Odometer fraud - Real Story

Kax Takashi · August 8, 2017

I had a very interesting experience last week which I thought I should be sharing with everyone here so they can stay away from trouble.

I had made plans to buy an a Nissan Xtrail 2000, checked a couple of vehicles and found something that looked decent for the age. The owner seemed genuine and seemed to have maintained the vehicle well. I had the vehicle intensively checked at C## Ch##ks for any issues - it scored 85/100 on their sheet which I thought was okay for a 15 year old vehicle (registered later) . The mileage read 148k. I also did a test drive and finalized on buying it. While we were just going over paper work for the document signing I came across an emission test sheet which showed the odometer reading 260k. That seems completely fair for a 15-year-old vehicle yet & I was in shock. Now the seller started to give all kinds of excuses saying it would have been a data entry mistake. Immediately I walked away from the deal.

Any other person who didn't go through the emission test paper would be fooled, and the seller too will not present the old papers here onwards. When I checked with above mentioned inspection agency they said that after 100k on the odo-meter it is difficult to detect any tampering. I am open to providing any more details with anyone who might be considering buying a similar vehicle.

Have to admit the owner was nice enough to return the advance of 5k I paid him. My mistake was that I was not being able to check the emission test sheets at the initial stages. It all boils down to the price, and the vehicle was over priced.

Crosswind · August 8, 2017

On 8/8/2017 at 8:28 AM, Kax Takashi said:

. When I checked with above mentioned inspection agency they said that after 100k on the odo-meter it is difficult to detect any tampering. I am open to providing any more details with anyone who might be considering buying a similar vehicle.

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Thats the biggest bullsh!t i have heard in a long time.

They claim they can 'magically' detect odometer tampering but in reality, there's no hard and fast method to do so. They simply rely on instinct, past inspections, service records and clues just like you have done. Thats why I don't support that place. They make very tall claims about their capabilities. They are not very honest in their business either.

Edited August 8, 2017 by Crosswind

Nishan.dj · August 8, 2017

My uncle sold his Toyota KDH 200 Super GL and ODO was 190,000. he purchased it on 2008 and being the first owner, he maintained it with Super Diesel and on time servicing. The vehicle was eye catching for those who were interested on such category and he wanted to sell it to buy a recent petrol version.

Few people inspected and finally a reseller bought it. Two days later, We saw it advertised on a classified site and ODO was 85,000 and has added some nickle parts for lights and stuff to make it looks like "Thorana"

The price was 3 laks higher than he purchased and within two days, It was sold. (Removed from the site)

This is the nature of the country.

I personally don't even look at the ODO and let the company inspection report to worry about that. Believe it or not, There are people mostly 1st or 2nd owners who don't even know the engine capacity cc of the vehicle. If someone has no knowledge of how to buy a used vehicle, the best thing is to bring it to the agent so that they can give us an inspection report with all the faults and cuts and chops. If the vehicle is too old, it is wise to bring a good technician (Usually a friend or trusted person) to see the vehicle condition. The last thing he would do is to see the ODO for sure.

The Stig · August 8, 2017

On most jap vehicles the odometer reading is only stored in the meter cluster, simply swapping the odometer ic or changing the meter cluster gives the ability to change mileage. This is a big oversight by japs, of course they probably didn't expect the types of crooks we have in Sri Lanka.
Imagine a poor guy who buys a car and doesn't change timing belts because his odometer has been turned back.
There should be a method implemented so that the cr records the odometer reading when a vehicle is sold and carries it forward with every revenue license.

Nishan.dj · August 8, 2017

On 8/8/2017 at 10:48 AM, The Stig said:

Imagine a poor guy who buys a car and doesn't change timing belts because his odometer has been turned back.

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This was my concern in the case mentioned above. Whatever repairs or maintenance practices that should be done on correct mileage intervals will no longer be considered as the person who buys it has no idea whatsoever. I don't know who bought the van but if I do, I pay a visit and inform him of course.

Crosswind · August 8, 2017

On 8/8/2017 at 10:48 AM, The Stig said:

On most jap vehicles the odometer reading is only stored in the meter cluster, simply swapping the odometer ic or changing the meter cluster gives the ability to change mileage. This is a big oversight by japs, of course they probably didn't expect the types of crooks we have in Sri Lanka.
Imagine a poor guy who buys a car and doesn't change timing belts because his odometer has been turned back.
There should be a method implemented so that the cr records the odometer reading when a vehicle is sold and carries it forward with every revenue license.

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The trouble is there are a million and one frauds that happen with car dealers. The odo issue is just one of them. You can't possibly have an official solution for all of them. This is where places like C@r Ch@ks has a market. But when these places also work like a fly-by-night operation, then the car buyers have no option but to educate themselves.

