Used Car News

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has filed a civil suit against three car dealers for odometer fraud dating back to 2007.

The suit, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Jan. 13, accuses John Thomas Lindsay, Donald Alan Owens and Brad Allen Tyl of rolling back the odometers of at least 13 vehicles, though the suit suggests there are likely more victims.
In the court document, the state accuses the trio of purposely buying cars at auction that were more than 10 years old, which allowed them to register the vehicles as odometer exempt. The title on an “odometer exempt” vehicle does not reflect the true mileage.
However, the lawsuit alleges that the dealers would alter the actual odometers to mislead customers into thinking there were fewer miles on the vehicles. The state accuses the dealers of failing to disclose the discrepancy.
The suit also alleges that Lindsay told a member of the Arkansas State Police that he was entitled to change the odometer on a vehicle which was “odometer exempt” since the branded title means the odometer doesn’t reflect the true mileage anyway.
The attorney general calls the dealers’ actions “deceptive and unconscionable trade practices.”
Jim DePriest, deputy attorney general, said the state’s intentions are to stop the activity and levy civil penalties against the defendants for violating consumer protection laws.
DePriest said the state is confident in its case against the dealers. They bought the cars and the odometers have been changed.
The lawsuit asks the court to force the defendants to stop the illegal practices and pay restitution to the consumers affected by the rollbacks.
It also asks the court to impose civil penalties in the amount of $10,000 per violation, for each violation of the state’s deceptive trade practices law. The suit also asked the court require the defendants to pay the state’s litigation costs, including attorneys’ fees and other relief.
Although the attorney general’s lawsuit is civil, the dealers could also face criminal charges.
A spokesman for the Arkansas State Police said the criminal investigation is ongoing.
DePriest said odometer rollback cases were more frequent in the past.
“Now, we don’t see these very often,” he said.
With increased regulation and more information on the history of a vehicle, it’s more difficult to get away with odometer fraud.
DePriest said the problem is that most times consumers just look at the odometer and often don’t see the title until later and miss the discrepancy.
Tyl said he was not aware of the suit when contacted for this article. He said he is no longer in business and would not comment further.
Lindsay did not return a call for comment.