Comments on: Is Your Odometer Cheating You?

If Found To Be Too Fast, It Can Affect Warranty, Lease Fees, Resale Value

[melanie1971]

Wow! I am saddened by this report. I had a 1995 Honda Civic for 12 years until it was totaled in a car accident in Dec 2006. I wonder myself if that Honda had the same problem because I noticed if I was cruising at 70mph, the odometer showed I went less miles (I always thought the speedometer was off). I JUST purchased (2 weeks ago) a new 2007 CRV, now I will have to test the odometer! I am amazed at this travesty, especially when Honda's warranties are notably less (3/36) than most vehicle manufacturers. It is appalling that Honda would try to further shorten the already short warranty by ripping off consumers with faulty odometers. Then you get ripped off again when you have to take your car in for service (and that is at any dealer/repair shop for any vehicle). I think most major repairs are not really needed, it is just another way to add to the price of the vehicle over the long haul.

[Syndicate]

brucenews: The manual says to hit setup until you see "Oil Life XX% reset if new" then PRESS reset then HOLD reset until it resets.

[hondaowner]

The makes and models in question were brand new cars with brand new tires. If the inaccurate odometer readings stemmed from tire wear, then wouldn't all makes and models have been affected? If the problem stemmed solely from tire wear, then why didn't Honda rely on mathematics for their defense? The circumference of a 25" tire can be easily compared to the circumference of a 24.96875" tire (a new tire with 1/32" tire wear). Why did the courts agree to hear a case that could be explained so easily with math?

[jeffmccabe3]

I leased a BMW 325xi last august. I new something was wrong when the speedometer showed 80mph, and I was not passing that many cars.
For Xmas we received a GPS which indicated 75mph when the speedo showed 80mph. I called the BMW dealer (in Reno) and they basically blow me off.
With the (roughly) 7 percent error, and based on 15k miles a year over the three year lease term,ths will cost me $600, which, I suppose, BMW expects me to eat. See you in court BMW

[brucenews]

I have a new 2006 Ford Freestyle. After the odometer reaches 500 miles and or possibly a six month period it is locked out (no display) as well as trip odometer and compass, and is replacedwith a warning Oil life is 0% change oil. From that point on you are flying blind until I suppose you go to Ford to get an oil change. There is a proceedure in the owner's manual for resetting but it doesn't work, at least until you get an oil change. I don't know if there is a hidden switch somewhere for the Ford mechanic. The speedometer does not have a zero on the dial. If you use the spacing between the other numbers and then apply it to where zero should be the car when standing still indicates approximately 3 - 4 miles per hour. I am very suspicious and plan to get the accuracy of the odometer checked after my oil change, since I can't do it without the odometer. By the way, my car is a driveway queen. To the supermarket and bank and that's about it. Bruce

[hortonjr]

FWIW, I checked 4 2004 and 2005 Durangos when they were new (I had one that was fast by 3.5% and wanted to see if I was the only one). 3 of the 4 were off by exactly the same amount. The only one that wasn't was one that was not equipped with the upgraded tire/chrome wheel option. My guess was that the diameter was altered slightly with these wheels and that DCX didn't see fit to re-calibrate those vehicles, especially since the error was in the company's favor (FYI, dealers had no fix; they all said "live with it"). In the old days of mechanical speedometers, a 5% error was considered acceptable. With electronics, I estimate the acceptable error range to be one-tenth of the old range (one half of one percent) and that is only due to tire wear.

[noview1]

When a company test the car for it's mileage, they use brand new tires. After minimal use, the outermost layer of the tires (1/32 of an inch)will wear off quickly. The smaller the tires, the more revolutions required to travel a distance. Odometer's measure the revolutions of the tires to determine distance traveled.

[jdjd1572]

Better add in Mazda Corp and the Big Three. Basically its pay back from both Big Oil and the Big Three US Car Companies. For years Toyota made profits because of being better built and better mileage per gas tank. Apprently, these foreign companies have sold their sould to satisfy US makers and make up profits loss by penalizing US citizens for choosing a product efficent and superior to US auto makers. Trace the oil dollars and the auto producers money trail and one will find the "sheisty mechanic" with the wrench in his hand!!

[redstripe12]

My Subaru also has the same odometer issue. There was a piece on Cartalk on NPR where some scientists tested this in Montana a few months ago. They tested by checking the mile markers on the highway against the odometer.

Guess what, the problem ain't the mile markers. Gasp! The auto industry trying to squeeze consumers for more money and no honoring warranties! That's actually pretty believable.

Who's to say the dealership can't get their service guy to tweak the odometers either? Dealerships make most of their profit off of warranties.

[nothappyatall]

CLass-action suits are a joke, the "class" gets about $3 each, the LAWYERS get the millions- just take a look at the Household Bank class-action suit, on my statement I received TWO cents credit back for my share of the class-action litigation resulting from the bank's shady national practices, overbilling, overcharging etc.

I got a whopping 2 cents, the law firm in the case got millions, whose the winner the consumer? LOL