After running the club for almost 6 years I honestly thought there wasn't much I didn't know about our little Figs until I read a Facebook post last month. The topic was discussing 'mileage' and the owner had made an innocent comment and posted a picture of their speedo faceplate which was in MPH (required by law in the UK). Now this is where it got interesting as the Odometer stated MPH and showed 35,455 Miles but that was of course originally 56,000 Kilometers. It got me thinking how complicated it can become if you import a car and then half way through its life change the measuring perimeters? 

According to Toby Brooks from The Figaro Shop there are 2 main ways to convert a Figaro when it reaches the UK.

One is to fit the gearing device, also known as a transducer. This works just like a bicycle gearing system and makes the Kilometers show in miles using the current layout on the speedo face.

In his experience he has known this system be used without any sticker or paperwork (when the odometer is almost impossible to work out). It can be used with a sticker but not have the odometer reset to the correct miles, meaning you have that inconsistency and its very hard to trace the miles. Or at the same time have the odometer set to the correct mileage so that going forward everything is in miles, this is the clearest way but involves adjusting the clock or finally a document could be drawn up to demonstrate the sum required to work out the mileage when required. Accurate as long as the paperwork is kept safe.

The second option is to put a faceplate over the top of the speedo, this keeps the odometer the same whilst moving the position of the numbers on the speedo. The Figaro Shop always used the face method if they start with a car in Kilometers, it always seemed to be much more simple and can be removed if required. The owner does have to calculate the current mileage but everything is consistent, right back to Japan. To his knowledge the transducer is not being made any longer, certainly not easily available. Hopefully this will prevent confusion going forward. Toby did say if anyone is stuck with there mileage they may be able to help, certain importers used certain techniques and they were usually the same on each car. Even if the importer has ceased to trade its sometimes possible to work out which technique was used on a particular car and clarify the mileage. The only legal requirement is an MOT, importers don't have to touch the speedo.

 The transducer will been fitted (located near the gearbox)

If you're still with us then you're doing well as its all very confusing and indeed we see this all the time when people advertise their cars on 'Figaro Trader' some being in Miles and others in Kilometers!

Having scratched the surface of this issue we are highly alarmed and so will be investigating this issue further and creating clear information on our website to help owners clarify things.
 

Me doing what I do best POLISHING & CLEANING!