Hatrack River Forum: Odometry

This is topic Odometry in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :

So if you replace the engine and all the guts of a car, do you have to keep its odometer intact and current?

What if you swap the engines of two cars? Do the odometers follow the engines or stay with the bodies?

Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :

The odometer should stay with the body. If you swap it out and the numbers are reasonably close together, it's likely nobody will ever know, but technically the law expects you to disclose this. If you do swap out the odometer as part of an overhaul, what you're supposed to do is sign an affidavit when you renew your tag stating that the odometer figure is inaccurate (and therefore meaningless).

Posted by Sarcasm (Member # 4653) on :

You know, it's usually cheaper to buy a new car than to replace the engine and everything else.

Just a suggestion.

Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :

Not true. You can buy an engine for under a thousand dollars. If everything else about the car is in pretty good shape, it might well be a good idea to replace a blown engine.

I have done it once.

I have also replaced the dashboard of a (different, used) car, which is where I encountered the odometer issue.

Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :

Why does the odometer stay with the body, when that seems to be the only part of the car that really lasts? You would think that an odometer would serve better as an accurate indicator of a car's wear and age if it had some relationship to the moving parts ...

Then again, individual moving parts are swapped out so often that perhaps it would be meaningless.

Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :

[Dont Know]

Yep?

Posted by Sarcasm (Member # 4653) on :

quote:
Not true. You can buy an engine for under a thousand dollars. If everything else about the car is in pretty good shape, it might well be a good idea to replace a blown engine.

Depends on how expensive your car is. And how expensive the "guts" of the car are, whatever that comprises.

Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :

I highly doubt you'll find any normal engine for much more than $5,000. And if your car is expensive enough to have such an expensive engine, it will still be cheaper to buy the engine than to buy a new car. Assuming, once again, that the only thing wrong is the engine.

Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :

quote:
Why does the odometer stay with the body, when that seems to be the only part of the car that really lasts?

Lol, obviously you don't live in the Northeast!

My poor old Volvo would still be tearing up the streets if that darn rust hadn't brought it to its knees.... [Frown]

I'll miss you, Volvo!

Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :

I'm glad my wife has a--

::thinks better of it::

Never mind.

[Blushing]