The Federal Odometer Act, passed in 1972, modified the

United States Code The United States Code (formally The Code of Laws of the United States of America) is the official Codification (law), codification of the general and permanent Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statutes of the United States. It ...

to prohibit tampering with a motor vehicle's

odometer An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical). The noun derives from ancient Gr ...

and to provide safeguards to protect purchasers in the sale of motor vehicles with altered or reset odometers.49 USC CHAPTER 327 - ODOMETERS
Office of the Law Revision Counsel The Act provides definitions and civil and criminal penalties for

odometer fraud Odometer fraud, also referred to as "busting miles" (United States) or "clocking" (UK, Ireland and Canada), is the illegal practice of rolling back odometers to make it appear that vehicles have lower mileage than they actually do. Odometer fraud ...

Interpretations

The Act was intended to protect consumers buying used vehicles from odometer fraud, and is typically applied against sellers who intentionally tamper with an odometer to misrepresent the actual miles an automobile has been driven. However, in 2004 and 2006, two

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuits were filed against American Honda Motor Co Inc and two of its suppliers alleging that they had violated the Federal Odometer Act because the odometers in approximately 6,000,000 Honda and Acura vehicles overstated the actual mileage by 2% to 4%Odometer Settlement May Earn Class Lawyers $9.5 Million in Fees
Law.com even though the Act contains no provisions for odometer accuracy. Subsequently, Honda changed the tolerance of its odometers from -1%/+3.75% to ±2.5%.Settlement Agreement
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222122902/http://www.odosettlementinfo.com/Vaughn%20Final%20Settlement%20Agreement.pdf , date=2007-02-22 odosettlementinfo.com

References

Odometer Act Vehicle law