Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a lawsuit against an Indianapolis car dealer alleging the dealer illegally rolled back odometers on vehicles sold to unsuspecting consumers believing they were purchasing lower-mileage vehicles.
The lawsuit alleges that KBB Auto Sales LLC — along with owners and employees Brandon Billingsley, Shannon Hayes and Nicolas Fortinberry — rolled back odometers by a combined total of more than 14 million miles on 216 known vehicles.
“This outright fraud unfairly gives a bad name to the good and honest people working in the used-car business,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Worse than that, these unethical tactics deceive consumers who buy these vehicles with rolled-back odometers. They wind up with higher-mileage cars and trucks with more wear and tear than they thought.”
The lawsuit alleges that the odometer tampering violates the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, the Indiana Odometer Act, the Federal Odometer Act and the Motor Vehicle Unfair Practices Act.
Attorney General Rokita seeks injunctive relief, consumer restitution, treble damages, civil penalties, costs and other relief.
“We will always work to hold these businesses accountable when they engage in this kind of misconduct detrimental to consumers,” Attorney General Rokita said. “And we will always work to get restitution for Hoosiers who have fallen victim to such reprehensible schemes.”
Attorney General Rokita offers the following tips for Hoosiers shopping for used cars:
- Do your research and know your budget prior to going to the dealership.
- Test drive the vehicle in a variety of conditions: highway, city streets and stop-and-go traffic.
- Get a vehicle history report to check for potential odometer issues, prior accidents and damage, salvage, rebuilt or flood damage title brands.
- Have an independent mechanic inspect the vehicle.
- Check whether the vehicle has any open recalls, including safety recalls. This information can be obtained at safecar.gov.
- Ask to inspect the vehicle’s title, including the odometer disclosure.
- Closely inspect the final paperwork to ensure the price and terms match what was negotiated.
- Get all promises from the dealer in writing, typically on the “We-Owe” statement.
