Towed and Odometer

[JCGibson]

Just a quick question that popped into my head. If you have a towed that is pulled with all 4 wheels on the ground, does the odometer keep moving? If so, just wondered how that works for resale/trade since it will have a bunch more miles that weren't actually "driven".

Thanks.

John

[bshpilot]

oh please ! they not prosecuting louis lerner & they surely won't prosecute hillary for all their email deletions, discriminations & security violations ! let 'em come after me.

Ill argue that the odometer was not tapered with and that the odometer IS true and correct...done !

[Mr_Mark1]

mowermech wrote:
There is an "Odometer Certification" on every vehicle transfer document I have seen, be it Bill Of Sale or Title.
When I sell a vehicle that I have towed behind the coach, I mark that Certification as "Indicated mileage is not the actual vehicle mileage WARNING - Odometer Discrepancy!"
IMO, certifying that the odometer mileage is correct is making a fraudulent statement. AFAIK, there hasn't been a lawsuit filed over it yet, but I bet someday one will be filed, and I want to make sure it is not filed against me!
The kicker is this statement on the Bill Of Sale and Title: "Under penalty of law (MCA 45-7-203 Unsworn Falsification to Authorities) the statements made on this form are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief,...
The penalty section of that law states: " A person convicted of an offense under this section shall be fined not to exceed $500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for any term not to exceed 6 months, or both."

In that case, every car would have a fraudulent odometer as the mileage is not added when backing up. The engine is running, transmission working, etc.

I think it's pushing it to say towing miles make the odometer wrong.

I would never add those miles to any statement.

MM.

[mowermech]

There is an "Odometer Certification" on every vehicle transfer document I have seen, be it Bill Of Sale or Title.
When I sell a vehicle that I have towed behind the coach, I mark that Certification as "Indicated mileage is not the actual vehicle mileage WARNING - Odometer Discrepancy!"
IMO, certifying that the odometer mileage is correct is making a fraudulent statement. AFAIK, there hasn't been a lawsuit filed over it yet, but I bet someday one will be filed, and I want to make sure it is not filed against me!
The kicker is this statement on the Bill Of Sale and Title: "Under penalty of law (MCA 45-7-203 Unsworn Falsification to Authorities) the statements made on this form are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief,...
The penalty section of that law states: " A person convicted of an offense under this section shall be fined not to exceed $500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for any term not to exceed 6 months, or both."

[jfkmk]

I'm with you. I'm not adverse to buying a high milege vehicle - my daily driver has 160k on it and I plan to get another 160 out of it or use it until I retire. My concern would be that an owner might not have taken the proper precautions, like running it periodically. Also, there are probably those who would think that the non driven mileage would make no difference at all and ask a premium price for a low mileage car that isn't truly low mileage. If I saw signs of a base plate, I would really ask a lot of questions.

[bshpilot]

jfkmk wrote:

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.

of course those thing wear - if you see a vehicle w/ a pristine (barely sat in) interior and heavily worn & loose suspension, warning bells should go off.

at the same time 99% of the toads are pulled over INTERSTATES....not back roads or side / residential streets....the wear and tear on them is LIGHT at best (like a high milage interstate car).

its not like these things are hard to spot - base plates mounted to the front, even when removed leave some pretty obvious signs that they were there.

most coaches are low milage - i doubt the toads are gonna be high milage draggers.
towing on a trailer doesnt eliminate suspension wear (bouncing) either.

[jfkmk]

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.

[afrescopXx]

Ford C Max hybrid must be towed with ignition in the "ACC" position. It does not accumulate miles on odometer in that position. I have close to 10,000 non registering towed miles on ours.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

neither does the Chevy Colorado 4x4

[bshpilot]

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.

[bshpilot]

Jeep Wranglers do not register miles on the odometer when towed 4 wheels down.

[jfkmk]

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.

[msmith1199]

I have towed both a Jeep Wrangler and a Dodge Dakota and neither gained miles and neither needed a fuse pulled. I actually found out later I didn't even need to leave the key in the Wrangler but I always towed it with the key in the acc position. I do have to leave the key in the Dakota as it does have steering lock.

[bsinmich]

I also forgot to pull the fuse in my Saturn one time. I put on 250 miles and got the check engine light for the next 7-10 starts. I installed a switch after that to flip instead of trying to get that fuse in place while hanging upside down.

[ncrowley]

My Honda Fit does not accumulate mileage and neither does the Jeep Wrangler.