A good example is what's stated by OP. C@r Ch@ks repeatedly claim they can detect odo tampering, while knowing very well that they rely on records more than anything else to detect tampering. OP believed it and nearly bought a piece of junk. When Op inquired about this from them, the response was "after 100k on the odo-meter it is difficult to detect any tampering"

Nishan.dj · August 8, 2017

On 8/8/2017 at 11:16 AM, Crosswind said:

"after 100k on the odo-meter it is difficult to detect any tampering"

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Is it me only feels this is to show their lack of knowledge or is it really true?

MV-5 · August 8, 2017

On 8/8/2017 at 11:16 AM, Crosswind said:

The trouble is there are a million and one frauds that happen with car dealers. The odo issue is just one of them. You can't possibly have an official solution for all of them. This is where places like C@r Ch@ks has a market. But when these places also work like a fly-by-night operation, then the car buyers have no option but to educate themselves.

A good example is what's stated by OP. C@r Ch@ks repeatedly claim they can detect odo tampering, while knowing very well that they rely on records more than anything else to detect tampering. OP believed it and nearly bought a piece of junk. When Op inquired about this from them, the response was "after 100k on the odo-meter it is difficult to detect any tampering"

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Exactly, they can not do magic.

if they can do this , there is only one way that i can imagine.it is :

probably they might have contacts with agents service record systems and insurance companies (somehow). so the only possibility is contact these parties and get the highest recorded ODO value and the date and compile it.

gNaveendra · August 9, 2017

But, IMO there are possibiliites that the EcoTest chaps could have entered the odometer figures wrongly.

I did observe few times, they didn't enter accurate odo figures in the test report.

thilinamc · August 10, 2017

Well ,it's always good to demand service records when buying a vehicle from second-hand market. That's one of the best ways to avoid Mileage scams. But unfortunately Sri Lankans never Do.....

iRage · August 10, 2017

On 8/10/2017 at 4:43 AM, thilinamc said:

Well ,it's always good to demand service records when buying a vehicle from second-hand market. That's one of the best ways to avoid Mileage scams. But unfortunately Sri Lankans never Do.....

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on the other hand 90% of the time the owners never bother to keep service records and our average service stations/garages don't actually give you proper records. So at times you don't have any records for the car to ask (not to mean that it is a bad car or anything) and the records for the car might have started ony after a certain owner got it and took it to a different place.

The Stig · August 10, 2017

Well honestly it's not that difficult to get fake "service records" from 3rd parties other than agents. That's why one should always replace critical items such as timing belts, Atf, engine oil, brake fluids etc to be on the safe side.

MV-5 · August 13, 2017

this is not about this single instance.

if you really want to avoid from these frauds , one of the best thing you can do is avoid any kind of re-seller (car sale or baiyas).

some re-sellers doesn't event bother to remove the old classifieds (because they know buyers do not even pay attention to detail or information that they can easily access). but we should always seek for all form of information that we can access.

ex: i was looking for a used Cerato, then i found a advertisement (in AL). just looking at the advertisement i knew it is from a re-seller. how did i identify and why didn't i call the seller?

simple attention to detail, i normally go through these advertisements frequently (even without having an intention to buy a car). So i even remember the photo shoot locations. suddenly came into mind two advertisements i saw. you also can see those two advertisements still in AL (just search for the key word Jaguar XF) you will see two advertisement of same car photo shoot at same location.check the mileage.

NOTE : i was looking for a used Cerato not for a Jaguar XF :-)

Captain Price · August 13, 2017

This is a very common type of fraud done in sri lanka. Whenever we are buying a used vehicle it's better to cross check with the maintenance record if they are available. Sri lankan people are way too concerned about the mileage than the vehicle's appearance itself. So the seller also trying to get the best value for his vehicle by changing the odo.

CyRaX · August 14, 2017

Sold a Vezel a few weeks back, the car had 76,000 plus kilometers when it was bought by a buy and seller and about a week back I got a call from the new owner who bought it from the person I sold it to. Apparently the car now has 35,000 kms. Really feel sorry for the new owner.

Nishan.dj · August 14, 2017

On 8/14/2017 at 3:11 AM, CyRaX said:

Sold a Vezel a few weeks back, the car had 76,000 plus kilometers when it was bought by a buy and seller and about a week back I got a call from the new owner who bought it from the person I sold it to. Apparently the car now has 35,000 kms. Really feel sorry for the new owner.

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You should have told him the real values because he will be ended up with many troubles if the services and maintenance are not done at the correct intervals. Poor guy. "Car Sales" is a fraud business. The government should impose some rules at least.

Kax Takashi · August 23, 2017

Yes, Shouldn't be too obsessed with the odo-meter too much because after all the vehicle is 17 years old. But the vehicle doesn't seem to be maintained as the seller claimed. The vehicle was a bit overpriced and tampering means you can't believe anything else the seller says after that.