The low inventory of used vehicles has prompted a spike in so-called odometer rollbacks in Florida and across the country.
According to Carfax, roughly 2.1 million vehicles on the road “have had their odometer rolled back,” that’s up 14% since 2021, an additional 300,000 thousand vehicles.
“If you’re a consumer, this is like the world’s worst lottery,” Carfax editor-in-chief Patrick Olsen told News 6. “Unscrupulous people are using the technology to shave 10, 20, 50, 100 thousand miles off of these cars.”
Olsen said in Florida 85,400 cars and trucks have had odometer rollbacks with roughly 19,000 vehicles in the Orlando area.
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“The older the car the easier it is, but it varies,” Olsen said. “There’s not a hard and fast date (vehicle model year) where it’s OK and where it’s not.”
Olsen said his team has uncovered examples of odometer rollbacks in all 50 states, in his view scammers “are taking advantage of the fact that car prices are high.”
“It costs the average consumer about $4,000 in value if they buy a car with a rollback odometer,” Olsen said. “There is no ‘tell’ so consumers should see a mechanic that you trust, they can put it on a lif,t they can see things that you can’t see.”
But in most cases, the OBD port would only show the mileage in the system so if the odometer mileage has been altered that is the mileage the mechanic would see.
According to findandfundmycar.com, the OBD port is a universal connector that mechanics can use to tap into a vehicle’s computer for “running all sorts of tests and diagnostics.” The history of the device dates back to 1968 when Volkswagen introduced its first version of an onboard computer system.
Josh Ingle, president of Atlanta Speedometer, demonstrated an odometer rollback on a 2009 Chevrolet truck for News 6 from the company’s garage in Atlanta.
Ingle, a diagnostics expert, was able to roll back 80,000 miles from the truck’s odometer, going from 123,349 miles to 43,495 miles “nearly immediately.”
“All the information is out there where your mileage is located,” Ingle told News 6. “On this device (OBD) you’re just selecting manufacturer, year, model, telling it a number and that’s over with ‚you don’t have to know any type of computer code.”
Olsen told New 6 consumers should access the vehicle identification number (VIN), go to carfax.com/odo and determine if the odometer has been altered.
“We will tell you for free if we ever flagged that vehicle for odometer rollback, “Olsen said.
If you have a consumer or investment issue email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com or text the words make ends meet along with your contact information and issue to 407-676-7428.
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