The discovery of the fraud by new owners of an affected vehicle leaves LMCT retailers in the invidious position of having to refund the entire amount for the car and then attempt to recover as much of the actual value as they can based on the correct history of the vehicle.
The chamber said that odometer wind backs are on the increase with many LMCT members contacting the VACC over the past few months saying that they have been victim to buying a motor vehicle from a member of the public or other entity that has had its odometer wound back.
The CEO of the VACC, Geoff Gwilym said in a statement to LMCT members: “At the end of the day a fraud has occurred. As LMCTs we are now saying that ‘enough is enough’.
“The VACC told members that it needs to hear of their exposure to such instances where they have been the victim of odometer fraud.
“The instances of consumers presenting vehicles with wound back odometers is on the increase. With prices for used stock maintaining a healthy baseline, VACC members are advising that many unscrupulous consumers are taking the opportunity to illegally squeeze as much as possible from the trade or sale of their used vehicle.
“At times, even with the experience of professional industry and dealership vehicle valuers, some of the methods used by consumers, or organised crime, to disguise a vehicle’s true age and odometer reading is sophisticated.
“Minute details such as service book alterations are even perpetrated to assist the fraud,” Mr Gwilym said.
Geoff Gwilym
He said that practice reflects badly on car retailers when the fraud is discovered.
“The LMCT member is suffering. LMCT members are left in an invidious position when confronted with a purchaser who had discovered that their vehicle has as a wound back odometer. In almost all cases, the only remedy available for a LMCT is to refund the entire purchase price of the vehicle to their purchaser.
“If the LMCT is lucky enough, they can ‘bounce’ the vehicle back through a wholesaler or other entity. The end result is that the LMCT invariably gets stuck somewhere on this issue and is left with a disgruntled consumer and will potentially suffer the inconvenience of an adverse action from the regulator for something not of the LMCT’s doing.
The VACC said it wants to highlight to all regulators how odometer fraud affects all stakeholders, from dealers and purchasers to the rest of the community.
‘LMCTs face very serious consequences if they tamper with an odometer.
“I am confident that almost no Victorian LMCTs participate in the crime. There is way too much risk to the dealer’s licence and industry peers don’t take kindly to a LMCT behaving in this way.
But consumers also have obligations under various legislation, civil and criminal, and whether they know of the tampering of an odometer or not is not the concern of a LMCT. The fact is the vehicle has been sold to an LMCT from the last owner with a tampered odometer at a great expense to the LMCT.
“LMCTs cannot put up with this anymore”.
Mr Gwilym said the VACC has taken advice from Victoria Police on how to treat the issue of odometer tampering under the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) and how LMCTs should deal with a person who presented, or presents, such a vehicle for sale to LMCTs.
“The VACC has upped the ante in pursuit of a technological solution. This includes the request for the introduction of a business rule that any vehicle presented to VicRoads for transfer of ownership to be rejected if the odometer reading supplied is less than a previous transfer completed on that individual vehicle.
“VACC is also lobbying to have odometer readings as part of a VicRoads VRE search,” Mr Gwilym said.
The chamber is also looking for ways that odometer readings supplied at transfer or under roadworthy certificate scenarios can be made accessible to licensed persons in Victoria.
“The VACC urges LMCTs to utilise the current offerings of organisations such as AutoGrab, CarFacts.com.au or carhistory.com.au to mine the data those types of organisations gather on an individual vehicle’s history.
“Auto Grab, for instance, offers a very good live model that will assist LMCTs in identifying a suspicious odometer. But these are all based on previous on-line classified history. There is much to do to get regulators to provide access to data for licensed industry. The dialogue continues.”
The chamber said that a comprehensive paper is being compiled by VACC for the information of members and governments about the issue. This will include specific advice from Victoria Police to VACC members regarding how Victoria Police will treat odometer tampering. It will be will be disseminated soon.
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Chamber urges: Report odometer criminals
By John Mellor
