You Can Fight Odometer Fraud

How many miles does your used car really have on its odometer?

A simple report on the Internet can let you know for sure.

"When I brought the car home, I noticed it leaked almost every fluid I had," said Bill Stenger.

"When I go to resell (my) car, I'll probably lose a couple of thousand dollars on that," said Kevin Mattern.

Stenger and Mattern were victims of one of the oldest used car tricks in the book: odometer fraud.

But now even digital odometers can be rolled back.

"People mistakenly think digital odometers can't be rolled back," said car-buying expert Jack Gillis. "But the fact is there are products sold over the Internet that would allow anyone who would want to roll back even a digital odometer."

"The process is not unlike hacking into a computer," said mechanic Pat Gross. "If they can hack into a main frame (computer), they certainly can hack into the computer and the odometer system on the average automobile, it's really basic."

Mattern learned his odometer had been rolled back while helping his daughter check out used cars.

He ran the vehicle identification number (VIN) for his car just to check it out.

"I re-read the report several times, until it finally sank it that, yes, it really had been rolled back," Mattern said. "And it told me how many miles it had been rolled back: It had been rolled back about 53,000 miles."

If you are looking to buy a used car, you can run an odometer check for free at Carfax (www.carfax.com).

You put in the VIN and Carfax will tell you if there are any odometer discrepancies for the car.

If there are any discrepancies, then it's a good idea to buy a report. A report costs $14.99.

The best thing to do: Do you homework before you buy. Go online and run the car's VIN number to get its history. A few minutes before you buy can save you thousands.