Labor Day Used Vehicle Buying Alert: Odometer Rollback Grows in 2002

BANDON, Ore., Aug. 30 -- Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest of the year for buying a used car or truck. But many consumers may be sorely disappointed to learn their vehicle's odometer has been rolled back by thousands of miles.

A new study from CNW Marketing Research of vehicles in 12 states shows odometer roll back has increased to 9 percent of sales of used vehicles two to four years old in those states. (Note that there is a wide variation from state to state and a the national average is probably less.)

And the number of miles the clocks have been turned back has increased substantially among three and four year old models.

In comparison with studies conducted in 1998 and 2000, the data shows fewer cars with rolled back odometers are coming from franchised new-car dealership used-car lots. In 1998, 21 percent of odometer-fraud cars came from new-car dealerships. In 2002, the percentage fell to 12 percent.

Independent dealers and private party sales took up the slack with the latter now accounting for nearly half of all odometer-fraud cars and trucks.

The vehicles to watch: SUVs, luxury cars and pickup trucks with as much as 44 percent of the actual mileage shaved off by rollback artists.

Odometer fraud costs consumers an estimated $2 billion in vehicle value each year.