Claimed mileage - believable or not

Though I do not dispute the fact that some cars are tampered. My own example of usage could fall into the catergory of low mileage. The 2 owner I bought my TR from put 27kms on the car from 96 to 99...why? Because he bought it in 91 with 25,000km and drove it until 40,ooo and did not have the money for the service so it sat for nearly 3yrs. I have had it now for 6 yrs(did the service asap) in 99 at 40,300kms until now just hit 49,000km. 9,000km in 6 yrs is about 1,500km per summer. I drive it everyother weekend, when it doesnt rain. And the winters are long here in Toronto. So I can believe 1,000kms or (600 miles- 1,000miles a yr).

 

I normally look at the leather on the seats and the steering wheel.

Some cars match, but I have seen some cars with 15,000kms and the seats look like they have done 30,000km or the owner just wanted to sit in the thing.

 

You can see some indications of low mileage based on pedal / seat wear or other visual conditions. You can also trace some verifiable mileage checkpoints with the complete service history of the car. I bought an 89 348 with 22k miles (about 1500 miles / year) with receipts indicating mileage at approximately 20 service intervals. It appears to me that either the mileage is correct, or someone is willing to disconnect / drive / reconnect / service the car often. I don't think most owners are going to go through the hassle.
BT

 

While I agree that this goes on plenty, here's the flipside:

I recently bought a new GPS machine for my RV due to my lack of proficiency with directions and refusal, like many other men, to ask for them. It tracks, quite accurately instant speed. Out of curiosity, I put it in the X-5 to verify the vehicle's speedo..right on. Put it in the 540, only about 1-2 MPH off over. Put in the the F-328..about 15% off in the positive!!! In other words, when the speedo reads 80, I'm actually doing 69..reads 100, doing 86!!! These results were repeated several times on different drives. I'm assuming the odometer is off by as much so that puts my 12355 miles on the odo at actually 10625 on the vehicle. For all you math perfectionists out there..these figs are ballpark, but you get the point. I'd personally never tamper with the speedo, but in this case, honesty works against me.

Good thing I don't ever plan on selling!

 

The lowest mileage Ferrari I know of is a 1973 365 GTB/4 Spyder that has 40 documented miles. It was the last Daytona produced.

 

does it have fsh on time not mileage ??????????????

 

Same with the car here as the winter tires seem to make the odo reads low, yet with the summer rims/tires it reads spot on.

 

I drive waaay too fast to ever dare disconnecting the speedo!

 

Any used italian car without complete service records is suspect.

It stands to reason that someone whose selling an 8Kmile 308 isn't going to include records for the 60K service.

So if you see a low mileage car that hasn't been serviced since 1980 -- "Danger, Will Robinson!"

It may be a rollback. Or it may be a rotted "barn find" that needs a restoration to make it work.

Personally, I'll take a high miles driver that's been meticulously maintained over a car that's been rotting in the south forty for a couple of decades.

But if you have service records, showing services every three years, with miles recorded at, say, 200, 210, 250, etc., then you have a genuine garage queen, where the owner serviced it every three years without really driving it.

Try a low bid anyway: the owner is obviously crazy.

But if you listen to the "expertise" of various dealers, then absolutely everything kills the value of a Ferrari: too many miles, too few miles, modifications, etc., etc.

The bottom line is that buyers have different priorities: A show car exhibitor wants low miles and full originality, not daily reliability. Someone who will drive it every day might prefer updated ignition, suspension, etc., and a well maintained car that has finished it's break-in period (by a long margin).

Someone who "wants a Ferrari" doesn't necessarily want any Ferrari. When (if!) you sell, you need to find someone who is looking for what you're selling. (I think that's called "marketing".)

 

The car I have was a local car I purchased and has spent it whole life in northern NJ. It seems that al the previous (and current) owners have their own businesses, and a total lack of time to go and play with the car.

In the 5 months that I have had it, I maybe put 300 miles on it, but still enjoy the car. After an 80 hr work week, IF the weather is nice on Sunday afternoon, I take it out for an hour or so.

I can see that it is possible the cars can only have 1-2 K miles per year.

Last year I had about 6 hours in total to ride the 3 motorcycles that I own. Not many miles on them either. Compared to them, I am driving the hell out of the car.

