Real total mileage check

[dulenator]

Hi all!

Is there a way to check the genuine total mileage for the 2005 C5 through Lexia? In our country, it's an everyday practice to lower the mileage of any older (or newer, if they are high mileage) car to an eye-watering 200000 km.

I bought mine two years ago with around 220000 km, but I doubt it was that low mileage for a 2005 car. I mean it could be, but that would mean that I got very lucky.

Fiat Doblo that I previously owned had 175000 km on the clock, but the real mileage was 450000 km.

[GiveMeABreak]

In our country we have annual MOT inspections for cars older than 3 years. The mileage is recorded by the testing station and appears on the vehicle's MOT certificate and can be seen via the online MOT history. So a potential buyer will have been able to see what it failed on, what advisories were given and a history of the mileage over the life of the vehicle.

So anyone buying a car should check this.

Other than that, there's no way the original mileage can be checked with a diagnostic tool, as the BSI and the Speedometer ECU generally compare internally stored mileages and will reset each other to whichever is the highest mileage out of the 2. It's why we always warn people that are replacing their BSI or Speedometer with a second hand one to be aware that if the replacement unit has a higher mileage, it will automatically update the vehicle once connected and your vehicle will now show the higher mileage.

[dulenator]

The main problem here is that imported cars are mainly without any service history. People who import these cars have good connections at customs and can import them with lowered mileage.
Too bad there is no way to check that. I see that some manufacturers (I tried Fiat and Opel) have the option to read real mileage from other ECUs and compare it to the one on the clock.

The car is in ok condition, but the interior doesn't feel like a 220000 km car, or maybe these were more prone to wear than later models or other brands...
It's nothing important and it will not help me with the issues, but it's nice to know did it reach the moon.

Thanks for the info!

[GiveMeABreak]

I think you are getting a bit mixed up. What I mentioned earlier is what you are referring to - the BSI and the Speedo ECUs both store the recorded mileage. They compare mileage details with each other all the time. The only time this changes is when it naturally increments during use of the car, or if another speedometer or BSI is replaced from a car with a higher mileage and then both ECUs will update with whichever is the higher mileage.

There is no other data that contains 'real' or 'original' mileage in any ECU. It is the same mileage, which can be altered using certain tools, but of course illegal to do without just cause.

[dulenator]

Either way, there is no way to check if the mileage has been tampered with.

[GiveMeABreak]

No, that's correct.

[wheeler]

The problem is When people clock them they clock them in all the places that store the mileage so when you go in with a diagnostic too the diagnostic tool is only reading the mileage stored in the unit which will be the same as its been set at, the car will believe this is correct.
As far as in the UK, people normally get it clocked just before the MOT so it doesn't look as suspicious.
One of my diag tools (OBD star) can do it on Citroens all via OBD & it takes about 5 minutes, just type in the number you want, the display goes black for a few minutes then lights back up with the millage you entered. I've played about with it on an old C4 i had (just for testing, nothing dodgy), put it up to mega miles then back down to 1 for a laugh. Lexia always showed whatever miles i had set it to.

[GiveMeABreak]

It's my understanding the government are looking to strengthen this practice as it is becoming more prevalent in the industry.

[jjsmith1100]

I want to replace my speedo but do not want to happen what happened last time with a 206 when a 100th km was added in one go. It there a way to check what the mileage on a used speedo is before fitting it?

[GiveMeABreak]

Only from the seller or somebody with a suitable tool to check.