Noticed many low mileage cars, something is fishy.

[Sakeopete]

I have been looking for a small 1.2 econobox for my wife to do school runs. It is about 20kms one way so mileage will add up quick and we don't want to put it on our Fortuner. We will most likely give the car to stepson afterwards.

I have been looking at Nissan March, Mitsu Mirage and Suzuki Swifts. Lately I have seen a lot of odd low mileage vehicles such as 2016 model with 27k kms and several 3 year old cars with only 5k kms. It just doesn't add up, have these cars had the odometers turned back? There has been posts in the motorcycle groups of Thai's turning back almost every type of digital motorcycle odometers from scooters to Ducati's. Is this a new technology that now makes it simple to dial back digital odometers in cars too? I hate the thought of buying a second hand car from a tent and I don't want to buy new just to mile it out quickly. 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Sakeopete

[richard_smith237]

Not really fishy... 

 

My previous cars never did much mileage, especially as my Wife and I had a car each at one point. 

 

I sold a car 1 year old because we didn’t use it, the mileage was about 1300 kms

Another - 3 years old about 10,000 kms and another 12500 at 3 years old. 

 

Our current car - already has over 35,000 kms  - the school run real racks up the mileage 

20kms (there and back, drop off and pick up) 80 kms a day / x5 times per week: 400 kms per week / 35 weeks per year = 14,000 km per year on school runs alone !!! 

 

 

[Airalee]

Almost 2 years ago I bought a 2008 with 54k on it.  In 2 years I’ve only driven an additional 6k.  Been like that for me my whole life.

 

Some people just don’t drive that much.  

[impulse]

I put 9000 km on my old Mitsu pickup truck in the 6+ years I owned it in BKK.  The only time I pulled it out of the parking lot was to leave town on weekends.  The first and last hour of driving out of and back into Asoke was so miserable that I took the BTS, MRT and taxis in town. 

 

Back home, I averaged 40-50,000 miles a year.  But that was living in suburbia where you need a car to go anywhere.  And driving down the highway wasn't a white knuckle experience.

 

[Thunglom]

I think th OP is being overcautious. It is really quite likely that cars like Nissan March are going to be relatively low mileage. The market for these cars was an "equipment" market. They were often the first motor people had, replacing a motorbike - and we know that they can be very low mileage.

 

If you are really worried about a particular car, there ae plenty of ways to identify a high miler apart from the odometer,

[RAZZELL]

OP - look at a Yaris or Yaris cross.

 

 

RAZZ

[Kwasaki]

9 hours ago, Sakeopete said:

I hate the thought of buying a second hand car from a tent and I don't want to buy new just to mile it out quickly. 

Plenty of private sales on facebook and Asian now, Baht sold etc. 

 

If you ask for service history you can see for yourself or you're wife can and if it checks out with car mileage you can't go wrong. 

 

We had for my wife a Yaris for 9 years it had 62,000 K on the clock when we sold it we had all service history from our Cockpit service center.

 

[worgeordie]

Check to pedals for wear , low milage should have nearly no wear,

higher clocked motors will have worn pedals, unless they have changed

them too, then there's always the service records, 

regards Worgeordie

[Sakeopete]

4 hours ago, RAZZELL said:

OP - look at a Yaris or Yaris cross.

 

 

RAZZ

We already had a Yaris it was very good however my wife wants something different.

[Sakeopete]

50 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Check to pedals for wear , low milage should have nearly no wear,

higher clocked motors will have worn pedals, unless they have changed

them too, then there's always the service records, 

regards Worgeordie

Agree that is what I do however I hate making the effort to drive to far away dealers who swear the vehicle is low mileage and never been in an accident to find overspray on the hood's weather stripping. Then they still deny it was in an accident. 

[Thomas J]

The ones that are fishy are the very recent models 2020/2021 with very very low miles.  Most likely they are damaged cars that have been repaired or flood vehicles.  One way or another, you can take a car to the dealer and they can plug in to their diagnostic equipment and it will report the mileage from the computer chip inside the car.  That can't be turned back. 

[KhunBENQ]

It is possible.

Our old Toyota Vios is 16 years old and has less then 90'000 km.

That was before my time

(the Mazda 2 bought in 2011 now has 128'000 km)

 

Indeed many up here have a pickup or car for very occasional use.

It's the "if one has to be brought to doctor/hospital/office" cars.

Much due to the almost non-existing public transport.

If it's used it rarely goes outside the province.

Having a car just stand in the garage is cheap here.

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

If you are interested look for hints how to find out more without looking at the odometer. I bet you find some info on the net.

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

Check to pedals for wear

That's one of the alternative indicators.

If steering wheel was not covered you might notice abrasion, shiny spots.

