Odometers 101

[noise]

Does anyone know how common it is to wind back odometers in Japan? Is it done to most vehicles before auction to fetch a few more grand? It seems ridiculas that Japanese people as a group drive much less then everyone else in the world.

Can digital odometers be would back like mechanical ones?

Some cars I just found on a stock list just then

1993 Nissan Skyline R33 Gts-t 96,000kms on the clock, that’s only 8000km a year or 21km a day.

1998 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-T 32,000ks on the clock, that’s only 4571km a year or 12.5km a day.

Can these be correct or should we just assume its all bullshit?

I suppose I could have found some more extreme examples.

Anyone living in Japan shed some light on the issue?

Thoughts?

Edited March 8, 2006 by noise

[_8OO5TED_]

well last august i picked up a 1993 R33 GTS-t sedan with 76,000kms on the clock.

I am quite satisfied that the KMs are accurate, the car came with a full service history from a local Nissan dealer plus the overall condition of the vehicle inside and out was near perfect. Not rips/tears/blemishes at all.

Genuine low Km examples are out there....

[t01-100]

My R32 came with two speedo clusters, one said 42ks and one said 155ks... neither appear right. Condition makes me think around 80ks is on the money.

My girlfriend has an 1989 Z32 with 52ks displayed... its mint so guessing its pretty well right.

I personaly don't beleave anything with an after aftermarket dash. Assume the worst and judge it only condition alone.

[AzzurrA]

Mine came with a instrument cluster that said 155,000km but the car was fairly mint inside and out...

its now done 195,000 on the cluster, and still looks mint

[blind_elk]

Does anyone know how common it is to wind back odometers in Japan? Is it done to most vehicles before auction to fetch a few more grand? It seems ridiculas that Japanese people as a group drive much less then everyone else in the world.

Can digital odometers be would back like mechanical ones?

I think the digital ones have the mileage stored in the ECU. So, I guess, if you got an ECU from a lower km car...

Some cars I just found on a stock list just then

1993 Nissan Skyline R33 Gts-t 96,000kms on the clock, that’s only 8000km a year or 21km a day.

1998 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-T 32,000ks on the clock, that’s only 4571km a year or 12.5km a day.

Can these be correct or should we just assume its all bullshit?

I suppose I could have found some more extreme examples.

Anyone living in Japan shed some light on the issue?

Thoughts?

Japan has a bloody good public transport system, so people don't generally need to drive all that much.

[Zoggy]

also such a large population , geographicly small country ... how could everyone drive , imagine the morning traffic

[R33TOM]

i guess most of these cars they have is for their weekend cruising, for the young ppl its for weekend and night drifiting on the mountains,

majority of population use public transport commuting to work, with such an efficient public transport system why wouldnt you use it?

[Hui]

I think the majority of cars brought in get wound back here not in japan. I imported a 89 model r32 gts-t it had genuine 75000 kms on it and drove like it to

[noise]

Would be good to hear from someone who has lived in japan or something similar.

[predator]

People always say "oh its got a service history so it must be true"... but a service history can always be forged, and how do you check the authenticity if you live in a country with a totally different language and culture?

also such a large population , geographicly small country ... how could everyone drive , imagine the morning traffic ohmy.gif

yeah.. imagine the shitness of australian traffic x 10 ..eek!

[Frink]

mine came with 65,000 km on the clock. some parts of the car made me think that it was genuine, but there were some parts which made me think the opposite. 1 year later, its now done 94,000 km's and drives the same if not better. you just never know......

[Modena]

There is a video by Top Gear in the 80s, they went to Japan to look at their car industry etc... let me tel lyou that the fastest speed they drove on the streets back in the 80s was like 20 km/h lol Now its 2006... I think forget about driving in Japan...unles you on Okinawa or some other distant island! Thats why Japs are more into in car entertainment like karaoke... Mind you cars that do 20 Km/h daily live for less than their counter parts that do 60 Ks!

[R33TOM]

yep most of the cars has done 70k but alot of that is pretty much in stop start traffic, so most of the cars you get does not have alot of mileage but most of them would have had a hard life grinding away in traffic jams.

although i do notice alot of the S15's for sale in japan has at least over 90k on the clock and most of those were 99 models so i presume alot of those has been drifted and thrashed around the race tracks in japan for most of its life.

[wrxhoon]

There is a video by Top Gear in the 80s, they went to Japan to look at their car industry etc... let me tel lyou that the fastest speed they drove on the streets back in the 80s was like 20 km/h lol Now its 2006... I think forget about driving in Japan...unles you on Okinawa or some other distant island! Thats why Japs are more into in car entertainment like karaoke... Mind you cars that do 20 Km/h daily live for less than their counter parts that do 60 Ks!

I have driven in Japan up to 150kmh only because tha car wouldnt go any quicker ( mazda 2 ) they have good roads with lots of traffic at times and huge tolls .

Some cars do a lot of k's there too but generaly lower than we do but the cars that come here are usualy higher k cars and yes the oddos are mostly turned back both there and here ( mostly on the way from japan to here ).

The new digital oddos can be done too and no they dont store the k's in the main ecu they have their own chip, so you change the cluster with a new one it will show zero k's .

