Mileage Readiing

Topic: Mileage Readiing (Read 2277 times) previous topic - next topic

Mileage Readiing

June 20, 2007, 10:34:50 PM

Ok, It's come to my attention i may have been reading my mileage wrong since i picked this bird up...
None of the paperwork for it has the mileage noted for it, (They couldnt read it either?, lol).

I was told by the second owner of the car (Who cared nothing for the car, Basicly just acquired it from a friend drove it 'till the battery died) that it had 300,000 Miles on it, And the Tow truck man that hauled it home for me said the same.

I have not driven this car enough to note the mileage change for myself as it still needs work, And i need the room and time to work on it. :punchballs:

The 6th Digit being in white has always made me wonder, But i just went along with what the 2 sources said...

Can someone please identify the correct mileage for me, If possible, From this picture:

If it's not really 300k I'm gonna be doing the happy dance, Lol.

Mileage Readiing

Reply #1 – June 20, 2007, 10:41:49 PM

I had always thought that white digit was 1/10th of a mile, so that would indicate 30313.8 miles (or 130313.8, or 230313.8, etc). I've also heard people say that the white digit was miles, not tenths. The only way I would be able to tell for sure is to drive the car - if the white digit rolls once every mile it's miles. If it rolls ten times for a mile it's tenths.

*EDIT* I guess it was you that I had heard from that the white digit was miles, not tenths - I just read your other thread about that '84 5.0 car for sale. If you're not sure and Eric is, I'd tend to go along with Eric :D

Mileage Readiing

Reply #2 – June 20, 2007, 10:45:19 PM

>.<
Well i cant exactly drive it anywhere but my backyard right now unless im really sneaky, lol.

Mileage Readiing

Reply #3 – June 20, 2007, 10:45:59 PM

The white dial is tenths of a mile.
You only have five digits for miles. How many times it has rolled over is unknown.
In the old days, very few cars ever went 100,000 miles. As cars got better and going over 100k miles was common, manufacturers were slow to adopt the six digit odometer.

Mileage Readiing

Reply #4 – June 20, 2007, 10:49:35 PM

That's what was really confusing me, It seemed really odd that it didnt have a 6th digit because you wouldnt know about rollovers.

Thanks for clearing that up, Bummer i still dont know if it's rolled over or not...

I do know the car was purchased new in Las Vegas, and made it's way up here to Washington, And the car has been sitting since 1997 and i don't know about much before that.

Mileage Readiing

Reply #5 – June 21, 2007, 02:05:15 AM

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In the old days, very few cars ever went 100,000 miles.

For you younger guys, he does not mean that few cars could read past 100,000, he means that the cars were never driven up to that many miles, EVER!

You guys must be young. The reason the last digit is white w/black numbering is because it IS tenths. Your making me feel VERY old. I've NEVER known this to different with any car, and have had cars from each of the big 3's. First car I ever had that would show a sixth whole digit was my yellow cat. I saw the other post and was amazed. I've had a few cars with over 100,000 miles on them, and when that happened, you just had to remember that it "rolled over". That's what we use to call it when it went past 100,000 miles: Rolled over. So you knew it had more than 100,000.

Mileage Readiing

Reply #6 – June 21, 2007, 09:19:22 AM

The dead giveaway that a car with only 5 placeholders in the odometer HAS gone over 100,000 miles is that the first number (or two) won't line up straight anymore. If you notice in your photo, the first two digits (3 and 0) aren't in line with the 313 anymore. So your car has at least 130,313.8 miles on the odometer.

The numbers won't line up because that's a tool used by automakers via the government to help prevent odometer tampering.

