Statista reports that the top ten states for vehicle registrations in 2020 were California, Texas, Florida, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, which together account for 1.2 million of the 1.9 million dishonest vehicles identified by CarFax. On average, this leaves around 17,000 tampered vehicles spread across the remaining 40 states.
Among the top states by volume, Texas saw the largest increase in fraud at 15%, followed by Florida and Arizona at 12% each, North Carolina at 7%, and Illinois and Pennsylvania at 5% each. The remaining states in the top ten, California, New York, Georgia, and Virginia, had less than a 5% increase.
It is difficult to find current statistics on odometer rollbacks. In 2002, the National Highway Traffic Safety Transportation Administration (NHTSA) estimated that 450,000 cars with tampered odometers were sold each year, and this figure continues to be cited 20 years later. In 2021, the NHTSA told the New York Times that "odometer fraud is a serious crime that costs Americans more than $1 billion annually." This estimate is based on a 20-year-old study that determined that each of the 450,000 fraudulent vehicle sales cost consumers an average of $2,336.
CarFax's research indicates that "consumers lose an average of $4,000 in value from unknowingly buying a car with a rolled-back odometer." Using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator, $2,336 in 2002 would be equivalent to $3,868 in November 2022. It is worth noting that CarFax sells a service designed to address this issue, and an official NHTSA government document from 2010 bears the CarFax logo and recommends purchasing a CarFax report. CarFax is often the go-to source for local news stories on this topic, such as this report from Phoenix last year, this report from Detroit two years ago, this one from Jacksonville, Florida and this one from Minneapolis three years ago, and this one from Memphis, Tennessee five years ago.
In the past, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that the average odometer rollback involves reducing the mileage by more than 40,000 miles. Investigative news program 60 Minutes referred to odometer tampering as "the largest consumer fraud in America." Digital odometers have not eradicated this practice, and tools for "mileage correction" can be found for sale on Amazon and eBay, along with numerous tutorials on YouTube. At a time when there is so much money to be made by selling a car with 80,000 miles claimed versus another with 120,000 miles, it is important for buyers to be cautious. Consider requesting a CarFax report from the seller.
Source: Autoblog
