Read corrrect Mileage with ForScan

[tutti2000]

Hello,

I have to buy a used Ford Focus MK1 (Germany). Since the MK1 Focus is up to 17 years old it should have a lot of kilometers been driven. But some offers on the internet come with very low mileage. Is it possible to read out the correct mileage of a focus MK1? I know newer cars save the mileage in seperate modules, so you can change the odo but in another module the correct mileage will be saved. Does the MK1 also have two modules or only the ony in the odometer?

kind regards

Stefan

[FORScan]

We don't know a reliable way to detect true mileage. We recently discussed this issue with specialists in this area and they claimed it is not really possible to detect true mileage reliably even on newer vehicles. Because usually mileage is changed in instrument cluster module on very low level (using special programmer devices), and the instrument cluster broadcasts the new mileage to other modules and they update their own mileage to the new one. The only chance is to take mileage from the freeze frame of DTC registered before the mileage was changed, but as you understand, it is not a reliable way.

As for older vehicles, such as Focus Mk1, they neither keep mileage in other modules. nor have other ways to register mileage.

[Jeff_Birt]

I'm not sure what is available in other countries but here in the USA we can use a service like CarFAX and search a vehicles history the VIN number. When a vehicle goes into a repair shop (dealer or larger independent shop and sometimes even accident reports) this data is recorded and you can get a history of what was done to a vehicle over time. There might be mileage recorded with a major service. For example when looking to buy a new truck recently I found a 2002 model with low mileage that looked in good condition. The CarFAX showed it had been in a accident about 5 weeks prior which made me think there was damage the owner did not want to fix so they traded it to a dealer on a new truck.

Other than such a service you have to go by the condition of the vehicle. Does it have the original tires? If so it might be a low mileage car. Test the cylinder compression, that will give you a good indication of engine wear.