Thinking of Buying a Fusion c. 2012, concerned about Odometers

[SeekingFF]

Hello, I have looked at a couple Fords made around the years of 2008 to 2012 and they seemed to have a lot of wear on them for the number of somewhat lowish miles they had. Cars I have bought new never started showing signs of wear until they were at least 90,000. So being a once again though very seldom used car buyer I am somewhat concerned. I was thinking of buying an Escape last year until one I looked at already had rust on it at only 61,000 miles. That seemed like awfully low miles to start rusting. (Later I learned from a body shop guy that the fenders on many cars made that year rust easily because the foam they put between the layers actually soaks up and holds on to road salt causing the metal to rust prematurely. Also started looking around and noticing there were lots of last model Ford Escapes that also had rusty rear fenders.)

Now I am thinking of buying a Fusion around the years of 2012 because I had leased one a couple years ago and liked it. However, what I am seeing with the lowish miles on them doesn't add up to the amount of wear especially one I looked at today. It was no where near the quality of the car I had just a couple years ago. Another dealer I called about a month ago said they sent a car back because the "odometer had been tampered with". So I was wondering if it is possible that unscrupulous sellers are now easily able to hack the modern digitial odometers. Personally I am old school guy who likes good solid mechanical engineering over electronics any day. Well this is what I found and so I am wondering. This is a real headache.

 

 

http://www.itnews.com.au/news/car-hackers-mess-with-speedos-odometers-alarms-and-locks-362297

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/08/08/hackers-def-con-cyber-security-ford-toyota/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDv7Wdr5uvI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw85BVJt-D8#t=97.44

 

So has this issue ever come up before? Are the digital odometers being hacked now without any sign they've been altered and how can I be sure minus a car fax that it hasn't?

Edited February 23, 2016 by SeekingFF