Odometer Fraud Increasingly a Concern for Used Car Buyers
Last updated June 2026
Buying a used car presents numerous risks for consumers. The vehicle could have hidden flaws—such as accident or flood damage—or a tampered odometer.
Digital dashboards should have reduced odometer fraud. But criminals have adapted, and their ability to edit vehicles’ mileage displays remains “a serious and growing concern for used car buyers,” according to Carfax.
Based on an analysis of its vehicle history reports, Carfax found what it calls an “alarming spike” in odometer fraud in 2025. The company estimates that about 2.45 million cars on U.S. roads may have rolled-back odometers—a 14 percent increase from 2024.
Odometer Fraud Drives Up Prices
Lower-mileage used vehicles typically command higher prices, creating a financial incentive for criminals to tamper with odometers.
“Consumers lose an average of $3,300 in value from unknowingly buying a car with a rolled-back odometer, and that doesn’t include unexpected maintenance costs…higher breakdown risks, and lower resale value,” said Em Nguyen, director of public relations at Carfax.
Unfortunately, odometer fraud is not only lucrative; it’s also easy to commit. Scammers can change a vehicle’s odometer reading in seconds using relatively inexpensive, widely available digital tools.
“I’ve actually done it myself on a test vehicle,” Nguyen told Checkbook. “And guess what? It didn’t take that much time to do it.”
Unlike physically rolling back an analog odometer, which can leave telltale signs of tampering, resetting a digital odometer isn’t apparent.
“In the old days, you could see where people would reach up under the dashboard and manually adjust the odometer. Now it’s all digital,” said Cole Reiken, managing director of BlueDriver, which sells wireless automotive diagnostic tools that can detect odometer fraud.
Beware: Both Private Sellers and Car Dealers Might Tamper with Odometers
Don’t assume that only used-car lots tamper with odometers; many buyers who complain about the problem dealt with private sellers.
Here are a few recent odometer fraud cases:
Last month, police in Marietta, Ga., arrested a man for selling vehicles on Facebook Marketplace with fake titles and rolled-back odometers. In one case, the suspect sold a Chrysler Pacifica that had traveled 100,000 miles more than the odometer reading. The woman who bought the car told WSB-TV she couldn’t believe “someone would be this evil.”
In March, a man from Washington state was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $21,080 in restitution to four victims who bought cars from him with inaccurate odometers. The U.S. Department of Justice charged Reynaldo Garza with purchasing high-mileage used cars and replacing their odometers with lower-mileage ones he purchased from used-parts sellers.
“Odometer fraud is a serious and costly crime. It’s also dangerous,” said Jonathan Morrison, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission (NHTSA), commenting on the case. “These purchasers were defrauded into believing that the vehicles were more than 100,000 miles newer than in reality—taking on additional risks from safety-critical components affecting steering and braking.”
In February, Flexible Auto Sales, a dealer in Columbus, Ind., agreed to pay $101,000 in restitution to settle a lawsuit brought by Indiana’s Attorney General, which charged the company with “allegedly tampering with and lowering the mileage on vehicle odometers and representing false low mileages to consumers.”
Protect Yourself
With the average new car selling for nearly $50,000, a used vehicle is the only option for many consumers. The average used car sold for about $26,000 in April, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Do some research: Get a vehicle history report from Carfax, AutoCheck, Bumper, or another company that offers this service. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System has a list of approved data providers on its website.
Compare the title and maintenance records with the odometer reading. If you’re buying from a dealership, it probably will provide a free Carfax or AutoCheck report. (Carfax lets all its users check for potential odometer fraud for free by entering a Vehicle Identification Number [VIN].)
Get an inspection: While it’s important to check the vehicle history report, it won’t flag all instances of fraud. That’s why Checkbook recommends having an independent mechanic perform an inspection to look for odometer fraud and other hidden problems.
“The history report is just a good place to start to see if you’re going to come up with anything,” said Josh Ingle, president of Atlanta Speedometer, a company that specializes in dashboard instrument cluster repair. “It’s a big purchase. Go spend a couple of hundred bucks to get an inspection done.”
This advice applies to all used vehicles, even those marketed as “certified” by the car dealer. While that vehicle may have been inspected, certified labels don’t guarantee that vehicles won’t have hidden mechanical, structural, or safety problems, Checkbook’s research found.
Note: You need to pull the vehicle history report and have the car inspected before finalizing the deal. This may sound obvious, but I can’t tell you how many complaints I’ve received over the years from people who didn’t realize they’d been scammed until after they drove home with their lemon vehicle.
If you believe you were the victim of odometer fraud, report it to your state’s Attorney General office or to your local U.S. Attorney.
Contributing editor Herb Weisbaum (“The ConsumerMan”) is an Emmy award-winning broadcaster and one of America's top consumer experts. He has been protecting consumers for more than 40 years, having covered the consumer beat for CBS News, The Today Show, and NBCNews.com. You can also find him on Facebook, Blue Sky, X, Instagram, and at ConsumerMan.com.