But scammers are still able to roll back your counter with some new tricks. It's a crime many of assumed disappeared in the digital age. But odometer fraud is alive, well and on the rise. And it's costing drivers millions of dollars.
ABC2 News Investigator Joce Sterman shows us how the thieves are getting away with rollbacks, grabbing your money with their game.
Rolling back the miles and turning back the clock on your car. Ferris Bueller isn’t the only schemer to try it. But thieves don't need any Hollywood magic to make time disappear.
In the past, they used to simply roll back the numbers on your odometer by hand. Now scammers are bringing their skills into the 21st century to tamper with your digital odometer.
Odometer fraud is a major crime. It’s so big; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has an entire unit dedicated to investigations, as does the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.
Beth Baker with NHTSA tells us, "Everyone thinks if it's digital, it's automatic and it can't be tampered with. But if there's a will, there's a way." And Baker says criminals have found a way to give this old trick new life.
A Carfax study says odometer fraud numbers are up about 60-percent nationwide and even higher in Maryland.
NHTSA estimates as many as 500,000 cases happen each year, with the problem potentially costing drivers up to a billion dollars annually.
Baker says, "You end up paying extra at the offset for the car. You'll eventually start paying more for repairs because the car will start breaking down sooner than anticipated."
And it happens without any warning. While the old odometers showed signs of tampering, counters on most modern cars keep the scam a secret.
Chris Basso with Carfax says, "With the digital odometer, there's virtually no sign the odometer has been rolled back." That’s thanks in part to computer software that allows scammers to kick your car back to another time.
Those products aren’t hard to find. We spotted some reportedly legitimate-use programs and equipment online with a simple search.
They were priced at just a few thousand dollars, but the crooks can use this tool to make much more bilking you. Basso tells ABC2, “It's extremely easy.
It's a bang, bang process where they’re putting that software into a laptop and typing in the mileage they want that car to read."
As a result, thousands of miles can be erased in an instant. And experts tell us it can be very hard to track that crime under the hood.
GM Master Technician Tom Hartel says, "As far as being able to take our diagnostic tools and plug into the computer and read a mileage that equals what's on the odometer, we don't have that ability."
Hartel says most cars don't store the readings anywhere but the dash, so their tools can't raise any red flags.
And when it comes to visual signs of tampering, Hartel says that’s also hard to spot, “A good detailing job can hide a multitude of sins inside the vehicle."
That’s why experts say you need to take a close look at any used car you're considering. You need to have a professional look for wear and tear inside and out. And you should get a Carfax report and title history to see if the mileage on the meter matches up.
Otherwise, Basso says you’re putting yourself at risk, "If you buy a car without doing the proper research, you're putting the power in the seller's hands." And those sellers are turning back the hands of time, squeezing you for every possible dollar.
Carfax says their research shows the average rollback is between 35-40,000 miles, which translates to a difference in cost of about $3-4,000.
The company believes the crime is growing, and they’re not alone. NHTSA also thinks odometer fraud is on the rise, in part thanks to a challenging economy that has everyone pinching pennies and trying to make the most out of every dollar.
