Do towed vehicles rack up miles?

jefffoxsr wrote:
I am looking at buying a 2012 Jeep wrangler that has 145,000 miles. It is has a manual transmission. The salesman is saying that the miles are that high because it was towed behind a motor home.

Would being towed behind a motor home rack up miles on the odometer?


Is there a way to figure out if the salesman is telling the truth? I wouldn't normally want to buy a vehicle with that many miles, but if the engine has low miles and the rest of the vehicle is clean then maybe I would buy it?

Thanks for your experience and help. I appreciate it.

Jeff Fox

The salesman either doesn't know what he is talking about, or is deliberately telling a falsehood.
The only way a modern vehicle with electric/electronic speedometer can put miles on the odometer is if the ignition is left in the RUN position while towing. That would be a really dumb thing to do, because the later model Jeeps don't have a steering lock and the switch can be in the OFF position while towing. Even if the '12 model does have the steering lock, the switch should be in the ACC position while towing, and the odometer is not energized.
Jeep, and many other manufacturers, in their infinite wisdom, removed the "OFF, not locked" position from the switches. Speaking of dumb...