There are harmful environmental consequences as these cars are often more polluting, making them a health and road safety hazard.
It is therefore imperative that this practice is treated as a serious crime as is already happening in other jurisdictions such as the US where odometer tampering is classified as a felony and attracts civil penalties of up to $100,000 (Sh10.8 million).
The government should partner with second-hand car dealers and key source nations such as Japan and the EU to create national databases through which mandatory exchange of mileage readings would be effected to prevent fraud.
The proposed rules to crack down on odometer tampering of used vehicles are timely and should be fast-tracked for the sake of consumer protection.
A Bill by the Leader of the Majority Party in the National Assembly Amos Kimunya seeks to have dealers who quote false mileage –number of kilometres travelled— on passenger or commercial vehicles prosecuted for fraud.
Convicted fraudsters would face a Sh2 million fine and a five-year jail term for false marketing and declaration.
These proposals are sensible and deserve support. Odometer tampering costs consumers, second-hand car dealers, insurers, vehicle leasing companies and even manufacturers billions of shillings a year globally.
Mileage remains a key sales point for used car dealers in an attempt to win over buyers seeking real value for money.
Unfortunately, crooks have abused the low-mileage mantra to defraud consumers and businesses of huge fortunes through odometer tampering of used vehicles.
Today odometer tampering has seen the mileage rolled back on many second-hand cars traded in the Kenyan market, with the price of vehicles fraudulently increasing by substantive amounts. Though this may seem a simple matter, it comes with weighty economic and safety consequences that cannot be ignored.
Odometer tampering means that consumers not only pay too much for their vehicles, but are often faced with unexpected maintenance and repair expenses for overused cars. Consumers also end up paying high insurance premiums for car units whose prices have been exaggerated through fraud.
Additionally, there are harmful environmental consequences as these cars are often more polluting, making them a health and road safety hazard.
It is therefore imperative that this practice is treated as a serious crime as is already happening in other jurisdictions such as the US where odometer tampering is classified as a felony and attracts civil penalties of up to $100,000 (Sh10.8 million).
The government should partner with second-hand car dealers and key source nations such as Japan and the EU to create national databases through which mandatory exchange of mileage readings would be effected to prevent fraud.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
