Cowboy car dealers rigged mileage prior to sale

THE tireless Guardia Civil have crippled another criminal network, after busting a scam in which second-hand car dealers manipulated odometers to display a reduced mileage, thus obtaining more money from the sale of used vehicles.

Seven arrests have been made so far, with the scammers based in the Murcian towns of Jumilla and Molina de Segura, where they worked in used car showrooms and repair businesses.

The ringleader is a business owner who acquired vehicles previously used as taxis or company cars at low prices from rental firms in Madrid and Bilbao, passing them to a specialist in automobile electronics and mechanics, who tampered with their instruments.

The high-mileage cars were subsequently sold as nearly-new, earning the bent dealers some €200,000 as they consigned a total of 14 million kilometres to history, according to police.

In one case, a car which had done 253,000 kilometres was offered for sale with just 11,500 on the clock, significantly increasing its price.

In addition, when buyers paid in cash invoices were not presented for tax purposes, leading to further infractions, as the case remains open pending further arrests.