house) spots can cost upto a few million dollars.(edit: sorry, This should say"few million yen")

And I once heard that the Japanese can't own a car in some of the more dense populated areas unless you have a personal parking spot or somewhere to park the vehicle is this correct?

Also with their strict laws, They have to replace engine or car at or before the 50000 mark to comply with their laws!

Please correct me if I'am wrong!

Edit: My 91 R32 GTR has 48000 on the clock atm.

MEGA

[JET-33]

yeh i think ya right, i thinks it like 40k kms or 2 years and they have to get rid of em cos of their pollutions problems over there due to so many people...

so it wouldnt surprise me if MOST, not all, are genuine kms, and u would think that most of them run like they r alomst new so the kms could be legit, they dont run like 100+ km cars

[gtrken]

* Shakes head *

I wonder where people get the info from sometimes.

How do you explain 1980 model cars that are still licensed and going now ?

Personal parking , a few million dollars. Do you honestly believe that?

For every car that comes in with * 48,000 KM * on the clock , there are dozens with 120 ,000 or more at the auctions.

Believe me , the japs DO drive there cars and they DO put lot's of km's on them.

There is no hard and fast way to check the odo is legit , go by appearance or ask to see the auction report ( though even they get it wrong sometimes )

There have been cars for sale over here with * 30,000 KM * on the odo that 2 mths before where in the Jap auctions with 3 times that on it.

Cheers

Ken

[The Flying Gook]

I lived with a family in Japan for a month and they owned an old Celica. The family didn't even move their car for the whole month that i was there.

Honestly the traffic is so bad there that most of the time people don't want to go out in their cars except for weekends. Public transport is so much easier but its a pain in peek hours.

But sometimes it seems rather impossible that such an old car could have clock so little k's.

[MegaGTS4]

There have been cars for sale over here with * 30,000 KM * on the odo that 2 mths before where in the Jap auctions with 3 times that on it.

gtrken,

Are you accusing the importers of winding back the clock's?

Sounds like it to me!

MEGA

[uLa32]

bought my car with 64,000k's on the clock... '94 build date and i don't believe my clock is legit for one second.

are you sure its million dollar parking? maybe million yen? even then thats damn expensive... surely it cant be that much!

[gtrken]

Originally posted by MegaGTS4

gtrken,

Are you accusing the importers of winding back the clock's?

Sounds like it to me!

MEGA

Nahhhh ! , who me??

I will state that not every importer or dealer is bent but there are always those who push the boundaries and cause grief for the honest ones.

Cheers

Ken

[Shell]

it's funny when you go to *some* import yards... and EVERY car has between 30,000-50,000 kays on the clock

I spose, clean them up and make them look all shiny and pretty, and some people will believe anything

I went to a car yard in Brisbane, where they had an R33 with 13,000 kms on the clock :bahaha:

[Guest ylwgtr]

ken is 100% correct...the cars get used just like normal there....actually the klms are very hard klms...stop start klms....and lots of japanese have a tendancy to idle there cars for a very long time.....in the snow they leave them idleing for most of the day....and japanese dont have to get rid of there cars.....i have seen heaps of old cars in japan...my friend has a 68 karman ghia convertible!Low klm cars are still worth good money in japan....there will not be a low klm car that is here that was bought in for a profit unless its mega bucks

[Miss*33]

Shell's definitely right about "some" import yards.

The yard I got my 33 from had cars ranging from 40-60 and the yard by b/f got his 32 GTR from had cars ranging from 50-60....every single car!!!!

[predator]

I've heard that most of the winding back is done in Japan before it even gets to auction. While i am sure other dodgy dealers in Australia go that extra step, usually i think its already been done by the time it gets to them.

And yeah, Miss*33 that is what makes me wonder too.. there just doesn't seem to be enough variation in km - they are all around 60,000 - 80,000 some are also suspiciously all around 78,000km. Tell me they all get to 78,000 km and just stop driving it! There are no big ones either (like 120,000km+) but of course there has to be some out there.

Japan is probably just like anywhere else. There are some places where they can do sweet f.a. in terms of km due to traffic, parking costs, etc. In more country areas then i assume there is some scope for doing some more daily driving.

[400R]

my mate used to be a complier (until a couple of weeks ago) and says the cars he gets through have genuine odometer readings but he'll see the same car a couple of weeks later with a ridicoulus odometer reading. b.t.w a 32 gts-t rarely has less than 100,000 km on the clock according to him but i've seen plenty at car yards with less kilometres than that, i think the car dealers are at fault

[surreal]

It has a lot to do with the tax and rego on cars. In Japan, the older a car gets, the higher the rego and other costs go - it is not impossible to own an older car, just increasingly expensive. It is also true that some cars do come into Oz with low (relatively)milage, however this is not always a good thing as it could indicate that it has spent most of its life with the motor running in a traffic jam or in snow as mentioned.

Having said all of that, don't be a gullible git - if its too good to be true, its not!!

[Dragon18]

well i bought my car from japan and it was a 97 model with 40,000 km on the clock i think that is preety legit for a 97 model but like you said its hard to belive a 92 to 91 with 30,000 km on it.

the way i see it it depends what the car is being used for. e.g my car had a few mods on it and a roll cage so iam assuming the guy took it out only on weekeds etc for a cruise or race around a track it wasnt a full drift car but had afew mods which showed it was raced?

now what do you think ? a car that has been raced here and there and done 40,000 km on the clock legit or a car that has done over 100 km and been knocked back to 40,000 km

i dont bleive that the cars are knocked back as much in japan i believe its all done with the Major import dealers. Not private importers the show room impoters who buy smashed up cars fix them across the road and turn the clock back heapz

if you notice on all those show room places all the cars have body kits on them some sort of kit.

i think they do that becuase they have all had some kind of accident history

[2fardown]

Originally posted by Dragon18

.......i dont bleive that the cars are knocked back as much in japan i believe its all done with the Major import dealers.....  

It is done in Japan. How many times do you see on an auction sheet that the kms are questioned?? All the time. What signs do they have in most of the auction yards??.......Winding back odometers is a crime or something along those lines. I have seen a few pics of them.

Bottom line is, if it hasn't already been wind back in Japan then you can bet that it will be wound back when it hits Australia.

[Guest INASNT]

u can check how much a car has been used by the condition of the steering wheel, drives carpet and the condition of the dash!

I saw a r33 at caryard 2 with 17,000 km's on the clock and it had holes in the dash, holes in the carpet and realy worn steering wheel. I asked the dealer how a car with only 17,000 km's could have a worn leather steering wheel, he tried to bullshit me and tell me that it was normal coz the area in japan it came from had alot of windy roads!! :bahaha: sure mate

[akeenan]

There are no big ones either (like 120,000km+) but of course there has to be some out there.

ive seen a few skylines at yards with these sort of kms on them. for memory there used to be an r33 gtr down at mondo with i think 140000 kms on the clock possible a little more

[Merli]

If you guys knew how easy it is to wind the odometer back, or replace the dash with another, lower kms one... You wouldn't be surprised when I tell you that if you bought your car from a local car yard, it most probably has kms wound back off it...

And for all you people who think that the Japanese don't do a lot of kms on their cars, you are sadly misinformed my friends. They drive their cars just as much as we do, and as previously mentioned, most of it is start/stop traffic which is even worse for the cars.

[akeenan]

i know how easy it is.