EU Parliament pushes new mileage‑recording rule to curb used‑car fraud

The European Parliament has backed a proposal that would require auto repair workshops to record a vehicle’s mileage whenever a repair lasts longer than one hour, and obligate manufacturers to regularly transmit mileage data from connected cars to national databases. The aim is to create a continuous, tamper‑evident record that makes odometer rollback harder to conceal, especially in cross‑border sales where current records are often only captured during periodic technical inspections.

The draft rule is not yet final; negotiations with EU member states are pending. The Parliament noted that mileage manipulation affects between five and twelve percent of domestic used‑car transactions and up to thirty to fifty percent of cross‑border sales. By linking service data with manufacturer reports, discrepancies such as a sudden drop in recorded kilometres would trigger alerts, helping buyers avoid overpaying for vehicles with hidden wear.

If adopted, the system would improve data sharing across countries, give consumers – such as those in Croatia buying imported cars – more reliable information about a vehicle’s true usage, and reduce opportunities for fraud in the used‑car market.