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Lovert Mafukure
We will deviate a little from our nostalgic cars series because one of our readers is wondering why cars from Japan have awkwardly low mileage and if it’s even real.
Well, chances are, we are being taken for a ride when it comes to mileage. Having been in the industry for a while I can safely conclude that if you want a car with real mileage buy from the UK but then you will have to deal with the rust!
They call it mileage fraud, with Japanese cars they can afford to cheat us on mileage because their cars are always as clean as they can ever be. Their cleanliness usually does not tally with high mileage hence the temptation to wind back the odometer.
Mileage fraud or odometer fraud is when people roll back their odometers to make it seem like their cars have less mileage than they actually do. Sometimes it’s referred to as clocking or mileage correction.
Used car business in Japan is big business as it is now in Zimbabwe and it’s affected by competition like any other business. Sellers will do anything to sell their cars, even if it means rolling back the odometer.
A lot of us check mileage when we buy used cars, the lower the mileage the better the buy, that is our thinking, but, how real is the mileage that’s being advertised on these cars?
The odds now are that you can get an overally better car with 120 000km on it and a worse car with 60 000km on it.
Thousands of people buy cars every day. A lot of unsuspecting first time buyers may not know much about cars and buy over valued cars with “corrected” mileage. This always happens locally or worse when buying from Japan. Japan has a lot of notorious car dealers who are well known for tempering with mileage. Some export dealers do indicate on their websites that mileage may have been “corrected” but others do not bother. “Corrected” is a polite term they use to indicate that mileage has been reduced. Many of these cars coming now are well over 15 years of age but very low mileage, some have had as much as 100 000km shaved off for better resale value.
There are many ways to tell if mileage has been reduced but it’s not always so easy. First allow me to tell you a story. A while back I was weighing up some options for a client. One car caught my eye. It was cheap and looking nice and I did take it for a spin. It had a mechanical odometer.
Everything checked out except one thing. After a short drive of maybe 5km the trip counter still read zero. I wondered why. After some inquiries the owner said it doesn’t work . . . that is one of the red flags!
The mechanical odometer is meant to turn in one direction only and once you temper with it, it may stop working or start showing misaligned digits. If you see such tell-tale signs you should know the odometer may have been tempered with.
Newer cars however, have digital odometers and it has become a walk in the park to “correct” mileage since you can just plug in a machine and adjust to zero if you so wish. That’s how bad things have become, only a few good men left. Buying a good car however, in Japan means you have to spend some money, low mileage and cheap usually point to something amiss so be ready to spend a bit of money on good cars, the more expensive ones are likely to have real mileage and less issues.
Low mileage cars also usually have their original parts in place. They do not need replacements that early. Tyres, batteries, hoses, brakes etc all should be in their original state for a low mileage car of say less than 40 000km. Sometimes however, this may be difficult to use as a benchmark with cars from Japan that are generally in pristine condition. Always check tyre condition and wear and tear on the seats and interior and see if it corresponds with the said mileage.
Service records if available can be a good way to check for mileage inconsistencies. Stickers for next service intervals are usually stuck on the inside of the driver’s door. A lot of mechanics and service centres no longer do this though; very few of them still maintain a level or professionalism when they go about their business. Some Japanese car dealers offer odometer inspection services to try and counter this issue of mileage fraud.
Unconfirmed reports estimate that about 80% of grey imports have had their odometers wound back. Buying such cars can and will eventually cost the end user money. Always check nicely before you buy knowing low mileage does not necessarily point to good condition. It takes an experienced eye to see a clocked car but whenever you suspect always negotiate a better price for a clocked car. If you can’t employ an expert, always use your sixth sense, high level of care and some tips mentioned above. Till next time . . . Happy motoring.
@lovert116
Automart Used Spares Centre – Quality Used Japanese Spares
+263 772 33 99 38 – [email protected]/ Facebook: @automartusc
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