ATLANTA — Tens of thousands of used cars sold in Atlanta this year could have had their odometers rolled back showing inaccurate mileage, according to estimates from Carfax.
Josh Ingle at Atlanta Speedometer showed Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray how easily crooks can change the mileage on a vehicle.
“If you can roll the odometer back, you gain substantial value no matter what vehicle we’re talking about,” Ingle said.
With a $200 device crooks can find online, Ingle demonstrated how with the push of a button he rolled back the mileage on a 2003 Dodge pickup from 300,000 miles to 100,000.
“It takes less than a minute to do the whole process. The value on this car would have increased by $3,000 or $4,000,” Ingle said.
Carfax estimates more than 2.1 million odometers were rolled back this year. About 53,500 of those were in Atlanta.
“Even an unsuspecting dealership can purchase these vehicles to put them on the lot, not even intending to have any bad purpose,” Ingle said.
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That’s why Carfax says you should compare what it says on the dash, to the vehicle’s history.
Carfax reports also will flag vehicles with suspicious mileage histories with a “potential odometer rollback” warning.
“Let’s say you have a car in mind, it’s got 50,000 miles on it. You take a look at the vehicle history report, and it says, ‘The last time it was at the maintenance shop, there was 150,000 miles.’ Obviously, that is a big red flag,” Em Nguyen from Carfax said.
While some late-model cars have better protections against digital rollbacks, crooks are getting around those with a device called a can blocker that can be installed behind the dash.
Along with checking the vehicle history, Carfax also suggests something that Cannel 2 consumer advisor Clark Howard always recommends, take any used car to an independent mechanic for an inspection before you buy.