Beware of Used Car Odometer Manipulation: Difficult to Prove?

JAKARTA – The practice of odometer manipulation on used cars continues to be a concern for prospective buyers. However, in practice, proving that the kilometre reading has been altered is not an easy task, even for professional inspection services. According to Jeffrey Andika, owner of the Otospector inspection service, suspicions of odometer manipulation cannot be concluded solely from the vehicle’s physical appearance. He explains that conditions such as a bald steering wheel or pedals that appear worn by age are not strong enough to serve as primary evidence. Such indicators only serve as initial clues that require further verification. “If we just say the steering wheel is bald or the pedals are worn, that’s not strong enough,” he stated. Instead, the inspection team gathers various field indicators and matches them with the vehicle’s service history data, particularly from official workshops. “Inspectors check the indicators, then enter the system, and the office team will check the records at the official workshop. If there is indeed a record, we then note it down,” said Jeffrey. Nevertheless, Otospector does not directly state that the odometer has been manipulated. The report provided emphasises presenting data so that consumers can draw their own conclusions. “We don’t say the odometer has been manipulated; we just display the data and let the consumer conclude,” he said. He added that discrepancies between the odometer reading and the service history can be a strong signal of irregularity. “For example, if the kilometre reading is 47,000 but the previous service records don’t match, that’s already sufficient indication,” said Jeffrey. On the other hand, the use of scanning tools like OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) is not guaranteed to reveal the true kilometre reading on all cars. According to Jeffrey, this feature is generally only available on certain models. “OBD scanning isn’t possible on all cars; it’s usually more for European cars,” he said. Therefore, an approach based on physical indicators combined with historical data is still considered the most realistic method currently for detecting potential odometer manipulation on used cars.