So I just got bought a 2004 Ranger and overlooked Carfax because I'm an idiot. In 2012 the odometer read 119,049 and when I got it, it was 117,700.

The craiglist ad told me that he hadn't been using it for years and forgot to ask him. The guy I bought it from is a construction teacher for the latino community from my old highschool and was really nice. He let me have a pre-purchase inspection at an autodealer with out any hesitation. I also went to his house and he had a 350,000 1999 single cab ford ranger and a new f150 that he just bought.

How can I tell that the Odometer has been tempered with??? What should I look for when I take apart the dash?

Car Details:
Digital Odometer
2004 Super Cab Ford Ranger Edge
Automatic
Entertainment Panel missing some screws (probably opened to install aftermarket Radio).

 

Instrument cluster may have been swapped out in the last 3 years.

Google: 2004 ranger instrument cluster test

The clusters have a processor in them now('02 and up I think) and it can run a self test, it may have a software version or ID code that comes up and will tell you if cluster was swapped from a different year.

Or it could show a bad LED on Odo, so 117,xxx is really 177,xxx