I have the opportunity to buy a used Ram 1500. The odometer reads 56000 miles but the carfax shows 106000. The carfax has two entries that conflict with the odometer, so the mileage would have had to be entered incorrectly twice. The dealer stands by the 56000 and says the PCM proves it. Obviously I am very hesitant to buy. Can someone help me verify the correct mileage? If someone wanted to forge the mileage would they have to swap the PCM and the cluster? Is there anyway for me to be sure?

 

What year of truck you looking at? In reference mines an 05 and I got 108000

 

Truck is an 05. Any way to conclusively prove the mileage????

 

CarFax isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's dependent on humans to enter data (or not). 56K is pretty low for a seven-year-old vehicle. Mine's nine years old with 119K. If I'd bought it new, though, it would probably only have about 85K. I would think it would not be so easy to fudge the mileage on a newer vehicle, but I don't know.

How does the rest of the truck look? Is the brake pedal pad worn? Does the interior look like a seven-thousand-mile-per-year vehicle? How much do they want for it?

 

Truck looks really good, but it is 300 miles from me so I can't just drop by to look at it. Called the dodge dealer across the street and he said that no one had brought a truck by recently to check the mileage. The car salesman said he did that last night. I guess I got my answer......

 

Think about how hard it will be to sell that truck again... I'd go find another truck with a more reliable carfax, something smells fishy there.... are there any service records listed?

Post up the Carfax and I'll give you a real opinion, but as it stands with what info you've given, I wouldn't drive 1 mile to buy that truck...

Oh and the PCM does not read mileage, that is the odometer's job...

 

Where the mileage is stored depends on the year, but it is always in one of the computers, not the cluster. The reading is stored in a specialized ROM that prevents tampering, so if that computer is ever swapped, it will read the milage from the donor vehicle, or zero if it is new. It may be possible for the dealer starscan tool to change it, but I seriously doubt it, since that would seem like a conflict of interest to me. My guess: the carfax is correct, and the truck had the BCM (or other, depends on year) replaced at some point, possibly due to flooding (common reason for in-cab computer), and the owner did it themselves, thus not on the carfax.

Note that this is all my speculation, so YMMV.

 

Yea I honestly think this is hard to call since changing a modern odometers miles are pretty much like cracking a safe these days. Don't know why anyone would do it on purpose for a truck like that except to maybe get a couple extra thousand bucks on the sale but I would think it costs some money to be swapping computers out of trucks. I agree with Brandon though I think it was swapped out but for good reason. Not to play anyone. if anything use this as a negotiation tactic for the sale if you feel comfortable with the truck

 

check the hours by turning the ignition to the on position with the odometer reading mileage, not trip. hold the trip button down continuous..In about ten seconds the hours should appear.. Mines in 06 I dont no if later models have that option. But if it was me i would keep on a rollin.

 

YES....PCM will store the mileage too. It starts counting from day one that the PCM is installed.
When you go in and read it, it will only show a 500 mile range on a vehicle with an analog odometer (or non-CAN Bus). Example..between 101,700 and 102,200.

YES, they can swap the PCM (with a new one) and enter the mileage to mirror whatever cluster is put in.

If someone got a PCM and cluster from a salvage, they CAN change the VIN in the PCM...IF...it is a SKIM equipped vehicle.

Of course this is what can be done with a Chrysler scan tool. I do not know if there is an aftermarket scan tool with these functions.

Post the last 8 of the VIN and I can tell you what the last mileage and date logged in for a warranty repair or recall repair was.