Odometer fraud, also referred to as "busting miles" or "clocking" (UK and Ireland)
is the illegal practice of rolling back odometers to make it appear that vehicles
have lower mileage than they actually do. Odometer fraud occurs when the seller
of a vehicle falsely represents the actual mileage of a vehicle to the buyer.
According
to the Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation at the
U.S. Department of Transportation, odometer fraud is a serious crime and important
consumer fraud issue. In the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's
(NHTSA) 2002 odometer fraud study, the NHTSA determined that 450,000 vehicles
were sold each year with false odometer readings, resulting in a cost of over
$1 billion annually to car buyers in the U.S.
Common examples of odometer
fraud include situations where someone tampers with the odometer by rolling
it back, replacing the odometer and failing to provide the required notice
on the vehicle, or where the odometer rolls through all the digits and starts over.
Contrary to popular belief, suspending a running vehicle and running it in
reverse will not reduce the odometer count. Late-model used vehicles such as those
in lease and rental fleets that accumulate mileage very rapidly are generally
thought to be more prone to odometer fraud than new vehicles.
There
are a number of ways in which a vehicle buyer might determine existence of
possible odometer fraud. Due to federal laws, states require vehicle purchasers
to obtain a title or certificate of registration. These titles contain information
about a vehicle's odometer history. The information can be accessed through
each state's Department of Motor Vehicles. Other options to detect odometer fraud
include contacting the vehicle's former owners, conducting a mechanical inspection
of the vehicle, and checking Internet sites such as Carfax and AutoCheck. |
