What in the name of your favorite god happened? Car version
September 25, 2020 6:25 AM Subscribe
My car seems to have lost 30,000 from the odometer reading. Just how?
My Toyota Camry Hybrid (2013) had ~94k on the odometer last time I looked - maybe 2 weeks ago. Yesterday I looked and it is reading ~63K. How is that possible? The only new thing I did was plug in one of those engine diagnosis things. It showed no problems. HAs anyone had this happen?
My Toyota Camry Hybrid (2013) had ~94k on the odometer last time I looked - maybe 2 weeks ago. Yesterday I looked and it is reading ~63K. How is that possible? The only new thing I did was plug in one of those engine diagnosis things. It showed no problems. HAs anyone had this happen?
Best answer: Those engine diagnostic devices can sometimes be configured as "odometer correction" tools and modify the values stored. You might look through the documentation for the device you used and see if it has that sort of functionality.
posted by roue at 7:04 AM on September 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by roue at 7:04 AM on September 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
Could you have switched it from kilometers to miles? That would go from 94 to 58.
posted by Hatashran at 7:36 AM on September 25, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by Hatashran at 7:36 AM on September 25, 2020 [13 favorites]
Best answer: My check engine light went on earlier this week so I plugged in an ODBII scanner (this cheap one from Walmart) to get the fault code. When I unplugged the scanner, the check engine light went off - which is NOT supposed to happen unless you specifically press the Reset button or whatever. So yeah, I'd put money on it being your scanner doing something it wasn't supposed to.
posted by bassomatic at 9:11 AM on September 25, 2020
posted by bassomatic at 9:11 AM on September 25, 2020
My money would be on the trip odometer button. Try pushing it a couple more times and see what happens. Next to the number, does it say “ODO” or “TRIP A”/“TRIP B”? See info here.
posted by snowmentality at 12:31 PM on September 25, 2020
posted by snowmentality at 12:31 PM on September 25, 2020
I’d be very, very surprised if you managed to accidentally change your main odometer reading using a ODBII scanner. Odometer readings are protected pretty thoroughly because they are obviously important for selling the vehicle, as well as things like whether your car requires inspection to be registered. Odometer fraud is a crime. If you accidentally reset an odometer back 30,000 you could be in for a lot of trouble next time you try to sell or register or even service your car. Because of its importance, it’s just not something that’s easy to do. If folks were going around accidentally resetting odometers and then facing all the consequences, I’d imagine the scanner manufacturing company would be sued out of existence.
It is true that an odometer can be reset using the same port the ODBII reader uses, and there is special software you can use to do just that (though newer cars might have tamper warning lights that you’d set off if you tried). One of the only legitimate reasons to do so is if an odometer fails and must be replaced - in that case, professionals can set the new odometer to the old one’s reading, or to zero, but in any case in US jurisdictions this legally must be reported to the local transportation authority.
Bottom line, it’s probably something simpler like switching up your trip odometer or, like Hatashran suggested, switching kilometers and miles. Our memory is a funny thing and you might also have simply misremembered the previous mileage. I’d go back and look at some recent records to confirm. If your main odometer did indeed somehow get rolled back, I would report it immediately to try to avoid a lot of hurt later on.
posted by exutima at 10:56 AM on September 26, 2020
It is true that an odometer can be reset using the same port the ODBII reader uses, and there is special software you can use to do just that (though newer cars might have tamper warning lights that you’d set off if you tried). One of the only legitimate reasons to do so is if an odometer fails and must be replaced - in that case, professionals can set the new odometer to the old one’s reading, or to zero, but in any case in US jurisdictions this legally must be reported to the local transportation authority.
Bottom line, it’s probably something simpler like switching up your trip odometer or, like Hatashran suggested, switching kilometers and miles. Our memory is a funny thing and you might also have simply misremembered the previous mileage. I’d go back and look at some recent records to confirm. If your main odometer did indeed somehow get rolled back, I would report it immediately to try to avoid a lot of hurt later on.
posted by exutima at 10:56 AM on September 26, 2020
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posted by selfnoise at 6:48 AM on September 25, 2020 [6 favorites]