 

I don't believe just because a car has low mileage, it was disconnected, or rolled back. There those of us, who:
a) live in regions that a good portion of the year has less than ideal Ferrari weather...ie, our normal +10' of snow annually. This usually results in a good portion of the year that it's either not practical, or intelligent to drive the car.
b) are fussy about the condition of the car. I sold a low mileage Mondial with full documentation, that had never seen rain, except for a few times!
c) don't drive the cars to suspect locations, which could result in door dings, etc.
d) don't drive them to business meetings, which could give a client the wrong impression.
e) have multiple vehicles. Sometimes I would just rather have that Seville ride comfort.

The net result is I averaged aprox. 1,000 miles/year with the car!

This is not to say, there are not cars out there that have either been rolledback, or suspect. Always look at the condition of the car, including seats/upholstery, pedals, etc. Instrument switches can be a very good tell-tale as the screening will wear over time. i would be very suspect of a low mile car that had knobs, levers(ie: turn signals, lights), that have screening worn.

 

i had know idea you could turn back digital 360 odometers , does anybody know more about this?

 

I got my 97 550 last year for $127,000 with 11,300 miles on it.
At the end of the 2004 season, it had 17,300 miles on it.
Maintenance cost for 2004 were $3,000-plus for the miles driven (not counting the cracked windshield, which I just bought an OEM $1,100 replacement for and will hold in storage until the crack behind the mirror-- on the inside so it can't be fixed-- becomes a safety issue)
During 2004-2005 winter storage, I put 250 miles on it (don't ask about insurance)
Now, the odometer is about to turn 20,000.

I plan to take it to 100,000, just for the fun of it, with the OEM Speedline wheels for track and wire HRE wheels for street that make it harken back to the days of the 275 !
I didn't buy it to look at it. I bought it to drive it AND look at it (along with everybody else) when I arrive at my destination.

 

I bought mine with 48K. I have all the records. I planned on driving the heck out of it, figured it had to be genuine mileage, why buy a garage queen.
I was recently looking to buy a 911. Check E-bay, etc. Almost without exception, a 89-92 911 will have well over 70K. Many well over 100K.
Very different culture, those Porsche guys.
Ferraris cost money, whether you drive 'em or not.
No one will ever say at my eulogy "... and boy, he left us a barely used Ferrari..."
Just drive 'em.

 

any computer geek with half a brain and knows how to connect a computer to a car could do it, and it would be easier to do it on a digital odometer then a manual one.

I know a guy who can spot a manual odometer rollback just by looking at it, he says when they have been rolledback, they dont roll forwards evenly anymore and you can just tell when you know what to look for.

 

I bought my TR with 2,500 miles on it a year ago.... It now has close to 6,000.

When I first got it, everything was perfect. Now I can see slight wear on the interior here & there.

Small price to pay for enjoying the car & driving it!

 

The odometer is only one indication of a vehicle's number of miles. Since the F-car's sending unit can be disconnected in about 30 seconds when it's up on a rack, it's best to look at OTHER indications to determine the car's actual miles:

- Service history. 10K miles over 5 years, then 100 over the next 2 years, would get my attention. (But most people don't even bother to do the math).

- Steering wheel. If it's worn, you can bet the car has more than any 10 or 20K miles.

- Seats. If they are original and in good shape, that is a positive sign. If they've been replaced, why?

- Windshield. Again, if it's got "sand-blasting" on it like a 60K miles car, you're not looking at a 10 or 20k car.

- How many tire changes since new? When I bought my 1982 308 w/27K miles on it, it still had the original tires on it, and with some tread left. While the fellow was an idiot for driving on 20-year-old tires, it did corroberate the odometer.

 

Very good post.

 

Don't forget to look at the pedals - often these are the most often missed 'tell tale sign' - lots of people will refurb interiors when they rollback - dye is easy, steering wheels are cheap, gear knobs are obvious, but most people forget to replace the pedal covers. Showing service records for a very mild gain every year (i.e. trip to the Dealer) isn't necessarily a good indication either, as you can leave the thing disconnected for 11 months, re-connect, and everything looks like a low mile, rarely driven car that gets it's one year oil change/svc regularly...a careful inspection is the only way to be mostly sure, and even then, a good reconditioner could make a 50k car look like a 5k car...thankfully most don't.