Pat Goss' Tips & Expert Advice

Car Inspections Should Include An Odometer Search

Every time law enforcement finds a way to deter certain kinds of criminal actions, they find new ways to cheat consumers. One way criminals are ripping off used car buyers is through an odometer roll-back.

The odometer in your car records how many miles you have driven to date. It should never be set to zero once a car has been driven. But, odometer fraud remains a serious problem in the used car business. Criminals roll-back the odometer so the buyer thinks the car is newer than it really is. If a car is well taken care of and usually parked in a garage, it might look like it only has 20,000 miles, but it could have as much as twice that if its odometer has been tampered with.

Fortunately for used car buyers, there are now ways to determine if an odometer has been fraudulently rolled back. Online sites, like CARCHEX.com and Carfax.com, offer search services that can reveal if a car you want to buy is older than it appears. These searches utilize a car's vehicle indentification number and state motor vehicle departments to conduct this search. Even though you have to pay about $25 for an odometer search, it could save you thousands in the long run in unexpected car repairs.