Mileage - suspicious

Got my 4runner 2004 v8 last year with 132,000 miles on the clock.
Today I registered the vehicle to Toyota services to find out about the maintenance history (using the Vin number).
Last record captured on 2019, where the mileage shows 330,000 miles.
Is that possible someone messed with the mileage reading?

 

Get a car fax to double check. The key is are there other numbers that are over the 132k? One number could be a glitch. I don’t think people turn back the mileage these days- too easy to check.

 

I wouldn't put it past anyone, but Carfax should be quite reliable for this purpose.

 

my local dealer screws up the mileage entry all the time when I take it in for maintenance, so it could just be a mis-entry. I trust people about as far as I can throw them but as Bonitobob mentioned, it's too easy to get caught rolling back odometers. I'm out of touch on the computer stuff but I wonder if there's a way a dealer could query the computer with a scanner to verify what the display shows (?)

 

Thanks experts!
I want to mention one thing. I live in Guatemala, not in the states, so I can't go to any dealer to verify things.
According the car history, it was imported from MN to guatemala in 2019.
The car is model 2014 but been sold on 2015, so let's start the mileage count from this year.
TAMA1968 - this is make sense that someone actually screwes up the mileage records.
I wrote down the services date and mileage the car has been through, from 2005 until 2019.
I'll be very glad to hear your opinion - the mileage records are not making any sense between the services. Please see attachment.
Hard to believe the car has about 320,000 miles (today). The engine is a blast, the gear is smooth, zero vibrations, the car has the original shocks / coil springs and even tires! (I changed everything but not out of necessity).

 

Those entries do seem a little odd to me.

 

I would guess that the car was used for Uber or some other crazy use (Minneapolis to Mexico weekly run?) and possibly the engine was swapped before sending. Also it could have been wrecked and salvaged (hence why it was sent away). Interesting anyway it runs strong for you.

 

So, someone drove it 31,886 miles in one month (October 2007)??? Something doesn't add up (see below).

Let's assume the first entry was made at 12:01 AM October 1st, 2007 and that last at 11:59 PM on October 31, 2007. For the sake of argument, lets give it a full 31 days.

31 days X 24 hrs/day = 744 hours

31,886 miles / 744 hours = 42.85 mph is the average speed someone would have to be driving this vehicle, for 24 hours a day, for 31 days.

If we assume this vehicle was driven a total of 12 hours a day, for 31 days straight, the average speed would be 85.72 mph.

And the mileage readings for May, August, and December 2011 only increased by one.

I won't presume to know what is going on without more information, but yes, the mileage report does raise some suspicions.

 

Just a thought

Could it be as simple as kilometers to miles? Maybe the system that the mileage was entered on converted it to km?

316120 km = 196427mi

When i got rid of my 2004 (in 2015) it had over 210K miles on it so the overall mileage if the conversion was done is not out of order (daily driver for 12 years to work round trip 64mi).

 

I wish it was kilometers, but it's miles.
October 2008, the car has timing belt replaced (which should be at 90,000 miles).
This is mentioned at the service history (Toyota) and at a physical label / sticker on the engine (date and 90,000 miles).

This is another confusing point.
Until yesterday, I was sure the car has 136,000 miles, had the timing belt replaced on 90,000 already (2008), and should be replaced again at 180,000.
Now, the car supposedly has 320,000 miles with one timing belt.
What should be done? Any way I can check the belt status by myself?
Apologies for me adding another topic to this thread, but this is somehow related.

 

Pay the money and order a CarFax Report (https://www.carfax.com). This should give you a more realistic vehicle history than the Toyota service history alone.

 

Agree, you should be able for $40 to get the CarFax report, at least so long as it was in the US.

 

Yes, just ordered a carfax report.
I'll post the findings.

 

According to carfax report,
Last mileage reading (may 2019) was 323,000 miles.
Disappointing.
Someone messed up with the mileage reading between 2019 to 2020.

 

I think the very high mileage is accurate, I think some of the numbers in-between might be suspect. All of this is self reporting, and dealers until recently couldn’t be bothered to do it right.

Carfax is useless trash, I do most of my maintenance or go to an independent mechanic, so if you run a report on my 2013 it pretty much disappears sometime around 2017 with 42k miles and then reappears in 2021 when I got a new battery from Toyota on warranty and the dealer entered 114k.

I think if you change the instrument dash cluster and there’s a discrepancy on the odometer, you have to report it the first time you transfer the title, but I don’t know if you have to do it the second time. And I’m pretty sure it depends on what state you’re in.

 

I'm still interested to see the full report. It may provide a little more insight to the vehicle's history.

 

It's all pieces to a puzzle.

Sometimes I'll do my own maintenance, sometimes I take it in. Just depends on my mood and the weather. When I do my own maintenance, I'll record what I do in a small write-in-the-rain notebook. That book and the folder of maintenance receipts I keep, always goes with my vehicles to the next owners.

 

You guys are missing one thing: "The car is model 2014 but been sold on 2015, so let's start the mileage count from this year."
Somebody got the numbers from a different vehicle.

 

Now that I'm pretty sure the real mileage is over 330,000 miles, and the timing belt have been replaced in 2008 after 90,000 miles, should I go ahead and do it again (allegedly / supposedly, after 240,000 miles)?

 

Probably a safe bet.

 

The original post said it was a 2004 V8 not a 2014?

 

Correct, we are discussing about 4runner 2004 v8.

 

Is it possible that the engine was replaced? There should be a sticker on the engine or under the hood telling when the timing belt was last replaced unless the engine was replaced. Either way I would go ahead and change it as well as all the belts and hoses. Check your fluids too.

It is also possible that the speedo and odometer was replaced. I had to do that to my 92. Check your door jab and see if there is a sticker with mileage on it.

 

original tires?? even if it did have just 136k on the odometer, the tires would look like beach balls, unless Minnesota has some butter-smooth roads.

 

I'm real confused by this part too. Is it a 2014/15 or a 2004?

My wild ass guess is someone replaced the engine and reset the mileage to what the engine actually has on it.

 

You have to make your own decision on the timing belt. I never heard of one breaking unless it was coupled with a coolant leak. I heard of plenty of cases where it was replaced and then it broke soon after. It should be, according to the manual, replaced every 6 years based on age. Mine’s on its 3rd life based on time but has not yet hit 90k. I am not touching it without a good reason.

 

How about the theory that your car was stolen and the vin number from a dead carcass was swapped to yours. The difference between 330k and 130k should be obvious in many places such as the brake pedal, etc. everything you said indicates you have the lower mileage.

 

I would replace it ASAP. Here is what mine looked like at ~ 239K miles

 

That’s an amazing picture. That belt had a good run. 240 is a LOT.