Clocked merc??

[damo2000]

A mate of mine was impressed by my e class and has decided to buy one. The problem is, im not sure if the mileage tallys up. Basically its a 98 model like mine, with 101k on the clock. Its being sold buy a local garage, having previously been owned by a data company. It has full MB history upto 97k, but the last service was in 2002. Seems strange that its only done 4k since!!! When i went to see it I questioned the owner of the garage and he said his "mrs" liked it so much, she had been using it for the school run only,
hence only 4k miles since 2002. Sounds dodge to me, but it is in quite good shape. Is there any way of telling if it has been clocked?? Is there anything within the car (ECU??) that stores the "real" mileage?? Is clocking mercs something that dodgy garages can do easily??

 

[jberks]

Any car can be clocked. As far as I am aware, the only place the mileage is recorded is on the instrument cluster itself, and there are loads of people offering to reprogram them for £50 or so. Plus who's to say its the original cluster.

A good way to tell, is to look at the last 2/3 MOT certificates (if he has them!) and see if the numbers add up. Then also do an HPI check as there may be mileage recorded with the DVLA when the car was sold. I've heard this Mrs tale several times before, - once when a trader was buying the old man's C180 for his Mrs - odd how he'd sold it on 2 weeks later!. Its a line - nothing more.

Other than that, a 101k car can be a duffer and a 190k sweet as a nut - its all down to maintenance and how its been driven at the end of the day. People say look at the interior, but even that depends on the cleanliness and weight of the driver. A 150k car driven by an 8 stone woman may be immaculate. 50k with an 18 stone builder however ... - you get the point. So, if it runs nicely and there are no nasty mechanical noises, it could be worth a punt depending on the price.

 

[GregE240]

A modern MB instrument cluster does not store the mileage - it is stored on the ECU. Thus, if you plug in a replacement cluster, the correct mileage appears.

Greg

 

[jberks]

I understood that it was on the cluster, hence you need to reprogram it if you swap the cluster, but I've never tried it, so I won't argue the point. The ECU Mileage can still be 'adjusted' though.

 

[jberks]

Just been looking at another ad on Ebay for a 210 cluster (can't seem to find mine, though there is a very reasonable new diesel one if anyone is interested). They all seem to claim you have to get the mileage programmed into the cluster. Anyone know the truth?

 

[hweight]

Clocking

I'm not an owner of a Merc but have a VW Passat. I recently discovered that my mileage could have been clocked. Can't prove it cos' it's a racket and once they get sniff that you're onto them they've covered their tracks.

Would love to know how it could be found out on the car? Does anyone know?

Heather

 

[Mid_lfe_Crisis]

I'm not an owner of a Merc but have a VW Passat. I recently discovered that my mileage could have been clocked. Can't prove it cos' it's a racket and once they get sniff that you're onto them they've covered their tracks.

Would love to know how it could be found out on the car? Does anyone know?

Heather

Erm The how long is a pice of string question
Well if you ask any trader he probly tell you its lots of things put togather
the service history is good to have but sometimes can be false HPI cheeck is good but will only tell you if there is a discrepencie with the milage record they have ,MOTs are good but arnt allways availbe and only starts after 3 years and overall condition is a good one ie brake rubbers are they worn stearing wheel shiny seat covers worn and all that kind of stuff its a lottery realy so i wish you the best of luck



Ps there is one way of telling the true milage buy brand new of from someone you know

 

[Bolide]

Clocked

I know the answer to this one:

If you think it's been clocked, it has been!

4k in 3 years at 40 weeks / year means the school is about 3 miles away. Sound right? What does the V5 say? Whose name was it in for those 3 years? What do the MOT certificates say? Who was it serviced by? Any stamps in the book?

Every time I get that feeling I walk away. You obviously want a reason to justify buying the car because you like it... Don't do it! Walk away, there are plenty more out there


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[nicky]

Digital Mileage Correction​

Digital Mileage Correction: Changing the mileage / kilometers in the dashboard of a car with the DIGA-Consult odometer programmer. The DIGA-Consult is the most complete available programming device for digital mileage correction. The system is a high-quality tool, which offers a maximum of flexibility and working comfort despite simple operation. Even the EDP layman without previous experience can handle an odometer correction easily and safely.

​

 

[stwat]

Digital Mileage Correction​

Digital Mileage Correction: Changing the mileage / kilometers in the dashboard of a car with the DIGA-Consult odometer programmer. The DIGA-Consult is the most complete available programming device for digital mileage correction. The system is a high-quality tool, which offers a maximum of flexibility and working comfort despite simple operation. Even the EDP layman without previous experience can handle an odometer correction easily and safely.

​

Basically, cars are easier to clock now then they were when they had the good old fashioned mechanical mileometer!!!!!! No striping down of the speedo needed now, all you do is plug in a tool and bobs your uncle

Stu

 

[davidsl500]

I know the answer to this one:

If you think it's been clocked, it has been!

