Odometer readings (1 Viewer)

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Juneau, AK
Do any of you know if it's ever legal to roll back an odometer reading on a titled vehicle? We've all seen old cruisers lsted for sale with 20K miles, with an explanation of how an engine was transplanted or rebuilt. My question is if one can honestly have motor vehicles legally change the odometer reading on a reconstructed vehicle. thanks.
 
I accidentally rolled mine back when trying to fix it. Was broke, still broke, I'm not too worried about gettin arrested. I think you're fine as long as you tell a buyer the actual number.
 
Thanks. That hadn't occured to me. I'm wondering if a DMV would accept an altered odometer on a vehicle with a rebuilt title. If the junked rigs' engine got trashed, should the rebuilt vehicle's odometer read the miles on the truck or on the transplanted engine? I would imagine that it would be the former.
 
My odo probably hasn't worked in at least a decade. I have a legal title etc. I bet they don't care.
 
DMV shouldn't have an issue so long as the title states 'Odometer exceeds mechanical limitation" or this is stated when you re-sell (if you ever do). With this item indicated, you present a disclaimer that the odometer reading is not accurate. I don't believe you are even required to indicate what the approximate mileage is.

Andrew
 
Sorry - re-read your question after my last post and realized I addressed a slightly different topic. I assume you want to roll-back but title it as if everything is accurate. Not sure about the rules on that one.

Andrew
 
and the odo shouldn't just reflect engine age. it's great to get a truck with a rebuilt engine or newer engine, but consider the axles, diffs transmission and all that have seen the number of K's done with the old engine
 
Yes, I agree that the vehicle miles,not just engine miles, should be accurately indicated, if possible, by the odometer and that it is wrong to deceive a potential buyer. The California law appears to require an accurate odometer reading only for the first 10years of a vehicles life. So, an unscrupulous owner could potentially roll back the odometer when registering or re-registering a vehicle without getting questioned by DMV. A carfax search would indicate the historical descrepancy though.
 
Carfax doesn't work for anything before 1981. Do it to something older than that and yer in the clear.
 

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