Engine milage or kilometers

[matthew232]

HI guys

I really need your help. I have a car i want and it has 349 452 kilometers or miles reading on the dash. The car is a 1990 holdern commodore and i live in new zealand. I no this is a really dumb question but im new to cars etc and want to no if this means kilometers (this is then unit we use) or miles?

What ever it is i have noticed that the number will only reach 999 999. What happens after this? i no thats a extrellely long distance but i guess its posable. From my limited knoledge of cars i am guessing that 1 engine wont last that long. So if i put in a new engine (brand new or second hand) would the (milage or kilometers) restart or just carry on from the original 349 452? Please i really need answers.

Thanks

[ec437]

Originally Posted by matthew232

HI guys

I really need your help. I have a car i want and it has 349 452 kilometers or miles reading on the dash. The car is a 1990 holdern commodore and i live in new zealand. I no this is a really dumb question but im new to cars etc and want to no if this means kilometers (this is then unit we use) or miles?

What ever it is i have noticed that the number will only reach 999 999. What happens after this? i no thats a extrellely long distance but i guess its posable. From my limited knoledge of cars i am guessing that 1 engine wont last that long. So if i put in a new engine (brand new or second hand) would the (milage or kilometers) restart or just carry on from the original 349 452? Please i really need answers.

Thanks

*sigh*

you also have a limited knowledge of the english language, apparently.

Anyways, on to your question. If you don't use miles, why would the odo be measured in miles? And if it only goes to 999,999, what do you think would happen after that? The odo would roll back over to 000,000, logically. And if you put in a new engine, how would it know how to magically reset itself? It wouldn't. It would keep going from whatever it is at.

[curtis73]

And now for an answer without the tongue in the cheek ...

Holdens were never sold in a country that uses miles, so I'd safely assume that its KM.

The best way to tell is to look at the speedometer. Most cars have both KMH and MPH on the speedo, but some (like the holden) which were never intended for USA consumption didn't get the dual scale. Take a look at this picture...



Since the big white numbers are the MPH scale you can assume that the 123,948 number on the odometer is miles.

Legally, mileage applies to the car, NOT the engine. Even if you replace the engine, the odometer describes the usage of the CAR, not the engine. Transmissions, paint, bearings, bolts, gaskets, glass... everything ages on the car, so putting a new engine doesn't qualify it for "new" status.

Its rare that an engine would last 999,999 km. In fact, I would say that the 300+ km on this particular Holden indicates that it might be nearing death itself. In answer to your question, once you reach 999,999 the odometer "rolls over" as we call it and goes back to zero. On older cars, there used to be just five digits on the odometer. After 99,999 it went back to zero. If the odometer said, 23,000, you had to guess or trust the seller if it had "rolled over" to 123,000 or not. In most cases its pretty obvious.