Odometer fraud is on the rise, analysts say

CHARLOTTE — Make no mistake. Odometer fraud isn’t a thing of the past. Scammers can roll back new -- digital -- odometers too.

If a seller rolls back the odometer, you’re spending more than the car is worth. Plus, you may end wonder why things are falling apart so much sooner than you expected.

CARFAX says 1.9 million vehicles on the road right now have had their odometer rolled back, a 7% increase over last year.

The company says North Carolina has the 10th most cases nationwide: More than 45,000 vehicles, also a 7% jump since last year.

As for the Charlotte area specifically, CARFAX counts 15,600 vehicles with rolled back odometers, the 27th worst in the country, 4% more than last year.

“Odometer fraud is very scary because it’s not something where there’s a single telltale sign that you can just look at the vehicle and tell that it has a rolled back odometer and it can cost you thousands and thousands of dollars, not to mention headache and heartache over the lifetime of ownership of a vehicle,” CARFAX’s Emilie Voss said.

Josh Ingle works in the auto industry. He demonstrated how easy it is to roll back an odometer, knocking 100,000 miles off a car in seconds.

“So we got 150,000 miles on the odometer right now. I go one, two, three. Press the button and does a quick flash. And now we’re already at 50,000 miles. It’s that fast right now,” he said.

Voss says the price before was about $4,300. The price after: $7,300.

“So literally in the matter of five, 10 seconds, he’s able to change the value of that vehicle by about $3,000,” she said.

So how do you protect yourself? Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke says:

• Take a second to do the math. See if the mileage makes sense for a car that age. Remember: The average car racks up 10-20,000 miles per year.
• Take the car to a mechanic you trust.
• You can check used cars for odometer fraud for free at CARFAX.

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