All You Need To Know About An Odometer Disclosure Statement

By Author: Andrew Richardson
Total Articles: 66
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If you are planning to buy or sell your car, you should be familiar with the odometer disclosure statement as to what it is and when it is required.
You may be well aware of the odometer fraud and its growth in the market these days. A car with high mileage tends to sell for a lower price than the one with fewer miles. Due to this reason, sellers try to manipulate the actual mileage figures of a car.
It's quite easy to roll back an analog odometer to tamper with the numbers. However, rolling a digital odometer is also easy.
To tackle this problem, a federal law called the 'Federal Truth in Mileage Act' was formed in 1986. Due to the presence of this law, every vehicle's mileage is stored in a database and is updated whenever a vehicle is sold.
What Is An Odometer Disclosure Statement in Washington?
An odometer disclosure statement is nothing but a declaration of a vehicle's mileage as displayed but its odometer; it also suggests whether the odometer has been tampered ...
... with or not.
If you have ever sold an automobile, you've actually completed a generic odometer disclosure statement.
On a California vehicle title, a box beneath the two stacked signatures is specifically provided for the odometer disclosure statement.
Why is Odometer Disclosure Required?
Odometer disclosure is mandatory by law, with the exception of certain vehicles. If this law gets violated by any means, the person can be imposed hefty fines and possibly imprisonment. However, not all vehicles require a mandatory odometer disclosure.
For instance, in California, automobiles that are ten years old or older do not have to disclose their mileage.
Commercial vehicles with weight limits, vehicles sold by a manufacturer directly to an agency, and a new vehicle transferred before its first retail sale are also not required to disclose their statement.
How to Figure Out the Accuracy of Your Odometer Disclosure Statement in Washington?
You may have noticed on a California vehicle title that there are three options for indicating whether an odometer is accurate or not.
After writing the numbers displayed by the vehicle's odometer, you can say that the written mileage is the 'actual mileage,' which helps in approving the number as accurate. You can also say that the displayed mileage exceeds the mechanical limits, meaning that it has 'rolled over' or reached the highest capable number and started over.
Lastly, you can display that the mileage is 'not the actual mileage,' if the odometer seems to be broken or replaced or whether the vehicle owner doesn't know the true mileage.
Conclusion
Remember that odometer tampering can lead to fines or imprisonment. Therefore, it's important, to be honest about your vehicle's mileage. It's okay if you are not aware of the real number but make sure you indicate the suitable title upon its sale.
Andrew Richardson is the author of this Article. To know more about Selling a Car with mileage discrepancy please visit our website: allenstewart.com