I'm looking for a used Civic, but how do I know the real mileage? I thought I found a great 95 civic with 57,000 miles but when I looked up the carfax the first owner sold it with 100,000 miles on it and the other two owners showed no info on the miles.

If owners can roll back the odometer how can I know the real mileage? I can look up carfax but that has limited information.

Any advice? Thanks!

 

There's really no way to know for sure.

If possible, check the VIN numbers on the chassis, the transmission, and the engine itself. See if they match. The transmission VIN is on the front of the transmission right beside the header. The engine VIN plate is on the back of the engine, sort of under the oil filter area at the bottom of the block. Both of these are likely covered in road grime or oil. If the VINs match, it is of course the original engine.

Look at the date of sale on the carfax. Look at the total mileage and divide that by the age in years of the car when it was sold. 100XXX miles / ~XX years = approximate miles per year. If the carfax shows that it was registered in your state and has stayed there, you can probably safely multiply that number times however many years there were between the sale from the first owner and now. That'll give you a rough estimate on true mileage.