Lets suppose I find out someone is commiting odometer fraud (stopping the milage on their vehicle from going up). What is the punishment, and who do I report them to? Not on multiple vehicles to sell them, just on their own.

If you know about Michigan, that would be good. Otherwise, let me know the laws for any state.

In my country its a very common practise but there is no law to deal with it. Usually a buyer gets the vehicle checked by a mechanic who can tell the condition of the engine, gearbox etc and not by the odometer.....but some unsuspecting people do get taken for a ride sometimes.

Maybe you should report to the police or the motor vehicles department

Honestly, if this person's odometer fraud isn't affecting you leave it, unless he has the intent to sell it. Why mess around with someone if its not hurting anyone.

With all this being said, i could understand if you hold a grudge against him and are doing this out of spite, or if, like i already said, this individual has the intent to sell the vechicle in that manner.

Sorry I coulnd't provide any help; your best bet would be to call up the police station or city hall.

lol... out of all the bad things that happen everyday, you're worried about odometer fraud?

There is no law where I live; it just simply has to be corrected, and then the vehicle must pass an inspection.

Anyone?

Thread bumper. :angry:

Here's what Michigan has to say about that.

http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1585_1611_1613-31050--,00.html

Merry Christmas.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/49/32703.html

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/49/32709.html

So, unless he sells the car to someone and doesn't disclose the actual mileage, he's not committing any fraud at all. Nobody can stop you from screwing with your own car.

Originally posted by Andrew
So, unless he sells the car to someone and doesn't disclose the actual mileage, he's not committing any fraud at all. Nobody can stop you from screwing with your own car.

I read those articles, but don't see where it says about your comment? Could you point that out please?

The link I posted states, "Michigan Law requires disclosure of the actual odometer reading at the time of transfer or assignment of the vehicle's title."

Meaning that you must state the actual odometer reading when you sell the car. And that, further, you need to state whether it is actual, not actual, or has "rolled over."

You'll very rarely get an actual reading as when you reverse so does your odometer.

How much do you reverse? Unless you drive backwards daily, it doesn't really have an impact on the odometer.

Odometers quit working in older cars all the time, don't think I've heard of anyone getting arrested for it yet.

This usually only really is a problem in newer used cars (under 3 or 4 years of age) where rollback really can make a big difference in value, when you're talking about a 10 year old car, another 50K miles won't do much to the value really.

It's probably illegal if he's doing it to sell it but I don't think there's a law says you gotta fix a broken odometer either.

Originally posted by timechange
How much do you reverse? Unless you drive backwards daily, it doesn't really have an impact on the odometer.


Common misconception on most cars.. Odometers don't normally roll backwards at all.. Even when driving backwards it increases, just as your tac and speed all increase while backing up... :D


Manually rolling them backwards will move them out of line and cannot be realigned, they must be rolled completely forward to keep them inline...

In many states when your car is inspected, the milage is record, and sent to the state for records, so usually you can do a history on the car and see its records, and then see if odometer fraud is occuring...

in my country non commercial vehicles must be recertified for fitness after 15 years and not by the odometer. commercial vehicles must be recertified more often....i think every year for heavy vehicles and once in three years for smaller vehicles.

meter tampering is done mostly by brokers and taxi drivers

How much do you reverse? Unless you drive backwards daily, it doesn't really have an impact on the odometer.
I really don't think driving backwards will have ANY impact on reversing the mileage. Odometers are supposed to be one way unless someone gets in there and manually tinkers with it.
It's probably illegal if he's doing it to sell it but I don't think there's a law says you gotta fix a broken odometer either.
I've broken a few cables in my time. In fact, I pegged my Z28 on the highway when I was taking it home from the car lot and broke the cable the 1st day I had the car. I've even got out of a speeding ticket for claiming 'faulty equipment'. Evidentially you can only get away with this once per year though because it didn't work the 2nd time I tried it that year. ;)
Even when driving backwards it increases, just as your tac and speed all increase while backing up...
Been doing a lot of driving in reverse to find this one out? :eek:

Originally posted by azo313
Lets suppose I find out someone is commiting odometer fraud (stopping the milage on their vehicle from going up). What is the punishment, and who do I report them to? Not on multiple vehicles to sell them, just on their own.

If you know about Michigan, that would be good. Otherwise, let me know the laws for any state.

People dont like "Tattle tales" (hehehehe)

Good luck my friend

The Dude :)

If this guy isnt selling these vechiles, leave it alone. It has nothing to do with you, is none of your business and reporting it will accomplish nothing other than than cause the person you are talking about to be harrassed by overzealious government bureaucrats who have nothing better to do besides harras people and waste our tax dollars conducting fruitless investigations.

When you find some child molestors, report them.

You remind me of this neighbor I had - she would call crime stoppers about every little thing that went on around here. Someone smashed a mailbox - call put in to crime stoppers. Someone littered - she'd call the local cops, then the state police and then the FBI if no one came out. She called the EPA on me one day to report that I had straight-piped one of my cars (took out the catlytic converter) because I didnt want to pay more than $500.00 to have a new one installed. They sent people out - onto my property without a search warrent - and inspected the underside of my car. They made the mistake of not getting a warrent and I eventaully got the court to throw the case out.

She was constantly in other people's business. One day, she called and reported some information about some drug dealings. And a few days later, there was news of a big drug bust in the area. About three months later, I was coming home from work, pulled into my driveway and noticed thier were cops all around her house. Later on I found out she had been murdered. They asked me and everyone else around her if we had any idea who would want her dead. "Well, yes, officer. I think just about everyone on this block wanted her to either die or leave. No one liked her. And you know why." That was all I said before I shut the door in the cops face. As far as I am concerned, she got what she deserved.

