Milage fraud on cars is falsely inflating the value of older cars, that’s according to a local MEP.
Carlow-based Fianna Fail MEP Cynthia Ní Murchú made the comments, after she called for immediate EU legislation to combat the practice in the second-hand market.
The European Commission has recently estimated that up to half of all second-hand cars traded within the EU have been clocked.
Odometer fraud is only a criminal offence in six EU Member States, including Ireland. MEP Ní Murchú called for car clocking to be made a criminal offence across all EU member states in forthcoming EU roads legislation and for the EU to institute an EU-wide milage database, similar to Belgium’s car pass system.
Speaking to KCLR News, she said that odometer fraud is a problem with a number of knock-on effects.
“Car clocking, lets face it, it falsely inflates the value of older cars, it scams innocent buyers into paying more for cars because they think there are less miles on the clock, and it has an impact on road safety, because the car isn’t as safe as one would think it is, and also the environmental targets are not going to be met so efficiently by the car, because its much older, and its worn, and its not as environmentally friendly.”
