So..... I am doing a frame off resto on a 1964 Buick Electra convertible that my dad bought new. It is new in every aspect except for frame and other hard items. everything soft or wearable is new. I have no intention of EVER selling this car. It will be passed on to ..... someone. Do you set the odometer back to zero? Keep in ind i have no idea if ever rolled over and have no intention of selling the car. What's your thoughts?
I guess its up to you ... I would never have considered doing that but if uou want to then go for it...
What would be the purpose of turning it back if you are going to keep the car in the family indefinitely? Just record where the odometer is when the restoration is complete and leave it at that. As long as this information is filed in a conspicuous place, anyone who has the car will know how many miles since it was restored.
No. Stuff happens, you never know whether you may end up selling at some point, for currently unkown reasons.
Not suggesting that you would roll back the odometer to try to fool anyone but, it is a Federal felony offense to roll back the odometer on any motor vehicle. Most states also have rollback laws. Many probably don't enforce rollbacks on older cars but, some might. What if one of your heirs decides to sell the car and an owner downstream declares the mileage original? Never know.
Set it back. That is what you have if a NOS replacement was installed. Now just a glance tells how many miles since the restoration. (mine has 115,000 miles now since the restoration of a car that probably had multiples of 100K)
Pennsylvania has an odometer statement provision right on the title for the car. My car has an unknown history so I rolled it to 0 and declared it as mileage exempt, or not accurate. That works for me as the only truth I know is mileage since frame off. In my opinion, do whatever you want, but if it were me, I'd keep it original because you know the history since new.
Massachusetts also has a mileage certification on the title. It also has a statement that the actual mileage differs from the odometer reading that must be signed. I also remember that you used to have to fill out a form and send it to the Massachusetts RMV if you changed an odometer. You had to write the mileage indicated on the old odometer and on the new one. As was said earlier - changing the mileage indicated on an odometer is a federal crime. You may think that your Buick will stay in the family forever, but I have attended many old car auctions of collections belonging to families that thought the same. Leave the damn thing alone - you could very well be creating problems for yourself or someone else down the road.
Odometer tampering is a crime in Alberta, that said I can't remember the last time it was actually enforced. I just know that once the car is in the "system" at Motor Vehicles, mileage is recorded and if it's changed it has to be accompanied by the proper paperwork, otherwise the car red flags and will be denied registration.
Its a 53 year old car with a 5 digit odometer no less. The odometer police dont give a rats rear end. Roll it back to zero if you want. If the car is completely restored as you say, why not? I have a sticky on how to do it on here. I just set the odometer on my beater GS back to zero
How many miles are on it? If the odometer has already rolled over (100,000+), or just under that, I don't see any concerns with resetting it back to zero. Rolling an odo from 90,000 and back to 50,000 is another story.
