How to spot a wound-back odometer

Start with Service NSW’s free registration check. For a car registered in NSW it lists up to three recent yearly odometer readings, so you can compare them with the dash before you pay. If the car shows fewer kilometres than it had on record, ask why before you go any further.

Why odometers still get wound back

Fewer kilometres make a car look younger and worth more, so some sellers still change the number. It’s an offence in NSW. A seller who reduces the kilometres can be fined $1,100 per offence by NSW Fair Trading, or up to $55,000 per offence if it goes to court. Most of the checks below are free, and they’re worth doing before any money changes hands.

Check the readings on record

Service NSW has a free registration check. You only need the number plate, and it works for any car that is or was registered in NSW. Along with the rego expiry date and the compulsory third party (CTP) insurer, it lists the three most recent yearly odometer readings, where they’re available.

Compare them with the dash:

• the readings should go up from one year to the next
• the dash should show more than the latest reading
• a reading lower than the one before it, or a dash that shows less than the record, needs an explanation from the seller

A flat year or a big jump can have an ordinary reason, like a car that sat in a garage or did a lot of country driving. Ask the seller about it before you decide.

The free check doesn’t tell you whether the car has been written off. Service NSW sells a vehicle history report that does, and a search of the PPSR, the national Personal Property Securities Register, shows written-off and stolen records as well as any money owing on the car. What a pre-purchase inspection finds covers the PPSR in more detail.

If the car has only ever been registered in another state, the NSW check won’t have readings for it. The paperwork and the car itself have to do the work instead, and the car will need a blue slip, a safety and identity inspection, before it can be registered in NSW.

Check the paperwork against the car

The logbook and the service invoices usually note the kilometres at each service. They should rise in order, and sit sensibly against the yearly readings on the rego check.

A logbook stamp you can confirm is worth more than a folder of receipts. Ask who serviced the car, and whether that workshop can confirm the services and the kilometres it recorded.

If the logbook is missing, that isn’t proof of anything. It just means the rego check and the car itself have to do more of the work.

Check the car itself

Look at the parts a driver touches every day: the steering wheel, the pedal rubbers, the gear knob and the side of the driver’s seat. Heavy wear on a car showing low kilometres doesn’t prove the odometer was changed, but it is a reason to look harder. Tyres and brakes that are more worn than the reading suggests are another.

Our pre-purchase inspection checks the VIN (vehicle identification number), the compliance plate and the odometer history, scans each of the car’s computer modules for fault codes and road-tests the car. The report includes photos of the odometer and the VIN, so you have a record of what the car showed on the day.

If the numbers don’t add up

You don’t have to buy it. If the readings go backwards and the seller can’t explain why, walk away, or have the car inspected before you decide anything.

If they do add up, there’s still the rest of the purchase to get right. Is a pink slip enough when buying a car? explains why a fresh pink slip isn’t a condition report, and buying a used car: the rego and pink slip covers the transfer once you’ve paid.

If you’re looking at a car now, book a pre-purchase inspection and we’ll go to the seller’s address.