Just curious guys..., say that when a car's involved in an accident and the gauge cluster is completely devastated, an new unit of the gauge(oil, temp, speedometer, milage meter) has to be ordered, right? How can the new gauge still be in sync with all the engine information(existing milage, for example)? Just by a few wires? If this were the case, is it possible to swap the gauge cluster, say, an gs' to an is'? or a 2002 matrix's to a 1997 corolla? Of coz there's no point in doing so, but just for scientific curiousity and automotive knowledge...

Many ricers(sorry no 'fense) have completely redone, tricked out gauge cluster, I wonder if they had to foregone crucial travel informations just for the look of the show car.

 

Milage is stored in the cluster itself... A new one can be ordered, and the correct milage burned into it.

 

who's responsible for making sure that the correct milage is burnt to the new unit? if there's none, isn't it pretty easy for people to fake milage on an used car and make un-ethical profit out of it?

 

By law, you are required to have a sticker on your door jam if your speedometer, new or old, does not report the proper mileage on your vehicle.

If you wish, you may conduct your research in the website: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/

Select the "California Law" tab and check the Vehicle Codes sections. There should be a section that addresses your concerns.

Jon

 

Why do you guys think that gauge clusters are so expensive? Its so that people won't bother swapping out the clusters for newer ones on their leased vehicles.

 

hey jonnathan thanks for the wealth of info here. looks like that's gonna be where i'll spend the forcoming months at..

attorney @ law??

 

You're very welcome.

Yes. That's what I do for a living now.

Jon

 

It is true that laws require a sticker showing the mileage that a speedometer / odometer assembly was replaced. That mileage is added to the car's previous total to get the current mileage. And, unfortunately, with many modern cars with the electronic and odometer readouts you cannot just simply order a new cable and replace it like in the old days and preserve the mileage reading. You have to put in a whole new double assembly....a pain in the a- - . Mechanical speedometer and odometer cables have pretty much gone out with history. Modern cars use speed and wheel rotation sensors instead.
The good news.....these electronic systems are much more smooth and reliable than the old cables, without the clicking and ticking noises and needle vibration you often got with defective or worn cables. The BAD news...as I said, they cannot be replaced and preserve the correct vehicle mleage. And more bad news......cars that DO have the mileage sticker on them tend to be worth less at trade-in because it gives the outward appearance of odometer tampering even even when that in fact is not the case. This is one of the unfortunate things in car ownership where an honest person can get screwed through no fault of their own....but that is currently just the way it is. I don't like it either, but salespeople just operate like that....they cut down a car's trade-in if it has a replacement odometer.

 

i want to cry for you....


just kidding!
that's pretty pimp.. is it true that lawyers need to sell(getting new clients) as well?
many lawyer friends i know work 7 days a week(they do not work for the government). why is that



i was ALWAYS under the impression that once you pass the bar, you'll be making big dollars like those handsome, hi-profile lawyers on tv.... until a good friend of mine who has his own practice told me otherwise.. thankfully he seems to be liking what he does. last year he took a 2-week vacation.

 

In the past, CA lawyers were prohibited from "getting" clients through advertisements. Nowadays, CA rules permit advertising provided that the advertised materials are truthful and clearly labeled as advertisement.

If you check the CA ethics codes for lawyers, there are rules regulating how an attorney can attain or transfer his clients to another practitioner. I don't think you can simply "get" and "sell" your clients as you do with regular commodities.

Whether if you need to attain more clients through advertisements, etc. depends on your popularity, reputation, business experience as an attorney. The answer to your question really varies.

As for your question in regards to working hours. It also varies depending on your workload, number of clients, office expenses, and the complexity of the cases you're working on. Perhaps that why most of solo practitioners in their first few years are often tired and overworked.

Unfortunately, as much as many lawyers would like to create an impression that they're Gods/money makers, the average salary figures for most of attorneys are no more than other professions that require comparable education requirements.

Most of the people I know never went to law school for the money. For those who did, they either had a very hard time getting used to hours and hours of doing tedious reading/writing assignments or realizing that this profession, while noble, does not automatically open a gold mine for anyone.

I'd like to think that lawyers are at best, no different from a service provider that makes other people's life easier by advocating their legal rights against the society's injustice.

Obviously, if you're one of the few lucky ones who have been selected to work for big name firms such as Orricks, Lathams, or Sullivan, etc. You will make big money even as an associate as long as you don't mind working 10+ hours a day and 6.5 days a week.

Apparently, this is true with doctors and accountants as well. One of my friends from church is a surgeon and I am sure she would tell you the same if these questions were directed to her.

My personal opinion is, there are always the "Larry Parker" in every profession there is. No matter what you do, as long as you work hard, remain optimistic and maintain your love and faith in your profession, with a little luck anyone can find his "O.J." in life.

You may go cry for me now.

Jon

 

Since you work in the legal field, how do you feel about getting the laws changed that require a new speedo or odometer to show zero miles? Why not just set the new odometer to whatever the old one's mileage was, and then you would kill two birds with one stone. First, you wouldn't need the sticker with the mileage, and second, it wouldn't hurt the car's trade-in value like the stickered ones. (see my post above) I've seen salespeople do this a number of times....lower somebody's trade-in value just because of a sticker. That, IMO, hurts a car owner and lets him / her get screwed needlessly through no fault of their own

 

That's a very good question.

I am only a practitioner and it seems like only the legislators can explain the real policy reasoning behind this law.

Unfortunately, I am also not very familiar with the legislative process so there's no way for me to find out the true rationale as to why this law requires a new odometer to show zero miles.

My personal opinion is, the legislators are probably trying to work with car manufacturers by passing this law. In other words, if it's true that new cars are made with odometers that are getting more and more difficult to temper with by ordinary people, wouldn't it defeat the purpose of this practice by having a law that requires all new odometers to be set at the old mileage? If all new odometers could have mileage reset to a certain number (regardless if it's used for legal or non-legal purpose), then I don't think manufacturers would have the full incentives to make their clusters more temper proof.

Another reason for having this law is probably the legislators' intent to have the public become aware of the fact that certain parts have been replaced/changed in a vehicle they're purchasing. Regardless of whether a part is damaged due to the fault of its owner or not, it's generally recognized that replacement parts do not worth as much (in most people's opinions) and are not assembled to the same extent of precision as the OEM parts. Hence, for cars that have been wrecked, the replacement body panels can never have the car's original VIN or part sticker on them. Even if these replacement parts came directly from the manufacturer itself.

Obviously, my opinions are strictly personal and do not constitute a legal advice or reference in any way.

Jon