Research: Local or imported cars – which have more mileage rollbacks?

Buying a car can be daunting, and one of the biggest concerns for buyers is odometer fraud, also known as mileage rollbacks or “clocking.” This involves tampering with the vehicle’s odometer to reduce the displayed mileage, making the car appear less used than it actually is.

It’s usually taken for a fact that the risk of getting a clocked car is significantly higher when it’s imported from a foreign country. After all, the cross-border movement of used cars is much more difficult to track.

If a vehicle has been used in one country from the moment it was manufactured, local authorities usually hold plenty of historical data about it. But when the car is imported, its historical records do not always “travel” with it.

To check the facts, we analyzed millions of carVertical history reports in multiple European countries, comparing how car clocking depends on the type of car transaction (imported vs. local).

Research findings

• In total, 4.3% of analysed cars had mileage rollbacks.
• Imported cars are 2.2 times more likely to be clocked than local ones (5.8% vs 2.7%).
• More than half of checked vehicles on carVertical were imported (53.7% of all reports).
• Eastern Europe has the highest share of clocked cars, with rollback rates reaching up to 10%.
• Western Europe shows the lowest rollback risk, with total rates around 2–2.5%.
• Germany shows the biggest gap between imported and local cars (imported cars are 5 times more likely to be clocked).
• Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Serbia face higher mileage fraud risk, with imports exceeding 70%.

Big differences between countries

As it turns out, all analyzed countries face bigger issues with imported vehicles, while odometer tampering occurs less often among local cars. However, there are significant differences.

For instance, in Germany, odometer tampering is over 5 times more common among imported vehicles. Of all imported cars checked on carVertical in this country, 4.6% have been found to have tampered odometer readings, while the share of local clocked cars is at 0.9%.

Similarly, imported clocked cars are 4 times more prevalent in Latvia and 3.4 times in Great Britain.

On the other end of the scale, the difference in prevalence of clocked cars between local and imported vehicles is much less noticeable in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Ukraine (1.5 times), Romania (1.5 times), and Croatia (1.6 times) have a similar proportion of local and imported clocked cars.

Eastern Europe faces the biggest issues with clocked cars

Latvia (10.8%), Ukraine (9.5%), Romania (7.5%), Lithuania (7%), and Hungary (5.3%) “lead” the pack with the highest number of total clocked cars. Meanwhile Belgium (2.1%), Great Britain (2.3%), Germany (2%), Croatia (2.2%), and France (2.5%) have the lowest proportion of local and imported vehicles with tampered odometer readings.

When comparing the total number of clocked cars in Western European countries, you can see that the scale of the issue in each country is quite similar. The percentage of total clocked vehicles varies from 2.1% to 2.5% in the countries with the best (lowest number of clocked cars) results.

Results of the top four Eastern European countries with the most clocked cars range from 7% to 10.8% – 4 times more than the best result among Western European countries.

Significantly more local cars found in Western Europe

While all countries have significant numbers of both imported and local vehicles, Western countries tend to have more local cars.

For example, out of all checked vehicles in Great Britain, a whopping 97.7% were local (due to the traffic direction differences). The situation is similar in Italy, with 79.5% of local cars. 6.3% of imported cars checked in Italy had tampered odometers, while the percentage of local clocked cars was three times lower – 2.1%.

Most Central/Eastern European countries have a significantly higher number of imported cars, which accounts for the much higher percentage of clocked cars overall.

The largest numbers of imported cars can be found in Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Serbia, exceeding 70%.

Hypothesis and methodology

Cross-border car transactions are supposed to be considerably more risky because countries don’t exchange car transaction details. For instance, if a car is sold in Germany, German authorities will not provide any information about the mileage to other EU member states’ car registration authorities.

As a result, fraudsters take this as an opportunity to modify car mileage, seeking to sell for more than the actual worth. This is a huge pain point in Europe or any region where cross-border car movement makes up a significant share of car transactions.

To compare the prevalence of mileage rollbacks in vehicles, we did research in 18 European countries.

The findings are based on data from carVertical vehicle history reports generated by our users, which we divided into two groups:

• Local vehicles: Local vehicles are those with data records found in only one country (ignoring records designating the country of manufacture).
• Imported vehicles: Imported vehicles have data records in more than one country.

The data allows us to determine what percentage of these local and imported vehicles have a mileage rollback, and to calculate the number of clocked cars in selected European countries.

A vehicle with a tampered odometer can lead to financial disaster

Buying a vehicle with a tampered odometer always leads to overpaying for the car itself and holds a possibility of facing big losses in the future.

Clocked vehicles have more wear and tear than you would expect, and they’re also more difficult to sell.

There’s also a risk that the vehicle with a rolled-back odometer may not have received necessary maintenance, as these events are often provided based on mileage intervals (e.g., changing a timing belt).

Driving a car in worse condition than it appears can also raise some serious safety concerns.

How carVertical can help you avoid mileage rollbacks

The more cars are imported into a country, the higher the chances of buying a vehicle with hidden issues.

Vehicles from other countries often come after accidents or with rolled-back mileage. Just because a car comes from Germany, France, or another country doesn’t automatically mean it's in good condition. Every car has its own story, and not all of them are pleasant.

With all of the above combined, it’s safe to say that checking a car’s history becomes a critical pillar in the whole used car buying process.

Our reports provide valuable information about a vehicle’s past, including the mileage history. This will help you avoid clocked cars on the market.

To get a carVertical report, all you need is the vehicle's VIN number. The dashboard is the most common place for the VIN (visible through the windshield on the driver’s side of the car), but you can also find it on the driver’s side door jamb, under the hood, or check the vehicle’s documentation.

Many used car ads will also include the VIN, and you can always ask the seller directly.

In addition to mileage rollbacks, our reports will also help you learn about past damages, ownership changes, theft reports (if any), and more.