Any way of telling genuine mileage on modern cars

[Gareth J]

You could focus on the higher milage ones, I'm generally put off by lower than average milage and the premium it attracts. Potentially a car that's been parked, pootled or fiddled. Unless you get something that's had interstellar milage and has been clocked back to "just" high mileage I guess.

Modern cars should come with easily accessible data;
Hours driven
Number of starts
Time spent/miles driven with coolant below operating temp.
Airbag deployments
Dpf resistance/regens
.....etc

There is a ton of sensor data available that should not be hard to log, especially as most newer cars are connected to the internet anyway.

 

[knighty]

I recently bought a van at auction... 2021 plate with 12k miles on it... bought it without seeing it

won it cheap - I put a bid on it on bidspotter then forgot about it... got an email with an invoice for it and thought it was a scam at first, no way I won it that cheap

got it delivered... it drives like brand new, all hpi clear etc.

guessing it must have been clocked... but drives like brand new so I'm happy with it


BUT.... wouldn't be happy if I paid the going rake for a 2021 sprinter with 12k miles on it :-o

 

[daleyd]

That's the point of my post , mileage doesn't matter .
There's a big difference between an well maintained engine and a neglected engine even if they have the same mileage.
I'd rather go for an 80.000km well maintained car as might be yours (5K miles oil changes) than a 50.000km one which has never seen an oil change

I’d suggest It does matter if you try and sell it later on and you find you’ve been overcharged for it in the first place. You’ve lost money and the guy selling it you has conned you…I’d say that’s quite a big deal.

 

[ChrisBailey]

You could focus on the higher milage ones, I'm generally put off by lower than average milage and the premium it attracts. Potentially a car that's been parked, pootled or fiddled. Unless you get something that's had interstellar milage and has been clocked back to "just" high mileage I guess.

Modern cars should come with easily accessible data;
Hours driven
Number of starts
Time spent/miles driven with coolant below operating temp.
Airbag deployments
Dpf resistance/regens
.....etc

There is a ton of sensor data available that should not be hard to log, especially as most newer cars are connected to the internet anyway.

I think the problem is that data can be erased and then rewritten to the ECU. They could probably stop that by using crytographic keys to sign the milage. Then nobody could fake it.

 

[Pete.]

How would you know it actually new though? Wind the clock back, new tyres, give it a good shot of 'new car smell' air freshener, and nobody would know.

I would just look at the V5c.

 

[Robotstar5]

How would you know it actually new though? Wind the clock back, new tyres, give it a good shot of 'new car smell' air freshener, and nobody would know.

Reminds me of when I bought a new MG Metro in the 80's, went to pick it up and it had 125 miles on the clock, I queried it and got "delivery mileage mate", I pointed out the factory that built it was 7 miles away and refused the car.

 

[Morrisman]

Reminds me of when I bought a new MG Metro in the 80's, went to pick it up and it had 125 miles on the clock, I queried it and got "delivery mileage mate", I pointed out the factory that built it was 7 miles away and refused the car.

I worked in Brunei many moons ago, near one of the main ports. I remember being down the docks one day watching a bunch of them little convertible BMW sports cars being driven off a freighter. The dock guys would jump in, drive down the ramp, then flat stick red line the stone cold motor through the gears the half mile to the parking area down the other end of dock.
Then jog back to grab another and thrash the teats off it.