Odometer Fraud (fuel, ABS, mileage, buying)

[John1960]

Does Slick’s low mileage, late-model car sound too good to be true? Probably is!

With the new-car market lagging and the used-car market catching momentum once again, and with a record number of vehicles coming off leases, sleazy middlemen and low-life used-car dealers out to make some cheap bucks (and give the honest ones a bad name) will be especially busy rolling back odometers.

That’s right: Even though it hasn’t received much press in recent years, odometer fraud is just as prevalent, if not more prevalent, than ever. "We see this with every economic period. When interest rates go up, more vehicles get clocked," said Richard Morse, director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Odometer Fraud Program.

Odometer Fraud - AutoTrader.com

[bryfry]

Somehow I find this story to be a non-story. Might make for a headline in Readers Digest, but it won't even be a blip in the industry.

[1970pelle]

That's a dated article.New vehicle's today are next to impossible to roll back the miles.I will try and keep it simple as possible and short.With the onboard com****rs on today vehicles that record the vehicles mileage.The mileage is hard written into the hard drive of the powertrain control module(PCM),engine control unit(ECM).For EPA reason's and warrenty issue's.The body control module(BCM)if it controls the insturment cluster records the mileage.Along with several others.So it's not just poping out the cluster and rotating the odmeter back to the mileage the crook wants.Also the vehicle Vin is hard written into the modules as well and the one's that it isn't the vehicles information is shared.Yes crooks will figure out a way to change some.The module(com****rs) from most vehicle's can have what is called a deep scan done by the manufacturer to see all action or activity.Also the PCM/ECU will hold vehicles top speed in memory.

[bryfry]

Thought so. Like I said: non-story.

[Drover]

It's really not that hard to fudge the numbers on a computerized odometer either, folks. It can't be "rolled back" but it can easily be disabled. On many cars all you have to do is disable the ABS sensor to which it is attached. Voila, the odometer stops rolling. Mind you, a lot of other functions may stop working too, such as the ABS system itself, fuel mileage calculations, distance-to-empty calculations, and likely even the speedometer. But fudging an electronic odometer may not be as tricky as many people figure it to be.