Believable Mileage on a MK4 R32?

[NJAY87]

Hey Guys

wanting to get your opinion on something.. how hard is it to alter/wind back the mileage/odometer on a 2004 MK4 R32?

NOW before anyone starts jumping the gun.. NO i'm not trying to do a dodgy but i'm just about to pick one up tomorrow and it's probably a little late to be asking questions now .. buts its only got 30000kms on it!!

I'm finding it very hard to beleive that a five year old car has only done that many kms and the last service was around mid to late 2008 and that was at 30000kms and now its got probably got 200 more kms on it?

I'm purchasing it of a well renowned dealership but then again it was sold to them as a trade in.. i'm a little worried but hopefully someone here knows better than me in regards to this ...

cheers guys
Naz

[Treza360]

It has been mentioned before but yes it can be done and it's not hard as long as you have the right cable and software neither of which are that expensive.
That said Al's car only has 45000kms; http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...7&postcount=11.

If it was a weekend/track car then the low kilometers could be legit no worries. I would doubt a high profile dealership would risk their reputation on a car where the kilometers don't matter too much anyway with its' existing reputation.

Another point which relates to kms not mattering is don't pay top dollar just because the car has low kilometers. I'm still yet to here of any issues on mid and high km examples.

Cheers,
Trent

[VOLKSMAN]

im pretty sure that the only way to wind beack the mileage would be if an authorised vw service center wiped it clean themselves or they have swapped the cluster for another one, but to make sure these k's are genuine you will need to refer to the owner manual log books to correlate the scheduled serices corrspond to the kms and time they were done.

[quozl]

There is software out there to do it, and not just from the dealer, whether it is easy or not to use I don't know.

EDIT: BTW if it is a licensed factory dealer and they were ever caught doing it the repercussions to them would be huge from the government to head office so if it is a dealer your "usually" pretty safe.

Cheers Al

[Treza360]

im pretty sure that the only way to wind beack the mileage would be if an authorised vw service center wiped it clean themselves or they have swapped the cluster for another one, but to make sure these k's are genuine you will need to refer to the owner manual log books to correlate the scheduled serices correspond to the kms and time they were done.

It can be done with cluster modification software that has been discussed here recently. Not cool but yeah.
Cheers,
Trent

[Tim]

just read the service logbook. If the dealer stamps match up then its most likely legit.
Should have an annual service showing how many kms it had done at that point.

If there is a gap in servicing sometimes it can mean the car has been crashed and repaired and possibly spent some time off the road.

[NJAY87]

Jeez Didnt expect so many replies so quickly !

I was aware that using the VAG-Tacho cable that it was possible to do so. But the actual procedure as i've been informed is a little complicated, could be wrong though. Also as Volksman has mentioned i also considered whether the cluster's may have been changed over but i can't see any trim marking or rounding of the screws at all. However i'm still very suspicious of all things regardless

It's actually a BMW dealership and not a VW one hence why i was a little more cautious. What put me off was that the last service was at 30000km and that was last year and it's only done 200kms since then

Al did mention to me how he has had his car from new and even being a weekend warrior even his has done 45000 !

Well either way i've signed the contract and as i mentioned it is too late to be asking questions now. The car is in generally pretty good nick its just the drivers seat seems a little streched out/worn, not sure if this is a case of someone doing a lot of short trips and constantly getting in and out of the car, or whether the car has really done a lot more kms that it has to show for.

Lets just hope i haven't been scammed and hope for the best tomorrow night.

Cheers guys and thanks again !

[VOLKSMAN]

good luck and congrats on the pre purchase you wont be dissapointed.

[JVLR32]

just read the service logbook. If the dealer stamps match up then its most likely legit.
Should have an annual service showing how many kms it had done at that point.

If there is a gap in servicing sometimes it can mean the car has been crashed and repaired and possibly spent some time off the road.

Bingo!!!! i would only buy a car with a service book....if it doesnt have one there a reason its missing...

This topic now makes my car worth more....hahahaha

[graeme86]

Why dont you just ring the previous owner, whose name should be in the logbook?