The Automobile Club Association (ACA) France has again condemned the practice of mileage fraud on the heels of a report by the French Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Prevention of Fraud on used vehicles and mileage fraud.

The report reveals that 5-12% of all used vehicles sold in Europe have been tampered with to change the odometer reading. When it comes to cross-border sales, the percentage of second-hand vehicles with tampered odometers can reach up to 30%. The annual economic losses from this type of fraud Europe-wide, could be as high as 9.6 billion EUR according to some estimates . In France between 280,000 – 625,000 used cars had their odometer data falsified. Estimates of the economic losses resulting from mileage fraud in France alone are in the range of 480,000 million and 1 billion EUR.

“Falsifying the odometer is an easy crime, cheap and quite often undetectable. The devices necessary to tamper with odometers are readily available on the internet for prices as low aw €150.”, explains Didier Bollecker, ACA President.

Due to the serious consequences mileage fraud has for drivers, the issue has been at the forefront of the ACA’s agenda. The Club is advocating for stronger EU legislation, a data sharing scheme within the European Union aimed at mileage fraud prevention. It also calls for manufacturers to put in place systems that prevent tampering with the odometer by making it technically impossible.

Read the full article (in French)