How do I know if the mileage is real?
Modified odometer: how to recognize it with VCDS?
How do you know if your VAG vehicle’s odometer is displaying the correct mileage data?
Here are a few tips to spot possible cheating when buying a used car.
It is possible to check whether an odometer has been tampered with.
First of all, you can ask the seller (whether private or professional) to consult the car’s HistoVec report (free of charge) about the car’s MOT history.
It’s a well-known fact that cars have several data storage memories. There are several types of ECUs that process and store mileage-related data.
To ensure that the mileage data do not exceed the figures provided on the odometer, it is common practice to use a diagnostic tool to check the car’s actual mileage from the ECUs.
Therefore, if you want to make sure that the mileage data are not contradictory in different calculators, you have to check manually in each calculator where there is a mileage data in order to verify if there is cheating or not.
-> VCDS: Check Launch Control number
-> VCDS: Unlock maximum speed (V-max)
Search for mileage recorded in different control units.
Each car model has its own name for live mileage data. Here are the most common:
| Distance covered by the vehicle | Control unit distance travelled |
| Total distance covered | Total mileage |
| Mileage | Distance |
| Meter | Kilometres entered in the calculator |
You can use various functions in VCDS to determine whether the mileage is real. The main one will be the live data in the “Meas. advanced values”block of each ECU.
- 01 – Engine: Particulate filter kilometer since last / Module control distance travelled / Vehicle distance travelled
- 02 – Boite Auto: Driving strategy gearbox mileage
- 03 – ABS brake: Distance
- 17 – Instrument: Route
- 5F – Information electronics: multimedia system: operating hour counter
- 19 – Gateway
Live data is stored in all control units, some of which store live data on mileage or operating hours. There is also a history function and an ECU mileage readout function in VCDS.
There are several ways to find out if the mileage on your VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda is genuine or if the odometer has been altered to increase the car’s value.
Distance-based live data from a control module shows the ECU mileage in meters. As you can see from the photo, the car has 317,000 km on the dashboard, but the ECU mileage shows a distance of 372,000 km.
Mileage check with EDC15-16 Application (for TDI vehicles from 2000 to 2009):
Open VCDS
Go to Application :
Go to “Kilometrage EDC15-16”:
Click on “Read”:
Your actual mileage will appear in green!
If there is an error and it is impossible to read the mileage, follow the tutorial at the top of the page “Search for mileage recorded in different control units”.
