We went digging to see if that widely shared class-action lawsuit accusing Tesla of odometer fraud had any real-world backing. Honestly, we expected it to be overblown. Odometer lawsuits aren’t exactly everyday news, the last one I can remember was a branding disaster for Ferrari. To our surprise, Tesla drivers have been publicly posting about […]
A Tesla influencer randomly caught his odometer double-counting mileage on video. Wild.
This is misleading, it is illegal in Germany, if it is about changing the odometer to a wrong record, and only legal to correct it, if it was broken or is replaced.
What do you mean with “not enforced”? Do you mean that people that find manipulated odometers with proof go to court and then nothing is done?
I get that it is sometimes difficult to proof a manipulation of the odometer, and that fraud here is pretty wildly spread, and maybe more prevalent in Germany compared to France, but that doesn’t mean that other countries are not doing it.
I would also agree that anyone should prefer buying from local sellers first, but just saying that this is a special issue that only Germany has to deal, because they do not care about the law and order is wrong.
This is the same logic that some people on the right have: “Crimes happen more often in cities, and the reason for that is that they do not care about the law there.”
When I lived in Germany I found that the people were far more self-policing than Americans. There just seemed to be a general attitude of, “we know we’re not supposed to do that, so we don’t.”
Fully anecdotal, sure, and that was 15 years ago, but nonetheless it’s hard for me to imagine “ze Germans” tampering with odometers to sell cars.
They are recorded in multiple different events (repairs at a professional service, oil change, inspections, etc.), but as a buyer you would have to become active, ask for and check the papers, contact past owners, inspect the car, etc.
Because changing the odometer is easy and cheap, and can raise the price at an average of 3000€ per car, it is done rather often and not discovered in many cases.
While there are laws against it, the implementation of more manipulation resistant odometers by the car vendors is still not there yet broadly.
This is misleading, it is illegal in Germany, if it is about changing the odometer to a wrong record, and only legal to correct it, if it was broken or is replaced.
Yes you’re right. However it seems that around 30% of the used cars sold from Germany are concerned. A law that is not enforced is a fake law.
What do you mean with “not enforced”? Do you mean that people that find manipulated odometers with proof go to court and then nothing is done?
I get that it is sometimes difficult to proof a manipulation of the odometer, and that fraud here is pretty wildly spread, and maybe more prevalent in Germany compared to France, but that doesn’t mean that other countries are not doing it.
I would also agree that anyone should prefer buying from local sellers first, but just saying that this is a special issue that only Germany has to deal, because they do not care about the law and order is wrong.
This is the same logic that some people on the right have: “Crimes happen more often in cities, and the reason for that is that they do not care about the law there.”
When I lived in Germany I found that the people were far more self-policing than Americans. There just seemed to be a general attitude of, “we know we’re not supposed to do that, so we don’t.”
Fully anecdotal, sure, and that was 15 years ago, but nonetheless it’s hard for me to imagine “ze Germans” tampering with odometers to sell cars.
uhhhhh… this may surprise you, but… ze germans and everyone else suffer from unfettered capitalist fuckery.
Oof, yeah, forgot about that. Yeah, people are people everywhere… I just liked having a more idyllic version of things in my head
yeah a lil scandal here, a little scandal there, pretty soon everyone’s at least scumbag adjacent.
It’s likely not your average car owner, more like your average shady used car salesman.
Is the odometer not recorded when having yearly inspections? Or do people cheat it before those as well?
They are recorded in multiple different events (repairs at a professional service, oil change, inspections, etc.), but as a buyer you would have to become active, ask for and check the papers, contact past owners, inspect the car, etc.
Because changing the odometer is easy and cheap, and can raise the price at an average of 3000€ per car, it is done rather often and not discovered in many cases.
While there are laws against it, the implementation of more manipulation resistant odometers by the car vendors is still not there yet broadly.
Source: https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/auto-kaufen-verkaufen/gebrauchtwagenkauf/tacho-manipulation/