An Australian court has accepted the authenticity of Japanese registration certificates, in an odometer clocking case brought against Sydney’s Prestige Auto Centre.
The buyer of a wound back car received the original Japanese papers provided by Japanese Odometer Check (JOC) – and then went on to win his case in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
In April, Public Defender reported that ‘car-clocking crusader’ Apurva Mishra was taking action in the NCAT, alleging the imported Lancer he paid Sydney’s Prestige Auto Centre $30,000 for had travelled about three times the 34,000km showing on the odometer.
The NCAT ruled Prestige Auto Centre had engaged in “misleading and deceptive conduct” and ordered it pay Mishra $18,526.
NCAT senior member Sabine Thode says: “I am satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the odometer reading was changed by the respondent or that a third party changed the odometer reading with the knowledge of the respondent in order to mislead or deceive the applicant.”
NCAT accepted the Japanese registration certificate Mishra presented, regarded as an important breakthrough as it was bought through a third party, not the registry in Japan, but Mishra was able to demonstrate its authenticity.
Until now there has been a question mark over whether such documentation is legitimate.
This result should serve as a warning to any person considering winding back odometers.
People wanting more information on odometer tampering – or ‘clocking’ as it is more popularly known – can go to the JOC website by clicking here.
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