Speedo/odometer 'correction' (W202 C class)

[braddo]

Hi

I have read about businesses offering 'mileage correction' services where it seems to effectively be legal to clock your car. Would it be a possibility that a garage could use this to disguise their use of a customer car (i.e. reset the odo/trip meters back to where they were when the customer dropped off the car)?

I get paranoid about garage employees taking a car for a thrash around the block (because I suspect it happened once before when a garage proprietor used my car to go to/from work).

Or, on W202 Merc would it possible for someone to disconnect the odo/clocks and still use the car?



Thanks,
Brad

 

[braddo]

The reason I ask is that I picked up the car from a bodyshop (a minor scrape, the other driver's fault and their insurance handled the repair) and the odometer showed 1 mile less than what I had left the car with. I think the trip meter was unchanged or within the same mile reading.

Perhaps it is something that could happen as a result of having the battery disconnected for some time (would a bodyshop do that as a matter of routine?)?

Thanks,
Brad

 

[Diesel Benz]

I have not studied this topic but I'm afraid on a W202 "mileage correction" would be relatively easy even with standard diagnosis tools (if the person is an experienced user of the tool) and even easier with tools specific for that purpose.

 

[NW_Merc]

I dont know why you'd get paranoid about that, well if you're using a trusted garage. To disconnect the odometer cable you would have to remove the instrument cluster. If it's done badly, will leave a mark either side of the binnacle and at the top. In order for a garage to do this properly they have to remove the steering wheel. Not worth the hassle overall. I dont know why it would have lost a mile.

 

[jaymanek]

I think you should look for other explanations...
The equipment to do this isnt cheap, a body shop will not just have the stuff kicking about and unless they went to the moon and back I dont see why they would go to the hassle and expense.

 

[andy27168]

I dont know why you'd get paranoid about that, well if you're using a trusted garage. To disconnect the odometer cable you would have to remove the instrument cluster. If it's done badly, will leave a mark either side of the binnacle and at the top. In order for a garage to do this properly they have to remove the steering wheel. Not worth the hassle overall. I dont know why it would have lost a mile.

Have to agree, regarding the "trusted garage" comment, I use to worry about the same thing, you could always fit a GPS alarm system and if the car is moved from the garage vicinity it would txt your mobile it can monitor the cars speed as well and you can even monitor any conversation within the car.
There is no odometer cable on a 202, and mileage correction as far as i was aware was done through the diagnostic socket, but as others have said regardless how easy it was to do I can,t see any reputable buisness doing this it just would,nt be worth it to them after all we are talking about at least a 12 year old car, however nice the car maybe, and I mean do disrespect whatsoever.

 

[braddo]

Thanks for your comments. It is clearly not as simple/cheap/easy as I feared it might be to fiddle with the odometer.

Presumably the odometer somehow lost a mile after the battery was disconnected (the radio and clock also had to be reset) by the bodyshop.

For servicing etc I now do use a garage I trust (BSG in Ladbroke Grove).

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

Mileage correction is done through the diagnostic socket but as well as being stored in the speedo it's also stored within a seperate module (Can be compared when mileage claims are suspect). The gear is expensive and all such changes are tracable to when they were made.

As others have said I can't believe they would bother.

 

[Stratman]

I don't know if it applies to the W202, but I believe the mileage is held in more than one location in some MBs. The cluster is one, the ECU is another. There may be more.

 

[bonusbo]

I had my mileage corrected today by Midland Mileage Correction

I can confirm that for the W202 its not a very quick procedure so its unlikely that a garage would go through the effort of clocking back your vehicle... any regular garage would not have access to such equipment as it is specialist. I had spoken to the guy at the time and I remembered this thread. It took him about 30 minutes in total and required the whole speedometer cluster to be removed.

I genuinely had mine set to the correct mileage off my old speedometer as one of my needles had stopped working on my original instrument cluster.