Car Dealer Accused of Odometer Tampering by 100,000 Miles | Carscoops

      The owner of a used car dealership in Ohio faces charges for allegedly rolling back odometers.

      He is accused of reducing the mileage on eight vehicles by between 80,000 to 100,000 miles each before selling them to consumers.

      It is estimated that odometer fraud costs consumers over $1 billion each year.

      Purchasing a used car can be quite risky, especially when some manipulate the system. Nevertheless, justice has caught up with an Ohio dealer accused of rolling back odometers on several cars.

      According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, Simon Nwaru, the owner of S. Automotive Ltd in Whitehall, reportedly "knowingly disconnected, reset, and altered the mileage recorded by the odometer on vehicles, reducing high mileage to lower mileage, before selling them to customers" between November 2020 and May 2022.

      The government identified rollbacks on eight vehicles, with mileage reductions of approximately 80,000 to 100,000 miles (128,748 to 160,934 km) for each. This totals a possible rollback of 640,000 to 800,000 miles (1 to 1.29 million km).

      Nwaru has been indicted by a grand jury for his involvement in the scheme, and the government emphasized that odometer fraud is a federal crime that can lead to a prison sentence of up to three years. The U.S. Attorney’s Office cited estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, indicating that odometer fraud costs consumers over $1 billion each year.

      This alarming figure highlights a pattern, as it appears Nwaru has faced legal issues before. Previously, he and his dealership were sued by the State of Ohio for various questionable practices.

      The Ohio Attorney General specifically accused them of misrepresenting actual mileage in odometer disclosure statements and failing to inform some customers about odometer discrepancies. Notably, the discrepancies were attributed to the act of rolling back the odometers before selling the vehicles.

      One case involved a customer who paid $4,295 for a 2002 Acura MDX that was said to have 132,000 miles (212,433 km) on it, but it had actually been driven 168,120 miles (270,563 km).

      The state also pointed out other issues related to titles, paperwork, and the improper disclosure of the sale of rebuilt salvage vehicles.