Odometer Correction 2005 XC-70

dreiher2 · Post by **dreiher2** » 30 Jun 2023, 06:19

To make a long story short, I buy and sell used cars. I obtained a 2005 XC-70 from a friend who was in a nursing home for 3 years. . . he just passed away after giving me the car. He took the car to a Volvo dealer in New York city in Nov. of 2021 for an SRS recall. He never got out of the nursing home. I went up there in Feb. 2023 to get the car. I found out that the dealer had actually "lost" the car during that time. We found the car and a key for it. It behaved strangely when we tried to jump it, but we got it out of the storage lot so I could tow it home.

My receipt from the dealer says the car was checked in at 121,000 miles in November 2021, and was checked out at 121,000 miles in Feburary 2023. The odometer now says 157,000 miles. I would like to reset it back to 121,000.

I understand there are 2 places the mileage is stored. I think it is stored in the CEM and the Cluster???

I found 2 identical cars in the junkyard yesterday. I got the CEM and the Rearview mirror and a Instrument cluster from one of them. I am not sure they will help

How can I get the mileage back to where it should be?

- Don Reiher
Auto Specialties

Post by **vtl** » 30 Jun 2023, 07:35

Odometer manipulation is illegal in the United States, don't you know?

Post by **jonesg** » 30 Jun 2023, 09:56

its 157K.

yanga001 · Post by **yanga001** » 30 Jun 2023, 15:11

157K is the correct mileage, someone drove the car or it was recorded wrong on entry. From what i understand of the P2 systems, it is very specific about A) security systems B) odometer mileage.

Dealers do not normally hang onto cars for that long, something is a bit amiss there.

This seems like a call to Volvo corporate with the correct documentation and a talk with the dealership as opposed to a DIY fix.

As a seller of used cars, if registered you can get in trouble for any odometer manipulation regardless of if "legal" or "logical" or not.

dreiher2 · Post by **dreiher2** » 30 Jun 2023, 23:48

Relax. The car has been Titled "mileage exempt" since an accident in 2019. The title looks clean. I am trying to get a copy of it.

On Volvo forums I have seen some people say the mileage can change itself under certain circumstances. Especially when the battery has been at 0 volts for long periods of time, or jumped at zero volts, or a used CEM is put in. I think they said there are 2 places where the mileage is stored, and the car winds up with the highest module appearing on the odometer somehow. I also saw that when you buy a new cluster from Volvo you have a few miles to put the correct mileage in via VIDA.

I am just trying to find the facts.

I did a VIN check. It showed nothing. 3rd owner in 2013, with 85,000. Nothing about a 4th owner. Not sure why.

The Florida tags expired mid 2022. I doubt someone got the car out of a storage lot In New York city, and drove it 36,000 miles and then returned it to the storage lot. Maybe it has 157,000 on it but it looks like it sat for most of its life, and after looking carefully at everything it looks like 121,000 to me.

I am going to keep this car for myself. The owner was a very good friend, and he wanted me to have it and drive it.

dikidera · Post by **dikidera** » 30 Jun 2023, 23:58

If I am not mistaken, the mileage is stored in two different locations. One in the ECM I believe, and another in a different module. This allows for some checks for manipulation.

Post by **jonesg** » 01 Jul 2023, 03:13

dreiher2 wrote: ↑30 Jun 2023, 23:48 Relax. The car has been Titled "mileage exempt" since an accident in 2019. The title looks clean. I am trying to get a copy of it.

On Volvo forums I have seen some people say the mileage can change itself under certain circumstances. Especially when the battery has been at 0 volts for long periods of time, or jumped at zero volts, or a used CEM is put in. I think they said there are 2 places where the mileage is stored, and the car winds up with the highest module appearing on the odometer somehow. I also saw that when you buy a new cluster from Volvo you have a few miles to put the correct mileage in via VIDA.

I am just trying to find the facts.

I did a VIN check. It showed nothing. 3rd owner in 2013, with 85,000. Nothing about a 4th owner. Not sure why.

The Florida tags expired mid 2022. I doubt someone got the car out of a storage lot In New York city, and drove it 36,000 miles and then returned it to the storage lot. Maybe it has 157,000 on it but it looks like it sat for most of its life, and after looking carefully at everything it looks like 121,000 to me.

I am going to keep this car for myself. The owner was a very good friend, and he wanted me to have it and drive it.

if you're keeping it for private use , why do you care what the mileage is.

Post by **abscate** » 01 Jul 2023, 03:28

You can flash content from an old CEM to a new one but I don’t think Volvo supports code to reset mileage, for obvious reasons.

dreiher2 · Post by **dreiher2** » 01 Jul 2023, 12:29

I appreciate this forum. I would have little hope getting this Volvo in tip top shape without it. I am new to Volvos.

The service writer at the Volvo dealer says they checked it in using VIDA and 121,000 is the mileage that it reported that in Nov. 2021. They also performed the Recall service on the SRS and put in a new battery. They claim that it must have changed when I jump started it after sitting 14 months. From what I now know, the actual mileage may actually be lower than 121K . . . but obviously not higher. It would be nice t

I think the dealer was very gracious to charge a little over $100 a month for all that time. They did it because of the owner being in a nursing home and not being able to come get it.

Also. . . in New York, there is very little parking space. The dealer has small lots scattered around, and its easy to "Lose" a car. The cars are all packed in bumper to bumper and it took an hour to get to my XC70.

- Don

yanga001 · Post by **yanga001** » 01 Jul 2023, 12:39

dreiher2 wrote: ↑30 Jun 2023, 23:48 Relax. The car has been Titled "mileage exempt" since an accident in 2019. The title looks clean. I am trying to get a copy of it.

On Volvo forums I have seen some people say the mileage can change itself under certain circumstances. Especially when the battery has been at 0 volts for long periods of time, or jumped at zero volts, or a used CEM is put in. I think they said there are 2 places where the mileage is stored, and the car winds up with the highest module appearing on the odometer somehow. I also saw that when you buy a new cluster from Volvo you have a few miles to put the correct mileage in via VIDA.

I am just trying to find the facts.

I did a VIN check. It showed nothing. 3rd owner in 2013, with 85,000. Nothing about a 4th owner. Not sure why.

The Florida tags expired mid 2022. I doubt someone got the car out of a storage lot In New York city, and drove it 36,000 miles and then returned it to the storage lot. Maybe it has 157,000 on it but it looks like it sat for most of its life, and after looking carefully at everything it looks like 121,000 to me.

I am going to keep this car for myself. The owner was a very good friend, and he wanted me to have it and drive it.

Dealerships normally need to disclose odometer readings in standard services (at least up here). If it was for a recall i would expect it to be disclosed in the vin check. Are you sure the dealership completed the recall work or is above board so to speak?

I would echo the others in saying that 121k miles vs 157k miles isnt something that seems exceptional if you plan on driving it. If it was not driven for those miles then something else is amiss as odometers do not just change.

Scan the vin of the CEM and compare to the ones in the engine bay, door sills, and the one above the dash.

Another word of wisdom is that these forums are a collection of different skill sets and information sources. Some things may be correct, and some may be incorrect.

Before going any further into this you will need to A have a good scan tool, B have VIDA.