to rollback to odometer on an x-type? I'm looking at an 04 with 36k on teh clock and it looks like there was a discrepency at one point in its life. Looks to be a clerical error to me, any thoughts? I don't see how it would be possible these days.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

There is a link where you can view the carfax.

 

Yeah, looks like that 41k miles might have been a mistake, unless they drove 22k miles in one year...maybe they meant 21,981? My 03 had 30k miles when I about it a few months ago...some people just don't drive much.

 

363, with the new computer controlled systems, in theory it is possible to roll the ODO back. Granted, this needs to be done with a machine like what the dealerships have. Then you also need to know where the ODO value, the check value, etc are all located and change them all at one time. This process needs to be available so that when you require maintenance to be done on the car (say a new ECU), the computer can be updated and not trigger a warning.

Looking at the data, more than likely it is a clerical error. But then, what they are asking for the car is way more than they will ever get. I have to give the car some credit for having that low of mileage, but when you can pick up an 04 for around $7000 with 80K miles on the ODO, makes it really hard to buy this car.

2 things also come up as a red flag in my book. Since about Oct 2010, the car has essentially remained undriven. While this isn't necessarily bad, it can be hard on vehicles not to be started. The other thing that if you do buy the car, take a look at the headlights. I saw where the dealership in CO had just replaced the headlight bulbs. If you are not familiar with the X-Types, you can very easily damage the headlight housing (breaking the interior support posts), which can lead to a very expensive fix (up to $1200 per headlight housing).

Just food for thought. If you look at an online car shop down in Texas, they have an 04 XJ8 with 88K miles on the ODO for sale for $12K. Add in another $1000 for a flight down there and the money to get it back, you can have a much nicer car for the same price. You will still get atleast another 100K miles out of the XJ8.

 

What should I look at in the headlights specifically? Are the support posts inside the housing? I really worry about buying one with 80k+ just to save some coin, is it really advisable to buy one with higher mileage at a lower cost? The price doesn't bother me so much if I know I can get several years of semi-reliable service out of it, am I thinking of it the wrong way?

Thank you so much everyone for all the help I've gotten here!

 

It PROBABLY is a clerical error, but at the same time it is on record. Just ask the dealer about it. I'm sure if they would put the Car Fax out there with that red flag they would have a good explanation about it. If you are not comfortable with their explanation, don't buy it. There are plenty of others out there. Plus, even if you feel comfortable enough to buy it that might be enough to make it harder down the road when you want to trade it in or sell it yourself. You know if you try and trade it in a dealer will have no problem using that as leverage against you to offer you a lower trade in.

All the above said, that price seems way high for a 2004 that isn't fully loaded. Plus, just because it has low miles for the age doesn't necessarily mean that it was well cared for. There are no maintenance records listed on the CarFax other than the current dealer selling it. Doesn't mean that it wasn't cared for, just no way to be sure unless the dealer has service records from the previous owner. Need to look into it a lot more before you have enough info to make a decision you are comfortable with. Good luck in your search and if you don't get this one hope you get another. I think they are great cars for the money if you do your homework. I have had mine for 2 1/2 years and have put on more miles on it than the car you are looking at and it's been great, especially in the winter.

 

363, what you will need to do is to open the hood. Now, look on either side of the radiator and you will see 2 bulges on each side of the radiator. These are removable covers for the headlights (there is a tab at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions to allow you to remove the cover). Remove a cover and this will expose the back of the headlight bulb. Stick your hand down so that a finger is touching the back of the bulb and then wiggle your finger easily. As you are wiggling your finger, look inside the headlight housing at the bulb (the inner headlight will be a standard halogen bulb with a metal cap hiding the bulb and the outer headlight, look at the 2 inch in diameter lens that is there). If you can see either one of these move, you have a broken headlight housing. If I remember right, the support posts are essentially right above and directly below each headlight housing. But, where they are located, you can't easily see them unless you remove the headlight housing from the vehicle. This is why I recommend the finger test. I'm sure if you look around in some of the X-Type galleries, you will see pictures of the inside of a headlight housing. The support ring for the bulbs is a brown plastic and the support posts are a white plastic (as I recall). I don't have any that show the support posts in my gallery.

 

changing the ODO is much easier now... most cars log and store the info in the actual dash cluster. all you have to do is put a cluster in from a car that was written off with less mileage on it.
check ebay and you will find a insane amount of dash clusters.
on the CTS forum every1 with a 03 upgrades to a 04+ to get a engine temp gauge, and everyone with a 04 and 05 upgrade to a 06 or 07 to get the chrome rings.
it even stores your MPG in the cluster and all your trip info eventhough it is displayed on your deck screen.
there are companies that will update the mileage on your new cluster and give you a proof of mileage update.. i think its called spectralink or something like that.

basically, if someone wanted to knock 100k off their car it only costs whatever a cluster costs... the new system is extremely flawed.