[Abo Bob]

My car is a july 99 GTT and has 101000k's on it. I know for a fact that when it arrived here it was barely driven for 6 months and it spent half of last year off the road while it was resprayed, new turbo'd, rebuilt transmissioned and rebuilt engined.

The car is still in very good interior condition as well as things like bushes and other areas of wear.

So I'm basically assuming that it's k's are real which makes me sound hypocritical when I say I reckon 90% of them have had their odo's wound back but I don't care.

30,000 k's in 8 year old cars. Pffft. Ya dreamin'.

I once inspected a GTir which I think was a 1991 model. It had 20,000 k's precisely on it. The car salesman seriously tried to tell that "the japs don't drive their cars much".

Bullshit.

Just accept that the k's are unlikely to be genuine and look for other signs.

The only other thing I'll add is that it appears (and I've never been there so I could well be wrong) that the roads in Japan are a lot smoother than our shitty potholed crap heaps (esp. Sydney) so a large number of parts of the car will cop less wear for the same k's had they been all done here.

[wrxhoon]

If you think that cars are in the garage all the time in Japan i have a few low km examples here for you !

2000 model with 162,000 kms , i dont call this low !

Lot #1654287 at 02/16/2006

Nissan Skyline, 2000

Frame: ER34 Color: blue

Run (ths km): 162 Equipment: AC SR AW PS PW

Mark: 3 Grade: coupe GT-V

Displacement: 2500 Syaken: 03.2007

Transmission: FA

93 model with267000 km , is this low ?

Lot #1654364 at 02/15/2006

Nissan Skyline, 1993

Frame: HCR32 Color: gun metal

Run (ths km): 267 Equipment: AC AW PS PW

Mark: 3 Grade: coupe GTS-T type M

Displacement: 2000 Syaken:

Transmission: F5

2001 with 107000 , i wonder how many k's this would have if it came to australia ?

Lot #1654432 at 02/11/2006

Nissan Skyline, 2001

Frame: V35 Color: silver

Run (ths km): 107 Equipment: AC AW PS PW

Mark: R Grade: 4D 250GT Skorekushon

Displacement: 2500 Syaken:

Transmission: FA

Another one with 124,000 ks

Lot #1632756 at 02/09/2006

Nissan Skyline, 2000

Frame: ER34 Color: black

Run (ths km): 124 Equipment: AC PS PW

Mark: R Grade: 4D GT TB

Displacement: 2500 Syaken: 05.2007

Transmission: F5

Have a look at this one 2000 model with 300,000 km , not many Auatralian cars this age with 300k on the clock

Lot #1632864 at 02/04/2006

Nissan Skyline, 2000

Frame: ER34 Color: silver

Run (ths km): 300 Equipment: AC AW TV PS PW

Mark: R Grade: 4D GT-X TB

Displacement: 2500 Syaken: 02.2007

Transmission: F5

This car was sold to someone in Australia , how many k's do you think it will have when it arives here ? My guess about 40 k k's ..

And gtrs dont do many k's , how many 32's have you seen with 30k k's ?

1999 Nissan Skyline GTR .. BARGAIN PRICE

2.6L twin turbo 4WD

6 speed manual

white

171,183 km's

No major accident history

One owner vehicle

Power steering

Power windows

Air conditioner

ABS brakes

Dual air-bags

Factory Xenon headlights

Aftermarket turbo timer

Timing belt replaced in 2003 at 97,198 kms

Additional details can be requested

If you believe the k's on the clock you must believe that cops fly too ..

[predator]

Yeah, I often see examples that seem to be high km, then you start asking 'hmm, maybe these are just the ones that *haven't* been wound back..

I even thought a 'high km' R34 could actually be a better thing.. or does that just indicate that its 107,000km or whatever, means it *really* done 214k+ .. or 107k ?? I'd actually like to know the answer to that, as if its the lower, there are probably a few bargains to be had.

[r0ma]

Theres so many cars coming in, You cant say all are wound back or all are not.

My friend imported a S2 R33 in 00' with 56,000KM (appeared to be genuine, the car was like brand new).

He had it for 3 years, sold it with 70,000KM.

Thats about 4.500KM per year.

It was taken out every second weekend, When people saw the import papers they questioned the KM and automaticly ruled out that the car could not have been driven only 14,000KM in 3 years. and let alone have 70,000km since 96'.

Some cars are daily's some are not.

[elbee111]

Our 1993 R33 had about 65,000 when we bought it 3 years ago. Didn't believe it then, and still don't. (Odometer started and stopped intermittently on the way home, and got it fixed as well as belts under warranty).

We have since put an extra 100,000 kms on in 3 years.

It is in very good nick as I believe that it was, and is, looked after very well.

Don't believe the hype!

El Bee

[chrisgero]

2yrs ago I bought my 94 R33 from Wagga Wagga as the car was bought from an importer from VIC, the car had 85k on it and it was a gem, all paperwork received. Recently, I just hit the 100K and noticed the speedo has been set back as some GRUB used a small screw driver to roll back the speedo. Now, every time I drive the car I see the scratches and this S%$ts me to tears. I didn't see this when I bought the car, the GRUB has really scratched the speedo. If I try to sell the car they will see the scratches. What can i do, buy a new dash and speedo.