And yes...this is pretty old school as Victor said. All cars used to be like that. Digital odometers changed the game, so to speak. Even new cars with buttstuffog speedos usually have digital odometers. It's much harder to tamper with a digital odometer than an buttstuffog one, hence the reason you don't see buttstuffog ones much anymore. We have legacy odometers in some cars, then...which is very fitting, especially if you have the noisy buttstuffog clock and the rare AM/FM/8-track option. :tetas:

Mileage Readiing

Reply #7 – June 21, 2007, 10:30:43 AM

Even still, Ford only half-assed it with the digital odometer in the 85-88 models. The first digit can only be a one. That means that if the odo is showing 123,456 miles the car could have 223,456, 333,456, or more. I found that out the hard way, when the '85 T-Bird I had was advertised as having only 120,000 km. It turned out to be 220,000 km. The worst of it was that the car was bought from the original owner, who obviously would have known the mileage was higher but advertised it lower. Dishonest fvcktard...

Mileage Readiing

Reply #8 – June 21, 2007, 11:00:45 AM

Haha, yep, I didn't know only 1s displayed in the first digit on the digitals. It shocked the hell out of me when I had the camera ready and it went from 199999.9 to 100000.0.

The worst part is that the car looks good for a 226k mile car but looks bad for a 126k mile car.

Mileage Readiing

Reply #9 – June 21, 2007, 11:23:46 AM

Back when cars were usually wore out at 120K mi, the sixth digit wasn't necessary... A 15 year old car showing 26,789 could be safely assumed to have 126K... Of course there were exceptions, but probably not more than one in 500 went much over 150K... Pickups an other work vehicles usually got rebuilt engines, trannys, etc and would often go over 200K mi... Suprisingly the '92 Grand Marquis we had only had a five digit odo... The '93 I'm still running has a six(these are electrical/mechanical)...

I remember talking a bus trip in the late '60s(courtsey of Uncle Sam) and noting it had 666,xxx on it... Was a shock to see that kind of millage... When I mentioned it to a uncle(not same LOL), that drove long distance trucks, he said "just broke in good, we have rigs with well over a million miles on them"... :eek:

EDIT... I forgot to mention I know a guy with a '88 Sport that has 341xxx on it... The AOD finally ped out, and the rear was clanking, plus the bearings rattled when it started... Guess you could say it's wore out...

Mileage Readiing

Reply #10 – June 21, 2007, 01:09:33 PM

Quote from: TurboCoupe50;156008

EDIT... I forgot to mention I know a guy with a '88 Sport that has 341xxx on it... The AOD finally ped out, and the rear was clanking, plus the bearings rattled when it started... Guess you could say it's wore out...

Nah it's still good

Mileage Readiing

Reply #11 – June 21, 2007, 07:40:55 PM

Wow, Thanks for all the information everyone!.

Yea im really not used to 5 digit speedos, this would be my first encounter with one, Havent met a digital yet either, heh. :hick:

So we assume it has 130k miles on it? i would go for that, it has only really been driven for about 12-14 years of its life.
But from what i can tell... it was driven fairly rough/sloppy during those times.
I found an inmate identification card for a las vegas jail for the original owner of the car (He purchased it new), under the back seat, lol.
And second owner didn't care for it at all, Drove it 'till the battery died.
As far as i know i'm the 3rd owner, i could be wrong.

I'm excited to hear its not 300k. :hick:
I actually ran the vin online and there appears to be about 8 records for it on autocheck and carfax, so i should check into that.
Might be able to find out the actual mileage, Anyone have a subscription to any of these?

Mileage Readiing

Reply #12 – June 22, 2007, 12:47:04 AM

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The numbers won't line up because that's a tool used by automakers via the government to help prevent odometer tampering.

I've noticed that on my 1st four cars. Always wondered why.

Quote

Haha, yep, I didn't know only 1s displayed in the first digit on the digitals. It shocked the hell out of me when I had the camera ready and it went from 199999.9 to 100000.0.

My yellow cat has 205,xxx. I was a bit disapointed too, but not surprised. I was hoping the big 1 in front would go away.:hick:

Quote

So we assume it has 130k miles on it?

O yes. I'd be in shock if it wasn't.:eek:

Mileage Readiing

Reply #13 – June 22, 2007, 02:05:29 AM

I would be in shock too, lol.

I told my mom about the whole mileage reading errors, And she thinks she faintly remembers the guy we got it from mentioning it rolled over once, So looks like 130k is the magic number. :hick: