Jason's Sept 16, 2022 Ramble - Car Mileage & My Foot Pedal Fetish!

[Jason Edge]

When I encounter a  63 or 64 Cadillac where the mileage is questionable I will often take a nose dive straight to the brake foot pedal and look at the wear on the rubber and trim.  The rubber pad becomes noticeably more worn on the right side and for body styles with the stainless trim (deVilles, Fleetwoods, & Eldos), it usually starts to wear thru by the 100 to 125K mile mark.

This came to mind today as I was cleaning up the brake pedal and trim rubber and trim off the latest parts car which showed 41K Miles on the clock.  This brake pad is at the top in the picture above. There were several other items on this car that was more consistent with a 41K mile car vs a 141K mile car. 

Now go back and look at the picture of the brake pedal at bottom. That came off a car that showed 38K on the clock. I would bet my bippy that car is at least 138K ... if not more. I don't know how many times over the 25 years I have been dealing with these cars I have had someone swear the car was only 20K, 30K, 40K, 50K something miles and the brake pedal was in the condition of the one at the bottom.   

While you cannot confirm 100% that a more pristine brake pedal indicates a car that has not rolled the clock over, it something you should consider when looking cars condition. And more importantly, if you see one with wear like the one on the bottom it is a very good indicator that you can add at least 100K to whatever you see on the clock.

Below are a couple of close-ups of the pedal from the last parts car showing 41K on clock with very limited wear, then the one from the car showing 38K on clock, which obviously has a lot more than 38K miles!

So the next time you see  me grab my LED headlamp and doing a deep dive toward someone's brake pedal you will know why I have such a Foot Pedal Fetish!