Odometer fraud warning

A report has revealed tens of thousands of used cars have been "clocked".

The illegal practice is most common in South Australia and Tasmania with odometer tampering in one in 100 vehicles according to consumer vehicle research site, carhistory.com.au.

Queensland used car sellers were third most likely to rip off buyers at 0.9 per cent of total used car sales, followed by Victorians at 0.8 per cent, New South Wales sellers at 0.7 per cent, West Australians at 0.4 per cent and the ACT at 0.2 per cent.

Carhistory boss David Scognamiglio says their report indicates that every state has undetected groups of shonky sellers evading detection and prosecution for misrepresenting odometer readings.

"Many sellers fail to provide statutory warranties, falsify log books and other documents to car buyers," he says. "No one wants to buy a car to find out in the next few months that they've been ripped off, the warranty is void or they are having issues due to the vehicle's extensive use."

Individual offenders face up to two years in jail and fines of $40,000 to $60,000, depending on the state, while organisations face fines of about $200,000. For example, Queensland's Operation Turner in 2010 collected total fines of up $400,000 from about 13 offenders, Mr Scognamiglio says.

Clocking can also endanger lives, with mechanical issues more likely to be overlooked with owners misinformed about the regular service needs of their car, he says. "Owners are also clearly getting ripped off, paying too much for their car, as well as having to deal with more common breakdowns due to extra wear and tear of their vehicles.

"The best way to protect yourself from getting ripped off is to get an independent inspection by a mechanic, check logbooks, do a finance check and also get a car history check, which is the only vehicle report that covers odometer readings," he says, pointing out that odometer readings are not included in the new Personal Property Securities Register.

Carhistory presented two case studies of clocking:

• Peter was looking at buying a Lexus coupe until he made a check and found it was wound back 70,000km. He knocked back the sale.
• Anish knocked back a repairable write-off that had a 190,000km reading in the past and at his test drive showed 125,000km. He lost his $50 deposit by not going ahead with the sale.

Mr Scognamiglio also warns that if buyers do not check the odometer reading when they buy a car, they could be accused of being the "clocker" if they sell the car later on and the new buyer finds it has been wound back.

Contrary to the belief of many motorists, modern digital speedos are not tamper proof, he says. Software is available over the internet that can "wind back" the odo reading on a digital speedo.

"There are businesses that are allowed to service odos such as accident repairers," he says. "It's a situation where it is legal to buy the software, but it is illegal to use it."