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RandallNeighbour · 03-15-2006, 04:21 AM

Concerning the mileage reset, Jim, you're technically right as usual. However, I have some contrary personal experience with this issue.

When I had my cluster put in and programmed at the dealer, the mechanic who was assigned to my car came out to talk to me in the empty waiting room. He quietly asked me point blank, "What mileage do you want me to put on the odometer? The old cluster has 84k on it. What do YOU want the new cluster to read?"

Yeah, I know what he was asking was oh-so-illegal and I had a good answer for him. I told him that while I had a brand new engine, the rest of the car had 84k on it and I told him to put the exact original mileage on the new odometer. How else would I be able to gauge the need to replace wearing or worn parts if I had no idea of the true mileage?

Now dialing in the mileage at a dealership can only be done on a new, unprogrammed cluster. Used clusters cannot be changed by a dealership. I also don't think one could easily find a Porsche technician at a dealership to do this because it is illegal, he'd lose his job and the dealership would be fined... the authorities frown on this sort of thing for all the right reasons. I think my mechanic just decided to be my buddy and offer to do me a "favor" which I didn't take him up on. It would have been a very bad thing to do as you'll read below.

Odometer rollbacks can be done however, and done quite easily on a newer Porsche. If you sent a used (or new) speedo cluster to Palo Alto and told them to program it with x miles on it, they would do it with a signature of release from you. This releases them from legal problems and puts it all on you.

Of course, doing this creates all sorts of problems. One would have to self-maintain the car or use an independent mechanic who didn't keep track of the mileage of the car when repairs and maintenance were done. The paper trail would be incriminating. And of course, dealer visits are completely out of the question! You'd have to put the same number of miles on the odometer that you took off before you could take it to a reputable shop. Ugh.

This might be why most owners--the ones with enough brains to play out future ownership hassles--don't do rollbacks.

03-15-2006, 04:21 AM	#7
RandallNeighbour Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 7,243	Concerning the mileage reset, Jim, you're technically right as usual. However, I have some contrary personal experience with this issue. When I had my cluster put in and programmed at the dealer, the mechanic who was assigned to my car came out to talk to me in the empty waiting room. He quietly asked me point blank, "What mileage do you want me to put on the odometer? The old cluster has 84k on it. What do YOU want the new cluster to read?" Yeah, I know what he was asking was oh-so-illegal and I had a good answer for him. I told him that while I had a brand new engine, the rest of the car had 84k on it and I told him to put the exact original mileage on the new odometer. How else would I be able to gauge the need to replace wearing or worn parts if I had no idea of the true mileage? Now dialing in the mileage at a dealership can only be done on a new, unprogrammed cluster. Used clusters cannot be changed by a dealership. I also don't think one could easily find a Porsche technician at a dealership to do this because it is illegal, he'd lose his job and the dealership would be fined... the authorities frown on this sort of thing for all the right reasons. I think my mechanic just decided to be my buddy and offer to do me a "favor" which I didn't take him up on. It would have been a very bad thing to do as you'll read below. Odometer rollbacks can be done however, and done quite easily on a newer Porsche. If you sent a used (or new) speedo cluster to Palo Alto and told them to program it with x miles on it, they would do it with a signature of release from you. This releases them from legal problems and puts it all on you. Of course, doing this creates all sorts of problems. One would have to self-maintain the car or use an independent mechanic who didn't keep track of the mileage of the car when repairs and maintenance were done. The paper trail would be incriminating. And of course, dealer visits are completely out of the question! You'd have to put the same number of miles on the odometer that you took off before you could take it to a reputable shop. Ugh. This might be why most owners--the ones with enough brains to play out future ownership hassles--don't do rollbacks.