Used car buyers warned after B.C. seller rolls back 39 odometers

A B.C. man has been banned for life from selling vehicles after beingcaught rolling back the odometers of 39 cars he sold through Craigslist.

The vehicles were all sold in Richmond and Delta by Arthur Tong, a licensed car dealer who posed as a private seller, according to the B.C. Vehicle Sales Authority.

VSA spokesmanDoug Longhurstsaid his organization usually receives about three complaints of odometer tamperinga year.

"That's why this one stood out to us," he said. "It was so egregious, we decided that we actually needed to make a public announcement to warn consumers."

Following a detailed investigation, Longhurst says the registrar of motor dealers cancelled Tong's dealer registration, and issued him a lifetime ban forbidding him from have any association with motor dealersin B.C.

Easy to do, but easy to detect

Longhurst said odometer tampering is relatively easy to do, even with modern vehicles that use digital odometer systems. He said tools can be bought online that connect to a car's computer and adjust the odometer's display.

But he also said it is easy to detect suspected odometer tampering by looking at the car's history, either through an ICBC vehicle history report or through a private company like Carfax. For the various data points these reports collect registration, accidents, major repairs, etc. the odometer reading is usually recorded.

Longhurst said his organization which regulates the licensing of car dealers in B.C. was only able to intervene because Tong was a licensed car dealer in the province.

"If they had bought from a private seller who wasn't a licensed dealer, as it turned out, they would've been on their own in terms of trying to get any kind of recovery," Longhurst said.

Longhurst said his organization returned more than $118,000 to purchasers of the tampered vehicles. Four vehicles were returned to Tong for full refunds, but most people were happy with their cars and simply wanted to be compensated for the premium they paid over the "true" value of the car.

Tong's license has since been revoked, and the VSA is warning people to avoid purchasing vehicles from him.

With files from CBC Radio One's On the Island.