saw a video yesterday re odometer fraud which is on the rise due to the hot used car market among other obvious benefits.
how do you guys practically find if the odo was tampered with, since most cars nowadays have digital clusters? i'm in the market for a used vehicle so this is another issue to keep in mind during my search.

carfax, autocheck, etc reports can only tell some of the story and can be frauded as well. how would you determine if all is well with the actual miles? and don't say buy new !

 

Carfax pretty much killed the odometer fraud business model - you do not need to worry much about it these days (at least in the western world). If you are worried - then limit yourself to cars with detailed and continuous odometer history.

 

Depends entirely on the year, make, model, etc. They are all designed differently with various tracking methods, fail safes, or lack of.

We have worked with DOT / NHTSA Federal Agents on resolving a few federal cases of odometer fraud. It is still a huge problem and getting worse.

 

Internet advice in a nutshell....

 

Is it possible to see how often a vehicle has been tested for emissions? Do they keep a log of the date, time, and mileage on the car? And is it possible to get these reports directly from the emissions tester instead of the seller?

 

Odometer fraud is rampant in Florida on cars over 10 years old because of the way the car laws are.
I've caught many car flippers on Craigslist rolling back the miles, caught them red handed.

From my experience and what I've seen they seem to prefer cars that have no carfax mileage reporting from the last owners or several last years.
And yes, someone can rack up 100k miles in 5 years and roll it back.

Problem with Craigslist car flippers is they float the title in the last persons name, roll the miles back, and sell for cash.
I wasn't gonna say anything cuz probably nobody would believe me but I have caught many of these dirt bags and be warned. lol

I ran an ad on Craigslist for almost 3 years looking for a low mileage RX for sale by private seller- never expected the roll back scammers to call me but they did.

 

In Florida as well caught 2 in the last 3 months. An is350 with 212k rolled back to 114k and a frontier with 285k rolled back to 140k.

 

thanks for all the info and shared experiences. i was living under a rocking thinking people cannot be that dishonest, but here we are!

as i'm in the market, i am looking closely at carfax and already flagged some vehicles where the mileage reporting stops abruptly then resurfaces 3 years later. what makes it difficult is that COVID pandemic was right in the middle of that timeline, so it can be legitimate.

 

in CA our cars are tested every 2 years starting at 8 model years old, BUT the carfax does not record mileage during that testing nor the shop that was used. even the smog shops can be shady too!

 

Thanks for clarifying, I'm not familiar with emissions testing as it's not a thing here, but I was hoping that it could have been a potential indicator. But you're right, even if they did keep track of date and mileage, a shady smog shop could still falsify the report. Sorry I couldn't be of any help

 

Also check the foot pedals for wear , and other obvious signs uncharacteristic of low mileage cars . For example wear on the seats, steering wheel ect....

 

For those of you who have not seen the film, this thread reminds me of the scene from the opening of the movie "Used Cars"

 

Wait a second.....what 10 year rule is there? I sometimes buy down there and I wasn't aware of this issue

 

Unscrupulous people probably sell a lot of used vehicles in Florida to a bunch of seniors whose minds aren't sharp enough anymore to think about things like this before they buy. There are laws in some states against abuse of the elderly, but I'm not sure if they cover things like this. Either way, odo-tampering is still illegal.

 

Posting spree ahead... lol

You got that right buddy. lol
So many hustlers out there and I knly know because I've seen it.

If buying used I would stick with a dealer or a car dealer with good reviews.
There are some small car lots with good reputations.


Oh great, more shadiness. lol
yeah, I can believe it.

So true.
They are good at waxing and polishing a car like new to rewind the look of wear and tear but there are hidden clues like this post above.

Seen it!
Good movie.

Have to look at my title and see if they still do it but in the past they have have a check box for "mileage exempt, over 10 years or 100,000 miles", not sure if all counties do it or still do it.

I was looking at a car a few years ago from a small car lot with no online reviews and when it came time to pull the title out I saw him filling it out and said he was checking the "mileage exempt" box.
So I said, hell no and said deal was off because that tells me he acquired the car from questionable source and didn't want to put his dealer license on the line stating the mileage was true.

Also, I know people that after buying the car they received the title with "mileage exempt" where the dealer did it on their own and customer didn;' know they were going to do that until title came in the mail with mileage exempt.

I made sure on my last car when sitting down to do the paperwork I expected the title to be filled with "actual mileage" and not "exempt".
Why?
Because I wanted him to back up the mileage on the title with a threat to his dealers license for shady business.

Dealers have much more to lose than a scammer on craigslist floating the title in the last persons name.
I've had them tell me they MUST check the odometer mileage exempt box cuz of age or miles but that's a dead giveaway they are hiding something.
All I will say on that is if someone buys a car out of state with some age on it I would make sure and get a promise that the title will declare "actual mileage" and not "exempt".

Ok, now on craigslist scammers- many people buy and flip cars, actually most of the craigslist may be, ok fine.
When you call and talk about the car, say ok I will come and look at it and I need to know if it is your car and YOUR name is on the title.
They will always say, selling it for my girlfriend, mother-in-law- nephew on my wife's side, etc, etc, it will be anyone with a last name other than theirs- walk away or do more due diligence- Carfax and Autocheck plus google the VIN number.

Carfax and Autocheck don;t always report things at the same time and sometime miss things the other catches- such as Autocheck reported sold at auction with major frame damage and Carfax didn;t report it- True Story, happened to me and thank goodness I didn;t only get a Carfax cuz really need both and more now days.

Long post but I have so much more to tell and have some good stories.