Tracking Driving Habits with OBDII port (for insurance savings)

[Absolutely Red 12]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

When I changed my registration to Texas, that being 'kept track of' by the state took some getting used to. We have mandatory yearly vehicle inspections here and one of the bits of information transmitted to the state is your odometer reading.

Wouldnt you want to make sure the odometer wasnt tampered with when you buy a used car?

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Absolutely Red 12

Wouldnt you want to make sure the odometer wasnt tampered with when you buy a used car?

I haven't lived in Texas long enough to know the whole history here re having inspections (what might be an official reason, what might be the real 'nudge nudge wink wink' reason, etc). The IMPRESSION I get from my own experience with the inspections here and listening to people who have lived here 2, 3, 4 times as long as I have is that the inspections are an excuse to generate revenue for the state/help a little cottage industry of people setting up their 'inspection shingles' (so to speak) and not to measurably make the roadways safer. My first thought about why they want to know the mileage is that they would sell the information to insurance companies so that insurance companies can check to see if the mileage affidavits that their customers are swearing to are likely correct, but your question could certainly be another plausible reason.

I've only had 2 cars that either I or another family member didn't buy new. One was my first car that I bought with my own money. My dad was working for a Ford dealer at the time and the General Manager gave it to me for the amount the trade amount (so the dealer didn't make any money nor lose any money), which was WAY under wholesale book. My dad approached the GM after the car had already been evaluated and taken in from the customer. The other car I had that was used was a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 AWD Manual Transmission (very hard to find when I bought one). I'd always wanted one. It had a salvage title and had been rebuilt by a mechanic who buys such (salvage title and the like) and rebuilds them. I knew I had little way of knowing how many miles were on it, but it was so inexpensive I felt it was worth it even if it lasted 20k miles (it was a second car). I drove it through California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana (over the Going To The Sun Highway), Idaho again, Washington, Idaho again, Wahington again, Oregon, and then California again. On a later trip, I was driving on CA 58 near the intersection with 395 (on my way to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve) and with about (ironically) 20k miles since purchase it threw a rod and I let the towing yard have it. Those 20k miles were definitely worth what I spent.

I don't know if I'll ever buy a used car again (....only, I think, if I found an 'Idahotomlike' RAV 4), but yes I'd like to be able to rely on the mileage stated re a used car. I'd only believe it if I knew how any state tracking would specifically ebsure that and believed in the integrity of that procedure. The only thing is, applying your question to Texas, I would think that would only be truly knowable for cars that had never been registered outside of Texas, or (if they had) had only been registered in other states that have the same requirements Texas does.

Has California instituted any policies recently that help consumers re odometer tampering?