How does the drivers seat look.

 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Sakeopete said:

Agree that is what I do however I hate making the effort to drive to far away dealers who swear the vehicle is low mileage and never been in an accident to find overspray on the hood's weather stripping. Then they still deny it was in an accident. 

Overspray doesn't necessarily mean an accident repair in the sense of heavy accident damage.   Many private sellers and most tents have scratches or stone chips repaired before sale and that can cause overspray.   Doesn't mean the car's been in an accident.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Thomas J said:

The ones that are fishy are the very recent models 2020/2021 with very very low miles.  Most likely they are damaged cars that have been repaired or flood vehicles.

Why is that "most likely"?   Much more likely that a 20/21 will have genuine low miles.  When and where were the floods that you refer to last year and this year?

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Thomas J said:

One way or another, you can take a car to the dealer and they can plug in to their diagnostic equipment and it will report the mileage from the computer chip inside the car. 

Very unlikely that anyone would be allowed to do that with a private sale or a tent sale.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[Sakeopete]

6 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Overspray doesn't necessarily mean an accident repair in the sense of heavy accident damage.   Many private sellers and most tents have scratches or stone chips repaired before sale and that can cause overspray.   Doesn't mean the car's been in an accident.

This was a 1 year old swift with very low mileage.

[Thomas J]

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

Why is that "most likely"?   Much more likely that a 20/21 will have genuine low miles.  When and where were the floods that you refer to last year and this year?

It is most likely because if it is a 20/21 model it means it just was purchased which raises the question of why someone would buy it and then with only a few kilometers want to sell it.  

You see lots of cars on Facebook typically with Russian sellers.  I see the same people on FB selling cars each and every month.  Different cars but same seller.  They are buying distressed vehicles, repairing them, and then trying to quickly resell.  Often they have not changed the book on the car and it remains in the original purchasers name with papers supposedly authorizing the transfer.  

[Thomas J]

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Very unlikely that anyone would be allowed to do that with a private sale or a tent sale.

They don't allow you to take to a dealer to inspect.  Don't buy

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, Sakeopete said:

This was a 1 year old swift with very low mileage.

One-year old cars can't get scratched or stone chipped?   

[Sakeopete]

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

One-year old cars can't get scratched or stone chipped?   

They can but very unlikely that a small scratch would cause overspray to the weather stripping under the hood. I noticed it walking up to the car it was about 20 cm wide.

[Liverpool Lou]

Just now, Thomas J said:

They don't allow you to take to a dealer to inspect.  Don't buy

They won't.  And will you have an appointment for the dealer in question to give the car the once-over?    Sure as sugar, if you just turn up at a dealer and ask for a diagnosis you'll be told where to go without a booking.  

 

 

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, Thomas J said:

The ones that are fishy are the very recent models 2020/2021 with very very low miles.  Most likely they are damaged cars that have been repaired or flood vehicles.  One way or another, you can take a car to the dealer and they can plug in to their diagnostic equipment and it will report the mileage from the computer chip inside the car.  That can't be turned back. 

Ive a friend who has a 2019 Mazda 3 with 1200km on the odo.

 

He purchased it for his wife but she was killed 2 months later.

[chickenslegs]

6 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

When and where were the floods that you refer to last year and this year?

Last year, October, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Sa Kaeo, Surat Thani, Trang, Satun and Nakhon Si Thammarat

https://floodlist.com/asia/thailand-floods-october-2020

 

[Liverpool Lou]

2 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

9 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

When and where were the floods that you refer to last year and this year?

Oops, I stand corrected!

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, Sakeopete said:

They can but very unlikely that a small scratch would cause overspray to the weather stripping under the hood. I noticed it walking up to the car it was about 20 cm wide.

you noticed overspray under the hood when walking up to the vehicle ?

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Thomas J said:

take a car to the dealer and they can plug in to their diagnostic equipment and it will report the mileage from the computer chip inside the car.  That can't be turned back.

Yes, it can.   It's just a computer.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[harrry]

The cars at my thai inlaws all stay still.  Motorbikes are used for all transport.  They get started every couple of weeks and washed.   In the main small cars bought under the low tax scheme a few years ago are often in this boat people just cold not afford to drive them and the bike did all they need.

[Thomas J]

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

Yes, it can.   It's just a computer.

Possible, but that means that someone is going to have to be awfully clever to get the chip to match the mileage on the odometer.  Also, the dealer will have records of when the car was brought in for service and the mileage at that time.  The dealer will also be able to inspect the brakes.  If a car has 5,000 km on it and the rotors are only 50% then the mileage is bogus.  Bottom line, if the dealer gives you assurance the car has not been in an accident and the mileage corresponds to their service records, you are likely ok.