Keep your nose on your own face. What people do on thier own property is thier business. If it dosent concern you, keep out of it.

God, I hate neighbors.

Very sad indeed,

You dont ever rat on drug dealings,just asking for trouble......

Very nosy lady,i would have HATED living next to her.....

The Dude :)

Originally posted by Alex042


I've broken a few cables in my time. In fact, I pegged my Z28 on the highway when I was taking it home from the car lot and broke the cable the 1st day I had the car. I've even got out of a speeding ticket for claiming 'faulty equipment'. Evidentially you can only get away with this once per year though because it didn't work the 2nd time I tried it that year. ;)


HAHA! I got out of one with that excuse as well! :D

Originally posted by The Dude
Very sad indeed,

You dont ever rat on drug dealings,just asking for trouble......

Very nosy lady,i would have HATED living next to her.....

The Dude :)

Oh you rat them out, however you don't make it known you did the ratting. This lady had a history of ratting so when the drug dealers got popped they knew who did it.

Save the ratting for when it counts, child abuse, drug dealers, murders, etc, and don't sweat the small stuff. Kinda like crying wolf, if you cry wolf on every little thing when a real wolf comes along it might eat you before the pitchforks show up.

Interesting how we went from odometers to neighbors. I've found the humans are a curious species. Some act on that more than others. I seem to hear or have more issues with neighbors in a neighborhood of houses than a neighborhood of apartments. Maybe because those with houses take more ownership of the neighborhood whereas those in apartments may not stay as long so they don't need to know as much about what's going on around them. I actually sometimes found myself more comfortable in an apartment just because of this as I've found that 'nosey' neighbor almost immediately upon moving into a house.

My philosophy is that what people do on their property is their biz as long as it doesn't affect me or hurt anyone else. They could run around their yard nekkid, moon me, or even have grass 3 feet tall and it wouldn't hurt me so I could care less. I've actually found my neighbors even sometimes entertaining when the police would show up for some of their antics. It's when they start blocking the road, etc that it affects me to the point it bothers me.

Originally posted by kkimmel
If this guy isnt selling these vechiles, leave it alone. It has nothing to do with you, is none of your business and reporting it will accomplish nothing other than than cause the person you are talking about to be harrassed by overzealious government bureaucrats who have nothing better to do besides harras people and waste our tax dollars conducting fruitless investigations.

When you find some child molestors, report them.

You remind me of this neighbor I had - she would call crime stoppers about every little thing that went on around here. Someone smashed a mailbox - call put in to crime stoppers. Someone littered - she'd call the local cops, then the state police and then the FBI if no one came out. She called the EPA on me one day to report that I had straight-piped one of my cars (took out the catlytic converter) because I didnt want to pay more than $500.00 to have a new one installed. They sent people out - onto my property without a search warrent - and inspected the underside of my car. They made the mistake of not getting a warrent and I eventaully got the court to throw the case out.

She was constantly in other people's business. One day, she called and reported some information about some drug dealings. And a few days later, there was news of a big drug bust in the area. About three months later, I was coming home from work, pulled into my driveway and noticed thier were cops all around her house. Later on I found out she had been murdered. They asked me and everyone else around her if we had any idea who would want her dead. "Well, yes, officer. I think just about everyone on this block wanted her to either die or leave. No one liked her. And you know why." That was all I said before I shut the door in the cops face. As far as I am concerned, she got what she deserved.

Keep your nose on your own face. What people do on thier own property is thier business. If it dosent concern you, keep out of it.

God, I hate neighbors.


exhaust gases from your vehicle's straightpipe can harm people....in as much the same way a murder does or a drug pusher does.....we have laws not to make people follow the laws just because the law says so.....we have laws to protect lives and property

talking of odometer tampering the reason people do it maybe to avoid changing the cat convertor or the brake linings !!! [which can result in killing innocent bystanders........including children]

just because you dont do drugs, drink and drive or abuse children doesnt give you any right to do as you wish with your exhaust pipe......the laws are there for everyone my friend....respect others' lives as much as you wish others to respect yours

I dont remember a law stating when you have to change your brake linings... I change mine when they are in need of it, not because the odometer rolled over to a certain number...

Originally posted by kkimmel
If this guy isnt selling these vechiles, leave it alone. It has nothing to do with you, is none of your business and reporting it will accomplish nothing other than than cause the person you are talking about to be harrassed by overzealious government bureaucrats who have nothing better to do besides harras people and waste our tax dollars conducting fruitless investigations.

When you find some child molestors, report them.

You remind me of this neighbor I had - she would call crime stoppers about every little thing that went on around here. Someone smashed a mailbox - call put in to crime stoppers. Someone littered - she'd call the local cops, then the state police and then the FBI if no one came out. She called the EPA on me one day to report that I had straight-piped one of my cars (took out the catlytic converter) because I didnt want to pay more than $500.00 to have a new one installed. They sent people out - onto my property without a search warrent - and inspected the underside of my car. They made the mistake of not getting a warrent and I eventaully got the court to throw the case out.

She was constantly in other people's business. One day, she called and reported some information about some drug dealings. And a few days later, there was news of a big drug bust in the area. About three months later, I was coming home from work, pulled into my driveway and noticed thier were cops all around her house. Later on I found out she had been murdered. They asked me and everyone else around her if we had any idea who would want her dead. "Well, yes, officer. I think just about everyone on this block wanted her to either die or leave. No one liked her. And you know why." That was all I said before I shut the door in the cops face. As far as I am concerned, she got what she deserved.

Keep your nose on your own face. What people do on thier own property is thier business. If it dosent concern you, keep out of it.

God, I hate neighbors.

Well said!

Reminds me of a neighbour up the road. LoL

I have seen some of my neighbors using binoculars to peek around... kinda creepy if you ask me.