How hard is it to tamper with the digital odometer on a '99 4Runner? I picked one up this weekend with 67K miles but, the engine looks like it definitely has more than 67K miles on it. Is that a fair assessment? Just by the look of the engine?

You can swap in a new gauge cluster and it will show whatever mileage was on the vehicle it is out of.

You can run a carfax on it, or try toyota owners site. Register and enter the VIN. It will give you a history of any service done at a Toyota dealer, with mileage. The records usually go back to 2005 or so. It's free.

The easiest way to tamper with a digital odometer probably is to replace the speedo/gauge cluster. A dealer in Springfield MO was caught doing that a while back. He listed a couple of 4Runners and a Land Cruiser with low miles at great prices (while I was looking for one). I ran a carfax on them and the mileage was way high. I figured he either tampered or was doing a bait and switch - 'we mistyped the mileage but look how nice it is'. Turns out he was tampering and was busted by the state attorney general.

it should tell you how many miles the vehicle had/has on it each year it was registered.

not really. our 285,000 mile camry engine looked mint.

you really cant tell by what the engine looks like. they could have driven through puddles, and crud, and never washed the engine bay. it would look terrible...

It's still 13 years. Not gonna look new if it has 5000 miles if not cared for.

Yea. If the person never cleaned the engine bay; and it got dirty; then I can see a 13 year old car with low miles looking bad.

Carfax it. Carfax will show you all the registration events, the times when milage is noted. If you see a clear, logical progression:

Say: 2002 26000
2003 36000
2005 47000

That kinda thing. It helps figure out if milage is legit.

From 2003 to 2011, there was little no no mileage put on the car. It was sold at auction in 2003 and was listed as a dealer car until the 2nd owner purchased it in 2011 and registered it with almost the same mileage that was reported in 2003. Wierd.

....

0 records found.