Altering the mileage reading on a motor vehicle is a felony. Effective July 5, 1994, the odometer tampering statutes were recodified from Title 15, U.S.C., to Title 49. The change was not substantive, though the statutes were reworded.

http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/ocl/monograph/odom.htm

ILLEGAL ODOMETER TAMPERING
http://www2.state.ga.us/GaOCA/Bro_odo.htm

From Consumer Law (http://www.thecommondenominator.com/cl080999.html)
Notice of broken odometer

Sometimes odometers break or malfunction. According to the act, if an odometer is broken, it cannot be altered when it is being repaired. If an odometer cannot be fixed without being altered, it must be reset to zero.A written notice must then be attached to the vehicle's left door frame that states the mileage before the repair and the date of the repair. You can then add the mileage on the door frame notice to the mileage on the odometer to get the total miles.

As a consumer, be aware that the person or company selling the car is responsible for knowing the correct total mileage. The seller must convey that information to you in writing. The act prohibits the transfer of ownership of a car to a seller without full disclosure of the actual total mileage. If a car’s actual mileage is unknowable, or if the seller is unsure of the actual mileage, he or she must tell you in writing that the actual mileage is unknown.

If the odometer has been changed

So what can you do if you learn that someone has tampered with your odometer or in any way violated the odometer act? If you discover the violation within two years of your purchase, you can bring a suit against the individual or car dealership that sold you the car. The law requires you to prove the seller’s intent to deceive. That means you must show that the odometer was changed in order to make it seem like the car had less mileage on it, as opposed to it having been altered by accident. In most cases of odometer tampering, this may not be difficult to prove. The harder part is discovering that your odometer has been tampered with in the first place.

If you are successful in your suit against the seller, you are entitled to the greater of either $1,500 or three times the amount of actual damages. Actual damages would be the difference between the price you paid for the car and what it was really worth at its true mileage. If you paid $3,000 more for the car than it was worth with the actual mileage, then you could receive $9,000. The seller can also be ordered to pay your attorney’s fees and costs if you win.

for new members.

Please be aware the punishment is extreme... :eek:

I take the worst possible case scenario because Federal prosecutors have zero tolerance on this topic!!! :eek:

Repairing or altering a unit places you at risk, touching other peoples units is EXTREME risk.

NOTE:
Please do not become a statistic.
There have been too many average people, with their life wrecked by this.

So, I guess documenting everything with a camera as well as in writing would be the safe course should you have to repair your odo.

Does anyone know the U.S. title and section of the actual law? I'd like to read it for myself.

Edit: Never mind. I read the first link from the first post. 49 USC Chapter 327.

It should also be noted that driving with a non-working odometer can also be a federal offense, provided this is done with the intent to defraud the next owner. Repairing an odometer and leaving it at the same reading as before it was repaired is strictly and explicitly legal.

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/Pre_96/December94/695.txt.html

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title4/civ00152.htm

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/11/odometer_021011.html

http://www.odometertampering.com/odometer%20fraud%20criminal%20prosecution.htm

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Mar/14/ln/ln23a.html

http://hawaii.gov/ag/main/press_releases/2003/ODOMETER%20ROLLBACK%20INDICTMENT%20ANNOUNCED_2003-72.pdf

http://notfea.org/Sutton%20summary.pdf

http://www.kmbc.com/news/9820849/detail.html

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/PressRel08/koupai_odometer_ple_pr.html

http://ago.mo.gov/newsreleases/2006/121306.htm

http://cbs4.com/consumer/Broward.News.Planet.2.394312.html

http://www.katu.com/news/11762671.html

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/wvn/press/press07/august/witek.html

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ils/press/2006/Oct/10272006_Boswell%20sentencing%20pr.pdf





http://www.odometertampering.com/Federal%20odometer%20criminal%20statute.htm

you guys must have better police than i had. i purchased a car from a carlot in atlanta, proved the od was turned back.i traced the car back to the original owner and got maint. records from the ford dealer in NJ. i presented all this to my local police, they said there was nothing they could do. i also contacted his local police dept w/ address, directions to his house & his workplace - same responce. took it all to the federal building in atlanta and was told that even though it is a law, it's basically uninforcible. now since i got it from a dealer he exchanged it for me. but i just don't like people that try to rip another person off.
yea i know - i need a life.

Would it matter on my old cars? All of my titles read "0000000 mileage exempt" in the mileage section.

What about when you swap speedometers? I have 312K on my car now and want that mileage transferred over to my new speedometer when I put in my new rear end. Is this going to be a problem to have a shop do?

Would it matter on my old cars? All of my titles read "0000000 mileage exempt" in the mileage section.

What about when you swap speedometers? I have 312K on my car now and want that mileage transferred over to my new speedometer when I put in my new rear end. Is this going to be a problem to have a shop do?
It is not legal.
I personally do not know a shop willing to take the risk.

When I bought my car, it read 176854, but it didn't work. I replaced it with a junkyard one that reads 151000 but it works. I didn't want to take any chances with it breaking if I tried to rool it forward. Will this be a problem? I do not plan to sell it, but who knows.

What about when you swap speedometers? I have 312K on my car now and want that mileage transferred over to my new speedometer when I put in my new rear end. Is this going to be a problem to have a shop do?

Change the miles yourself. Use the odometer gear repair trick. Tilt the shaft down so the numbers don't touch the cogs and rotate the numbers to what they need to be. Its what I did with the donor speedo when I changed my rear end.