alright this scares me a little, should it? i went to go look at this car today, drives good, starts right up, no smoke on startup even in this freezing cold. its a 1990 firebird, v6 automatic with "72k miles" or so the odometer says. the odometer part of the report says this: Date Reported: Odometer Reading: 01/04/1990 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/10/1995 39,137 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/13/1995 40,239 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11/09/1995 40,965 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09/04/1997 62,600 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 07/19/2002 72,046 but then it says this: DATE REPORTED ODOMETER READING INFORMATION SOURCE GENERAL COMMENTS 01/04/1990 23 New Jersey Motor Vehicle Dept. Bridgewater, NJ Title #1G2FS23T3LL210976 Title issued First owner reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/10/1995 39,137 New Jersey Motor Vehicle Dept. Manville, NJ Title #1G2FS23T3LL210976 Title issued -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/13/1995 40,239 New Jersey Motor Vehicle Dept. Dunellen, NJ Title #1G2FS23T3LL210976 EXCEEDS MECHANICAL LIMITS TITLE ISSUED -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11/09/1995 40,965 New Jersey Motor Vehicle Dept. Piscataway, NJ Title #1G2FS23T3LL210976 EXCEEDS MECHANICAL LIMITS TITLE ISSUED -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09/04/1997 62,600 New Jersey Motor Vehicle Dept. Piscataway, NJ Title #1G2FS23T3LL210976 EXCEEDS MECHANICAL LIMITS TITLE ISSUED -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 03/29/2000 New Jersey Police Report Perth Amboy, NJ Case #99-29787 Accident Reported Involving left rear impact -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 07/19/2002 72,046 New Jersey Motor Vehicle Dept. Neptune, NJ Title #ER20022000467 Ownership transfer reported EXCEEDS MECHANICAL LIMITS TITLE ISSUED -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12/20/2002 CARFAX RESEARCH DEPT Research requested by a Carfax Report purchaser. Carfax may update Report based on research results. what i dont get is how the odometer was reading 72k (and still does i checked it today) but has Exceeds Mechanical Limits? when did the odometer get over 99k? Exceeds Mechanical Limits - Most odometers can no longer accurately track mileage after 99,999 miles. This title is the result of a seller certifying, under the Truth in Mileage Act, that the odometer reading EXCEEDS MECHANICAL LIMITS of the odometer. the car drives fine as far as i can tell. has a few little problems; the driver side door was hit in an accident (carfax says left rear accident, would this be the door??), the last couple feet of the exhaust fell off, still has it in the trunk, and the hood does not open. he's bringing it to a shop tomorrow to see if they can get it open, we tried all we could but it doesnt pop open. he's selling it for 1700, do u think the price is too high for this? im worreid about the EML in the carfax.

any ideas?

Well it all depends on what you are going to do with the car. As a daily driver I would say that it would be a bad move. The car's history is to shady and it may not be reliable. Also $1700 is a rediculous price to pay for a base model V6 third gen. If you could get the car for under $1000 and you are willing to fix it up and maybe do an engine swap on it and fix all the little stuff then it might not be a bad move.

My advice is this. Save your money. The right thirdgen will come along at some point. The little stuff can nickel and dime you to death.

i dont like this one

03/29/2000 New Jersey
Police Report
Perth Amboy, NJ
Case #99-29787
Accident Reported
Involving left rear impact

well he told me right out that it was in an accident with the drivers side door. he had a new door put on from a junkyard thats a pretty good fit. u think thats the accident carfax mentioned, left rear? im not sure how acccurate those carfax reports are and left rear COULD be the door i guess. i'll take a closer look today.

BTW, any1 got a free Carfax??

I'd stay away from that car dude.

"what i dont get is how the odometer was reading 72k (and still does i checked it today) but has Exceeds Mechanical Limits? when did the odometer get over 99k?

Exceeds Mechanical Limits - Most odometers can no longer accurately track mileage after 99,999 miles. This title is the result of a seller certifying, under the Truth in Mileage Act, that the odometer reading EXCEEDS MECHANICAL LIMITS of the odometer"

As I read it, someone who sold the car said the odometer has rolled over..at least once.

If you look at the milage on 9/04/97 at 62K, then 5 years later at 72K....my guess would be that's when the odometer rolled over.

Another idea is that the odometer is broke...and stuck on 72K...could be why it's labled as exceeded limits.

it's too old. or has enough miles and owners so thats why it says that. in WI they just put "THIS VEHICLE IS EXEMPT FROM ODOMETER DISCLOSURE" on the title Iam sure the carfax report is seeing something like this besides don't are cars read more than 99,999 yes they do.

I would have to agree with some thing along those lines.
my Camaro has 185,XXX miles on it and the title does not say any thing about exceeding mechanical limits and the carfax report doesnt mention any thing about exceeding mechanical limits eather.

another possability is when it was sold at one point the person who sold it listed the title that way(my title has a check box for me to mark saying odomiter exceeds mechanical limits) at the purchasers request so the person purchasing it wouldnt have to pay as much in taxes

I would also guess some thing fishy happened between 97 and 02. only 10,00 miles in 5yrs but that would have nothing to do with the carfax report saying it exceeds mechanical limits because it was listed that way b4 97(95 to be exact )

I must be bored...responding to carfax Q's

My 89IROC only reads to 99999.9, then rolled over and now sits at 14K miles.

Looking at the odometer and age of the car, you can't say for sure if it's 114Kmiles or 214K miles, etc..

I'd have to think the mention of "can't accurately account for miles after 99,999" (or similar) refers to those odometers that roll over.

I dunno, just my guess...do your cars actually read 100K+ miles, or roll over like mine?

Mine is a 91 RS and it actualy reads 186,191.1

What year did thirdgens get an extra digit in the odometer? anyone know?

I think it was 90.

My '89 Formula has the extra digit on the odo.

It is metric, tho, and reads in kilometers. This may be why is reads into the hundreds of thousands.

yours being in kilometers is probably because of where you live. mine is in miles and goes into hundreds of thousands.
mater of fact you all(canadians) probably have the same odo as us in the u.s. but it is geared diffrently. at least thats my guess

I wonder thoe if its possable for the extra digit to have ben an option on the late 80's cars.