A Florida attorney general alert on beating a $1 billion per year car sales fraud
Wednesday’s consumer alert from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office focused on the automotive fraud involving the most basic car buying question — how many miles does the car have on it?
Odometer fraud, the fudging with the mileage indicator to conceal the actual number of miles a car has been driven, is illegal. The alert comes midway through the attorney general’s office and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles #SteerClearofFraudOAG week.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says more than 450,000 vehicles sold each year have bad odometer readings, a crime costing more than $1 billion.
“Not only does odometer fraud trick drivers into paying a higher price for a less valuable vehicle, it can also prevent the driver from pursuing important maintenance and service work necessary to keep the vehicle safely running,” Moody said in a statement. “If important mileage-based maintenance is not performed on an older vehicle, it can break down unexpectedly, potentially putting the driver and passengers in severe danger.”
Tips from Moody’s office:
▪ Ask for service records, warranty cards or look for oil change stickers. Those reveal mileage.
▪ Run the car through AutoCheck, Carfax or Kelley Blue Book.
▪ Ask for the vehicle title or odometer statement the seller received upon purchase.
▪ Ask how many times the car’s been painted. Look at the body wear and tear. Remember, as the alert says, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
An additional tip from the NHTSA
▪ Check the tires. If there’s less than 20,000 miles on the odometer, the original tires should still be on the car.
To check out a car’s history, potential buyers can go to the FLHSMV site and submit a records request.
