Used car shoppers in NSW warned odometer tampering is rising

In one case investigated by NSW Fair Trading, almost 300,000 kilometres was wiped from the odometer of a second-hand Toyota HiLux.

The hot second-hand car market has seen the old crime of odometer tampering make a shock comeback as sellers wind back the kilometres to grab extra cash.

In one case this year, almost 300,000 kilometres was wiped from a Toyota HiLux before it was sold for $30,000 – five times its value.

The incident has prompted a NSW Fair Trading crackdown on sellers with the state government also warning buyers to avoid “too good to be true” car deals in order to not be stuck with “a lemon”.

The crackdown follows 78 penalty notices being issued for odometer tampering this year – up from 15 last year.

Most of the cases were uncovered during random audits of cars being sold on websites such as Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace.

Buyers have been warned to avoid “too good to be true” deals on second-hand cars. Picture: Mark Bean

Better Regulation Minister Kevin Anderson said while tampering was not new, investigators were uncovering increasing numbers of wound-back odometers.

“People have been tampering with the speedo readings for as long as there’s been a used car market and today, with the current demand for second-hand vehicles, we are seeing a rise in people tampering with the odometer,” he said.

“The Government is aware that there are people out there selling cars where the odometer has been tampered with. That is why are taking action, cracking down across the state and protecting consumers.

“When it comes to purchasing second-hand goods, if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. If you get stung with a lemon that’s driven hundreds of thousands more kilometres than advertised, you could end up stung with increased servicing costs and safety issues.”

Global vehicle production shortages, along with people wanting to drive rather use public transport has led to a surge in demand for cars with second-hand market sales soaring.

Some in-demand second-hand cars now have price tags higher than their new price.

However, mileage still dictates the final price with lower kilometre readings commanding a greater price.

In one case investigated by NSW Fair Trading, a 2009 Toyota HiLux resold for $30,980 – more than five times its value of $6000 – after the odometer reading was lowered by 280,000km.

In another case, a man from Sydney’s inner west purchased a 2011 Toyota HiLux from an “Adam” in Belmore for $30,000 after a rego check and test drive, only to later find out its odometer reading of 143,000km was false. Its last known odometer reading on July 14 2021 had been 384,434km.

The man’s wife, who is a lawyer, has initiated legal action against the seller.

A 2015 Ford Ranger sold to another Sydney man for $35,000 also ended up with investigators after it was found the odometer had been wound back from 290,000km to 116,600km.

NSW Fair Trading investigators will continue to trawl car sale websites for dodgy sellers, with those found guilty of odometer tampering to face a fine of $22,000 and as much as 10 years in prison.

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