Questions and Answers

Odometer Fraud? Q. My odometer stopped working, speedometer works fine however. Given the used car was purchased only two years ago with only 22,000 miles, I am suspicious that the odometer was tampered with because not only is the odometer not working, I've paid about $3000.00 in repairs.

Is their a definitive way to decipher if there has been tampering? An odometer seal perhaps?

A. There is no seal on the odometer, but an experienced eye may be able to detect if it was tampered with or not.

The best way to find out the true story is to get a vehicle history report such as is offered by CarFax.com. Then you will know the complete history of the car, along with milage, since the car was new.

A good rule of thumb when buying a used car is to figure about 12,000 miles per year. That's what the average person puts on a car per year. So if you are looking at a five year old car there should be about 60,000 miles on it. If you are looking at a five year old car with 30,000 miles on it, I would be somewhat suspicious about it.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA