It must be easy to wind back the stagea speedo...

[ian]

As the are electronic, and have to store the value somewhere, I suspect it would be pretty easy to set them to a particular value if you knew what you were doing...

Ian

[skidkid]

sv300, who is AA?

[skidkid]

Could you use a 'Consult' to check tampering?

[ian]

Could you use a 'Consult' to check tampering?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nope - you can't even get the current odometer reading out, let alone what it might have been some time in the past...

Ian

[qikstagea]

so really ian, you have nothing to base this on other than the fact that a few stageas have low kms?

"hmm im bored. might start a thread. hey i know, ill just say thi - (insert random statement here)!

nice. look into it and get some evidence buddy. if it is possible to do, then bad luck to you guys who got jibbed! you have to have a good look at a car regardless of the kms anyway, thats true. i take pride in knowing exactly where my car has been, and when, and how many k's it took to get there.

anybody got some solid evidence? and how was it proven? its easy to change a guage cluster, which is much more likely than winding back a speedo.

seriously, i sounded like a smart ass wanker then but im curious to know if anyone has more to go on than i "i heard" or "my friends brothers mate thinks".

Edited December 19, 2005 by qikstagea

[AlexCim]

I dont understand the tone of the above post, if you are trying to impersonate Ian i dont really understand why?

I made a thread showing a picture of a 120,000km service sticker that was rather worn on my car and just warned people of the same thing.

Id agree with Ian in that there are not MANY genuine cars out there. I mean, when i come to sell my car, if anyone wants service history, all i can do is say *points to jackstands and 10 bottles full of used oil* "i did them all at home, oil, filters etc."

There is some trust, but tell you the truth, if was i was selling my car to someone overseas, i couldnt give a dogs balls to make sure its pristine for them...maybe japs are the same?

[qikstagea]

im not impersonating him - just the opposite. why make a statement like that with no evidence?

i can see the reasoning behind winding back a speedo, and yeah we'd all do it if we could. all im saying is why dont you get some evidence, something a bit more solid than "i looked in the trading post and stageas have low klms. therefore, i declare that its easy to wind back a stagea speedo".

i wouldnt make sure its pristine if i sold my car overseas, but i wouldnt bullshit about what it is and what it isnt.

i probably wouldnt have bought my car the way i did unless i knew the people i bought it from in jp as well as i did just cos its hard to tell what you are getting.

it IS a good point to bring up, but its old news, unless someone manages to figure out how its done.

first thing most people look at when buying a car is odo. its not the be all and end all, but for most its a big issue.

most of us end up replacing the shit that wears out anyway - if it breaks, it wasnt strong enough anyway!

sorry if i was a bit offensive, but ian basically said "all you guys that forked out your hard-earned on a stagea most likely got ripped off", with no real evidence.

[Sydneykid]

when i come to sell my car, if anyone wants service history, all i can do is say *points to jackstands and 10 bottles full of used oil* "i did them all at home, oil, filters etc."

I do most of my own servicing, but I still fill in the book and record the k's and dates. I keep the receipts for the parts, they also have the purchase dates on them. So I can substantiate the service intervals, parts and hence k's. When I sell a car the potential buyer can see exactly what was done and when.

cheers

[qikstagea]

will be doing the same thing, SK. what are your thoughts on winding it back? possibility? or not your speciality? figured replacing the instruments would be the easier option, but are both possible?

[ian]

im not impersonating him - just the opposite. why make a statement like that with no evidence?

...

sorry if i was a bit offensive, but ian basically said "all you guys that forked out your hard-earned on a stagea most likely got ripped off", with no real evidence.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Unfortunately, there is real evidence -

1) quite a number of people like Alex who find 100% proof after the buy the car.

2) Many cars for sale that are simply not in good enough condition to have actually done the KM's stated. The opposite is possible, ie a high KM car in very good condition is certainly doable, and is often an excellent buy. But you simple can't wear out the gear stick, or handbrake grip, or steering wheel, with 40,000 km's!

3) Price. Often the yards are selling cars that would have to be for a loss if the KM's were genuine, given the prices in Japan..

4) Quantity - I just don't think it's feasible that 90% plus of cars in a yard, independent of age (and going back to 1990!), have all had about the same km's...

5) Electronics. I have done a fair bit of embedded electronics, and I can assure you that once you'd pulled one dash apart and had a good look, it wouldn't be that hard to do unless they had put a lot of work into making it difficult. I'd be surprised if they had, as it would have cost money... It's probably as simple as connecting up a chip and writing a new value to it..

Ian

[funkymonkey]

you can use software used to calibrate Nissan speedo's to tamper with the digital odo's. I doubt anyone in Australia's that resourceful to do it, but I'd expect it to be pretty easy in Japan.

That said the newer Nissans actually have a ECU to cluster check and tamper deterrant software embedded into the odo driver. Nissan electronic engineers have thousands of dollars at their disposal to develop these, which is quite a lot more than your average used car salesman.

