Towed and Odometer

bshpilot wrote:

jfkmk wrote:
Interesting. While towing a vehicle doesn't put wear and tear on the engine, it does on other components. Guess I'll never buy a vehicle that was towed.

I've seen plenty of (un-towed) vehicles that suffered far worse from neglect than any that were towed.

there is no wear to the transmission, transfer cases and little to no wear to brakes (less than normal driving thats for sure).

tires probably suffer the highest level of wear, and suspension wear is minimal as well.

change the diff / gear lube and keep the drive shaft u-joints & suspension greased and you would never even get a hint of wear.

I've read where, depending on the vehicle, one has to stop every so often (around 200 miles or so) to run the car to lubricate the trans. What if they don't do this? What if they stretch it to 250, 300 or even 400 miles? A vehicle with 20000 miles on the od could have a trans ready to drop.
Other components, such as suspension, wear the same way if towed or under their own power. Struts, shocks, hub assemblies, ball joints, cv joints, control arm bushings......the list goes on and on, will have the same wear whether towed or driven. So a vehicle showing 20k but towed 60k would have the suspension of one with 80k on the od.
I agree, changing diff and other fluids help to minimize wear, but you still have an "old" suspension on a vehicle showing fewer miles. Besides, most people can hardly find the key hole let alone know they need to change differential or transfer case oil or grease the u-joints.