<VV> Odometer mileage - and "resetting"

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/12/2007 7:59:44 AM Pacific Daylight Time,  cgc at kc.mv.com 
writes:


Where I live (NH) the part of the "restoration" where the odometer  is 
rolled back is a Felony.





Past a certain point, I think, California no longer cares about mileage. On  
the part of the paperwork that you turn in when you register a newly purchased 
 car, there is a place for the seller to enter the current mileage. If the  
car is about 10 years or older, they don't even look at that number. They  
certainly don't care if the Odo is working or not, even though the law in  CA 
requires it. If you want to be a stickler, you can enter the mileage on the  
previous Odo onto the door panel with a little sticker. That absolves you of any  
further mileage/odometer liability. Of course, the unsaid part (even in New  
Hampshire) is that it would be absolutely impossible to document mileage (high  
or low) on a ten year old car -not to mention a 40 year old car. The actual  
place on the pink slip says :
 
"FEDERAL LAW REQUIRES that you state the mileage upon transfer of  ownership. 
Failure to complete or making a false statement may result in fines  and/or 
imprisonment."
 
(Seth adds: then - it gives you the exit strategy!
 
"Odometer now reads:   [ ] [ ] [ ], [ ] [ ] [ ]  (no  tenths) miles, and to 
the best of my knowledge reflects the actual mileage of  the vehicle unless one 
of the following statements is checked.
 
 WARNING - Mileage [ ] is not the actual mileage [ ] exceeds the  odometer 
mechanical limits
 
End of Pink slip language!
 
SO - No matter what, especially on an older car, you should ALWAYS check  the 
[ ] is not the actual mileage block. Because, unless you know that the  
odometer is absolutely correct (fat chance) it is probably wrong -at least by a  
little bit! So what is the chance that it really is the actual mileage. Close to 
 ZERO! Almost all of the statutes in the Vehicle code use the phrase "with 
intent  to defraud".  Of course, if you turn back the mileage or replace the  
odometer with one with a lower number, then profess that to be original -with  
intent to defraud - You are in violation and deserve the book to be thrown at  
you! Oh, and in California that DMV book weighs around three pounds and is 
about  4" thick. Getting hit with that would hurt!
 
- Seth Emerson



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