You have to be a complete nuffer these days to go by odo readings and not actual inspections of an import.

[funkymonkey]

some reading from NZ, where imports... well there's nothing BUT imports

http://www.odocheck.co.nz/digital.htm

[ian]

You have to be a complete nuffer these days to go by odo readings and not actual inspections of an import.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree entirely, either way (ie low or high km's..)

[qikstagea]

we'd all rather a car thats done 150thou kms with grampa tanaka and the wheel than one thats done 25 at the hands of the drift king, thats for sure. all it takes is common sense, look for signs of wear, and see if its been messed around with under the bonnet.

guess if youre buying from jap its pot luck unless you chew up some fly-buys and go and see the car.

looking like the only thing an odo is reliable for is knowing when to change your oil... fantastic. sneaky little jap mechanics...

[funkymonkey]

Winding odo's back is prolific around the world, not just Japan. You've gotta be as diligent about it when buying a car locally as well as overseas. If you are buying a car from Japan, see if your broker/exporter/buyer/whoever can organise a inspection, and high res photos of the car prior to finalising the purchase. There are also companies in Japan that can carry out odo checks for importers in other countries. They test cars to see if they've been tampered with etc. If the car is from a private seller or a car dealer then usually simply mentioning that you are sending someone to check the legitimacy of the odo is enough to send em packing if they've wound it back.

There's nothing wrong with high km cars, as long as they're well maintained, sometimes they're even better than a car that's hardly ever been used and serviced rarely.

[thedriver]

There's no need for such passive aggressive comments qikstagea.

Here's an extract from a J-Spec posting on a Stagea RS4 V.

1998 Nissan Stagea 25t RS FOUR V

2.5L NEO6 turbo 4WD

78,000 km's

Mileage shown appears to be incorrect

Records show 125,000 kms in Feb 2003

At an average 15,000 kms a year (although this particular vehicle seems to be averaging closer to 25,000 km) this speedo would appear to be wound back about 100,000km!!!

Edited December 21, 2005 by thedriver

[Terminal]

well i reckon i've got a genuine speedo readin, i just ticked over 150,000km. car still runs perfectly, so i don't think km is that much of an issue until you start getting into the 200,000km range, then it's head and/or engine rebuild time

[ian]

well i reckon i've got a genuine speedo readin, i just ticked over 150,000km. car still runs perfectly, so i don't think km is that much of an issue until you start getting into the 200,000km range, then it's head and/or engine rebuild time

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nah, unless you've modified it and pushed it hard, you won't need to rebuild the engine at 200,000 km's.... Straight km's (as long as you have been changing your oil etc etc when you should have!) take a looonnnngg time to crap out a car.

I did 340,000 km's in my first car, and only updated cause somebody ran into the back of me while I was stopped at traffic lights... And someone I know has clocked over 500,000 in their R30 skyline - apart from changing the fuel injectors 100,000 kms ago, and the shock abosrbers a bit before that, has only done the normal service items (including belts and hoses etc)...

Your shock absorbers will need to be replace well before you need to touch the engine...

[Tangles]

My Dayz edition S1 says under 83000kms, & condition of car inside & out suggests this is near the mark, HOWEVER had to replace timing belt etc at 81000kms, so maybe it has been wound back 20000kms. Thats a Maybe, my mechanics say condition is on par for a car with approx. 80000kms useage.

Fact is all the controls (steering wheel, foot pedals, etc) look pristine, so Id suggest previous owner was a family doing small distances, most likely Mrs Tanuka dropping kids off to school and shopping for noodles.

Meh, neither here nor there as far as I care. Odo says 83 so thats what Im sticking with, theres no proof to say otherwise (auction sheet says 49k when bought into Australia a year ago & CoolPC did 30000 in it in the 1 year!), and as I mentioned condition is faultess so Im happy either way.

Brendan

[Brazen]

I got no doubt mine were genuine when i bought it... 46,000kms on a 98 Series 2... why do i think that?.... not just that it has jap books with different jap service company stamps in an ordered progression of jap dates right up until around 9 months b4 I bought it (alowing time for sale, shipping, compliance) AND had a service sticker on it matching the last record in the book... but even moreso coz it was sold to me "no books - didnt come with any"... noone along the chain noticed them coz they were stuck up under the passenger seat (tucked up into the base of the seat not just on the floor). Plus the fact it was immaculate condition - no wear or poor condition at all anywhere

Id suggest there a reall good chance lots of the Stageas would have comparably lower kms than other cars - coz like here they are probably the family transporter / quick tripper car at home with the missus... with another car assigned for the long km accruals of driving to work etc.

I am sure lots ARE wound back that do have high kms and the wear to match - but not some of the low kms with books that also look the part - no point. I'd be more concerned about the ones that have around 90,000kms on them - more advantage winding a 140,000km car to 90,000kms than there is in winding a 70,000km car to 40,000.

But yeah - gotta go by condition only if you dont have rock solid books with sequenced dates / stickers / stamps.