I posted this on a couple other web forums, but have not been getting any good info back.

I have a CARFAX mileage discrepancy on my 2002 996 that I purchased earlier this year.
HOWEVER, the mileage is almost exactly 100,000 miles different between the CarFax report and the actual odometer reading.

The original owner said the car had about 158K miles on it, when the dealer bought it (purportedly due to a blown headgasket).
The car went to auction and bounced around auction companies for about 8 months, according to the CarFax.
About 2 months before I bought the car, CarFax report shows that the mileage magically changed to 62,xxx miles (not 162,xxx -- missing the first digit).

Because this odometer reading would be believable if it were 162,xxx, I now am thinking that the light behind the "1" in 162,xxx might have burned out or be otherwise non-functioning whereby the "1" isn't working.

Is it possible for just one number on the odometer to be burned out, and not the entire set of mileage numbers?

I think 2002 used LEDs, right?

Is there a way to check if this is a lighting problem?

Is there a way to DIY fix it, with some electrical soldering skills?

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

 

Check in the "Boxster/Cayman" forum. I believe I saw a post there some time back related to what you're experiencing. The 986 and 996 share a lot of the same parts so it may be helpful.

I'm not an expert on LED's or or how the odometer read out works but try shining a flashlight on the odometer to see if the "1" shows up. If it does then it's a backlighting issue. Sorry I can't be of any further help. Hope you get it fixed. It's small things like this that get us to scratch our heads.

 

Yep, found the post. Will check with flashlight when car's back from the shop.