Hello fellow forum members, I got a new question for you: is it possible to know for certain whether the engine that is in there is in fact the original factory-built and installed engine? I have a 1975 Maverick 6 cyl 250 cu in 4.1 l car. I registered it in my home state of Matryland. I bought it less than a month ago mostly because the exterior and interior were, seemingly, untouched and original. The given mileage was 25,550 miles and the owner's Virginia title said: Actual mileage. It did not say exceeded mechanical limits, it did not say not actual mileage. This means that the state of Virginia believed (or was tricked into believing) that this car's odometer never turned over even once. The engine, however, and my personal mechanic after looking at it stated it, was in not very good condition. It showed what appear to be quite a track record of usage, something not at all consistent with just 25,000 odd miles on it. And the interior, according to him, had been painted (or dyed) not too long ago, as he detected the odor of dye, and some areas like around the door jamb were greatly scuffed and with loss of original color. I did not notice anything when I travelled and finally decided to buy it. Guess I was much too enthused. Don't get me wrong, the car looks great, and if not for the fact that it reeks of gasoline when running and still shakes a bit (I assume it is problems with the carburetor, which I'm about to replace), it drives great. I had it tuned already. But it makes me wonder if either: the car has a much higher mileage that what the odometer shows, and it was tampered with by SOMEONE, and they defrauded not just me but the state of Virginia, or the engine was replaced with another one. Ironically, this engine shows all that wear and tear, and that wouldn't make any sense: why replace a rather new engine of around 20,000 miles with another one if it looks much older? So you see why I started to get very suspicious. The guy I bought it from *seems* like a good guy. He put in $1,900 worth of repairs and improvements on it. I have the receipt. On the other hand, he had bought it in May of this year. Why sell it so fast? It looks like the car had only one other owner, and I have his name and address on a couple of receipts. What should I make of this? Would the first owner commit a serious crime by tampering with the odometer, fooling the second owner and me as well? Would I need to contact the state oe Virginia? Maryland told me they can't do anything. Any thoughts? Thanks a lot. Sergio
If your car was driven in the city, it will " age " much faster! Constant starting and stopping, turning hard, etc. Also the interior will show more wear ( at least the driver side ) as the driver is getting in and out tons more often. You said you had some receipts from the original owner? I'd try to get in touch with him and ask about the car.
Time takes it's toll more so than miles, especially if the vehicle isn't mostly garaged... On the side of the engine block there will be a smooth pad(dunno which, I'm mostly a V8 guy) that will have at least the first two & last six digits of the VIN, if engine is orig they will match... While this won't tell you the mileage you'll at least know if if engine is orig, not too likely a 25K mi vehicle would have had the engine replaced... As far a crime I don't think the states get involved in such, odo tampering is a federal crime but with the age of the vehicle, I doubt their'd be much interest in perusing anyone... Without hard evidence it's mostly a civil matter... My Comet is showing 65K mi and is supposedly orig, still some things about it gives the impression it was higher and other things would be about right... Really doesn't make a difference to me, as I am rebuilding or replacing about everything on it so mileage will be closer to zero than 65K mi when I'm finished... Here a link to a thread I made about checking original parts on a engine, while location will be different the info mostly applies to any Ford vehicle... The first pict shows the partial VIN I mentioned... http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=94875
Consdiering its alomost 40 years old, anything could have happened...maybe everything but the engine is actual milage?
I would never trust what the title says. Even if it says actual miles that can be pretty speculative. When I titled my '71 they didn't bother to update it from the last time it was titled, which was 75k mileage, but it was showing 33k on the odometer and that was also what I wrote on the paperwork. When I titled my '74 which came in from WA state, they left the mileage blank because they didn't care anymore. As I understand from reading about it, once a car is outside the age range to require DEQ, the mileage on the car is no longer a concern to anyone but collectors.
He's right. I was mislead on an estate sale buy that only had 36k miles. It sat for so long that the motor needed rebuild. But the condition of the car overall told the story and this provided evidence of original mileage.
I agree, it's mostly for newer cars...like a 2 year old car that had 30K and was rolled back to 10-12K.
