Carfax Offers Consumers Free Odometer Checks to Help Uncover Nearly One Billion Miles Lost in Recent Fraud Scandal

FAIRFAX, Va.--April 22, 2004--The FBI recently indicted 17 men in the Northeast for allegedly misrepresenting mileage on approximately 10,000 used vehicle odometers. To help consumers in the region who suspect their odometer readings may have been altered, Carfax, the pioneer of vehicle history reports, is offering free odometer checks. The free odometer check allows consumers to see the last reported odometer reading in the Carfax database.

Consumers can access the free odometer check by visiting http://www.carfax.com/odo and entering the 17-digit vehicle identification number for their car. The reading provided by Carfax should be compared to the odometer reading displayed on the dashboard of their car.

"We're really concerned whenever we hear about consumers being ripped off," says Kristy Darcey, director of Consumer Affairs for Carfax. "Carfax is working hard to expand the depth and scope of our data to give consumers even more protection when they're shopping for a used car."

Odometer fraud, one of the latest trends in automotive fraud today, is the illegal act of rolling back odometers in order to make a car appear as if it has not traveled nearly as many miles. Vehicles whose odometers have been tampered with can then be sold at a higher price because the odometer reading is a key indicator of the car's true value. According to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA), there are more than 450,000 cases of odometer fraud in the United States each year, which costs consumers an extra $1 billion per year.

About Carfax

Founded in 1986, Carfax pioneered the concept of the vehicle history report. Carfax Vehicle History Reports, the most comprehensive collection of used vehicle information ever assembled, can confirm a clean title history or help purchasers identify previous salvage history, odometer fraud, flood damage and more. Used car buyers can access more than three billion vehicle history records assembled from thousands of different sources in the Carfax nationwide database at www.carfax.com or through a participating dealer. Used cars purchased with Carfax Vehicle History Reports that confirm a clean title history as reported by the state departments of motor vehicles may be eligible for the Carfax Buyback Guarantee. Parents interested in obtaining tips to use while teaching their kids to drive can enroll in the Carfax Safe Teen Drivers Program. Carfax, Inc., based in Fairfax, Virginia, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the R.L. Polk & Co.