No, they can change the miles on the odometer.

How do you think a new Electronic Odo reads the cars current miles when installed?

You have to turn PATS off to install a cluster without the dealerships help and it will read the miles stored on the odometer.

The dealership can change what the odometer reads, if you search for cluster swap threads like people swapping in an 03/04 Cobra cluster you can find more answers about this same thing.

 

i would go in there and see whats going on and show them the pictures

 

The mileage on any car can be modified with the right knowledge. My mileage has been stuck at 150,935 for about 4 months. My 98 has the old school worm gear that apparently has a broken tooth. I'm pretty sure that when I take it apart to replace the gear I can roll it back if I wanted to. I'm not worried about it though because I'll drive this thing til the wheels fall off. Then I will replace said wheels and give the car to my son.

When did they start the digital odometer? 99?

 

yeah 99

 

[QUOTE=ryanm;7349081] My 98 has the old school worm gear that apparently has a broken tooth. I'm pretty sure that when I take it apart to replace the gear I can roll it back if I wanted to. I'm not worried about it QUOTE]

I dont think you can I tried to when I replaced my odometer gear on my 96 and you can only go up in miles not down. You might be able to go up but it wound suck if it got stuck at 999,999 and didnt go back to all zero's lol. I was gonna do it when I install a new motor and trans just for my own sake.

 

Actually on these vehicles (well atleast on mine) if you back up the miles continue to increase.

I think I might have run across something today while I was working on it. Try disconnecting your car battery for a bit and see if the mileage readings differ before and after disconnecting it.

 

so the original poster apparently didnt trust this shop, so why did he still go there?

 

Actually I did trust the shop on the work they did, but I do not trust all the other people involved in the handling of my car. It is hard to turn the keys over to someone you do not know and trust that everyone who has access to them will do the right thing. Trust is developed over time.

Anyway the mystery of the odometer changing has been solved. If you disconnect your battery for a little while the reading will change by 0.3 miles. My buddy and I have both tried and verified this.