FactFinder: In the market for a used car? Odometer rollbacks are on the rise

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - There are many signs that buyers should look out for when shopping around for a used vehicle to make sure they’re getting a fair deal.

A sign that might not be easy to spot, however, is a rolled-back odometer, and officials warn odometer fraud is once again on the rise.

Long gone are the days when cars were built with mechanical-style odometers. Back then, for someone to change the odometer, they’d have to roll the numbers back by hand. Technology has since advanced in vehicles with digital odometers.

However, as Josh Ingle of Atlanta Speedometer demonstrated with FactFinder, the tools to roll back odometer numbers have also advanced, and it can be done with the push of a few buttons.

“The tools have become a lot cheaper than they were in the past,” said Ingle.

Ingle added that handheld odometer programmers used to cost upwards of $10,000, but one can now be purchased online for a couple hundred dollars. In a demonstration, Ingle reduced a truck’s odometer reading from 300,000 miles to less than 100,000 miles in a few seconds.

According to Carfax, Kansas is estimated to have 13,400 cars with rolled-back odometers, which is a 17.5% increase from three years ago. Nearly half of those cars are in the Wichita metropolitan area.

“Certainly, this is trending in a worrisome direction,” said Em Nguyen.

Experts say odometer fraud could lead to car buyers paying thousands of dollars more for a used vehicle since a car that appears to have fewer miles on it can be turned around and sold for a higher price.

Carfax reports that consumers lose an average of about $4,000 in value when they unknowingly buy a rolled-back car.

“That, of course, could lead to catastrophic damage to the inner workings of your major components of your vehicle, your engine, transmissions and differentials,” said Anthony Emmons with Christian Brothers Automotive in Wichita.

Emmons says tampered odometers can be hard to spot, and it may not be until the vehicle ends up in the shop with problems consistent with high mileage when it becomes noticeable.

“By the time you hear grinding or knocking or something like that, it’s already hurt,” said Emmons.

To protect yourself, experts suggest having a trusted mechanic check out the vehicle before purchasing it. Anyone in the market to buy a used car should also look at the updated Carfax report on the vehicle to see the odometer history.

Carfax is reminding consumers that tampering with an odometer to misrepresent a vehicle’s condition is a crime.