Counters tampered with, a new scourge – BBC

Nearly 600,000 used cars sold in France each year have their tampered mileage, according to the International Federation of the automobile. A simple scam to realize that exasperates professionals fully determined sector to mobilize.

Sept specialized organizations of the automotive industry are sounding the alarm to to sensitize the European Commission to the problems caused by fraud on the clock.

This illegal practice which would affect 5 to 12% of used cars sold in the European Union, would lead to a loss of 5.6 to € 9.6 billion, according to figures from the Commission resumed by the International Federation of the Automobile (FIA). In France, the international organization estimates that the number of trafficked 600,000 used cars and sold.

This alarming fact is unfortunately not a surprise. Counters of newer cars are easy to forge and simple downloadable software on the Internet to change the number of kilometers. An operation that can pay big seller since cleared 100 thousand km can increase the value of the vehicle almost 5000 euros.

The solutions already exist

The worst is that the answers to this problem already exist but are not subject to control of the administration. Thus, no obligation is made to the seller of a used car to fill the mention mileage on the assignment contract. A simple measure that would already give an overview of the history of the vehicle.

In 2012, a reform of the technical control was adopted by the European Parliament. This provides for the establishment within four years of a database for technical controllers. They will be able to verify the consistency of each passage mileage from previous inspections. However, it was not until the second technical control once the software creates for the measurement gives the initial results.

A pioneer on the subject, Belgium has quickly addressed this issue. The flat country has developed a system called “Car-pass”. This document, required when a used car is sold, says the city, make and model of the vehicle and its identification number. Once a car enters a Belgian workshop, a statement is made to update. A national database allows prospective buyers to view the history of the car and make sure there is no fraud.

How to avoid fraud?

Unfortunately it is very difficult to realize with the naked eye if the meter has been tampered with beforehand. In case of problems, an amicable agreement with the seller is possible if it was not aware of the deception. Otherwise you have to go to court and seek advice from an expert, sole jurisdiction to shed light to the judge who will decide the dispute. The modification of a meter is considered a criminal offense (offense of fraud) liable to one to two years’ imprisonment and a 37,500 euro fine.