As every year, Car-pass – the association responsible for official documents mentioning the mileage history of vehicles – publishes its annual report. In 2021, 1,578 cases of odometer fraud during the sale of a used vehicle were recorded. A decrease compared to 2020.
Of these 1,578 mileage fraud cases, 906 involved domestic sales – or 0.13% of the total. Conversely, 672 concerned an import of vehicles destined for Belgium (1.2% of all vehicles).
It should be noted that on average, the fraudulent odometer readings of Belgian vehicles are “52,000 kilometers less than the actual mileage.“On the side of foreign vehicles, on the other hand, fraud climbs to 75,000 kilometers.
The risk of fraud is therefore nearly 10 times higher when the vehicle comes from abroad
Not only “the risk of fraud is therefore almost 10 times higher when the vehicle comes from abroad, although these cars are generally significantly younger“, more “the number of kilometers that disappear from the counter is 50% higher“, can we read in the report.
For the ASBL, it is therefore imperative to carefully analyze the Car-pass when buying an imported vehicle.
Classification
In the list of the ten biggest cases of fraud, a Renault Kangoo comes first. This 2012 car, not imported, shows a reduction of nearly half a million kilometers (486,240 kilometres). Right behind her, a Mercedes Imported C 180 CDI, showing 427.673 kilometers difference compared to its real mileage.
It should be noted that the Mercedes remain numerous in this classification, winning six places out of ten.