4k in 3 years at 40 weeks / year means the school is about 3 miles away. Sound right? What does the V5 say? Whose name was it in for those 3 years? What do the MOT certificates say? Who was it serviced by? Any stamps in the book?

Every time I get that feeling I walk away. You obviously want a reason to justify buying the car because you like it... Don't do it! Walk away, there are plenty more out there


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

I was going to give pretty much the same calculation but add that if the last service detailed was in 2002 then the last 2-3 years the car has been driving on the choke - more engine wear, never properly got really hot to burn off deposits or water out the exhaust system. I'd rather buy a car with a higher mileage used for 20 miles a day than 3 miles a day.

 

[gpilko]

When I bought my SLK from a trader I was suspicious of the mileage. I got the last owners details from the V5 and got his phone number from directory enquiries - one quick phone call came up with all the answers I needed. Why not ring the company that owned it before - if they've already traded it then they'd have nothing to gain by lieing to you. Of course if the car had been clocked by the company then they'll just spin you a line.

This isn't a fool proof way to find out if the car hasn't been clocked, but if what the garage tells you and what the company tells you don't add up - walk away.

Guy.

 

[rallen]

Is it really that simple?

It would imply that the manufacturers are rather stupid.

I would have the 20-odd bit variable stored inside the control module with no possibility of changing from the outside. Not with freezing or with heating or whatever. Only a change in the control module would change the mileage and even then I would religiously record all sales of modules and match them against chassis numbers. Of course even chassis numbers can be faked, but for a person who wants to clock a car quickly, he would not be able to do it.

Have you asked a mercedes dealer to tell you how you can tell? The information may be recorded on the car, they are full of electronics these days

 

[Raj B...]

Hi, i ve just joined the forum today and its really useful.

I recently bought a 3 year old E320 and think the mileage may be not what it seems on the car, the car is in immaculate condition and the car has 1 private owner from new (im 2nd) and I just called Mercedes for advice and they said the cars ECU will still have the original mileage on it even if the Odemeter has a different reading.. I know there are professional mileage adjusters out there who can change the reading to what ever u want...

The mileage is 25k with full service history.

Is it true that the ECu will show the correct mileage.. or can this be also changed? How can i get this checked?

Any information will be really appreciated.

thanks

 

[THOMO]

Are you all that suprised !!80% of mercs are used by business people that can easly drive 700 miles per week, you work the sums out over 3 years after the contrat hire is finished or the bubble to pay.where i work our mercs do on average 30k per year and we have about 30 cars.so by the time we sell them they have done 70 -100k.how often do you see cars like evos and impreza owners showing there cars doing over 100k ? probably non simply because they would probably know a crook to clock there car .have a look in the autotrader like i did last month,i could not find a STI impreza over 80k although the cars are nearly 13 years old.i wanted a evo or impreza for track days .my wife does at least 150 miles per week doing shopping and the school run. at least you see a honest working mercedes owner showing 100k + mileage more often than not.

 

[jberks]

,i could not find a STI impreza over 80k although the cars are nearly 13 years old.

To be fair, horses for courses. If you work locally and basically never leave the office, an Impreza may be a nice fun choice. If you're tooling up and down the motorway every day, attending meetings and making decisions, an impretza would be exhausting you so you go for something more comfortable. If you can afford it, the merc is the obvious choice, hence mercs are on average, higher mileage. I sold my E240 at just short of 6 years old with 70k on the clock. I'm sure some were suspicious even at that, but 18 months before, at 4.5yrs, it was reading 35k and that was genuine too. I'd bought it knowing that I may do big miles, but had managed to avoid it for most of the period. When it did happen, I was glad of my decision. My current E was bought 11 months old with 17k with the full expectation of 25-30kpa. BY 2 years old it was reading 43. 6 months later and it's 45k - I'm local again!
My Dad bought a 2 year old 380se with 11k in the '86. Suspicious, he rang the previous owner who told him that he had a golf for general running around and only used the merc to visit his daughter in London.

My C220 had 19k (genuine) at 3 yrs and not a lot more 2 1/2 years later when my Dad took it on. Even now, at 12 years, it's a shade under 90k.

Low mileage mercs do exist and many are loved and looked after. Some (like the SE) are even low mileage motorway cars! Certainly check but don't be too sceptical, many really are genuine.

 

[television]

As Jberks really, Many MBs are bought by elderly people and sit in the garage for the best part, often one of the couple passes away, and the widow just leaves the car in the garage, or they couple find the MB too large for shopping and only keep it for a long runs, there are some super ones around, like the 126 that Bob the builder bought.

 

[230K]

Hi

And some just do 30K per year every year!! LOL

Thats me!!!

230K