Odometers

§  392-e.  Using  false  statements or altering  mileage registering devices.

1. Upon the transfer of  ownership  of  a  motor  vehicle,  the seller shall enter on any instrument executed by him, including any form prescribed  by the commissioner of motor vehicles, and on any other bill of sale, certificate, or evidence of title or condition given by him  at the time of transfer or sale, the mileage said motor vehicle purports to have  been  operated as the same appears upon the odometer in such motor vehicle. In the event that such odometer mileage is known to the  seller to  be  less  than such motor vehicle has actually travelled, the seller shall enter upon any said transfer instrument or statement "True mileage unknown." In the event that it is known to the seller that  the  mileage indicated  on such odometer is beyond its designed mechanical limits, he shall state the total cumulative mileage  on  the  aforesaid  prescribed transfer  instruments. Any person, firm, partnership, or corporation who gives a false statement to a transferee under  the  provisions  of  this section,  shall  be  guilty of a misdemeanor, provided, however, that no person, firm, partnership, or corporation shall be convicted  under  the section  where  a  vehicle  has  been resold in reliance on the required statement  of  the  prior  owner  and  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of subdivision   one,   two,  three  and  four  of  section  three  hundred ninety-two-e.
2. A person, firm, partnership, or corporation who shall  misrepresent the  mileage  of  a  motor  vehicle to a transferee by the execution and delivery of the written statement required in  the  preceding  paragraph hereof  and  which  in  fact  is  false,  or who shall misrepresent such mileage to a transferee by disconnection, changing,  or  causing  to  be disconnected  or  changed  any  mileage  registering  device  on a motor vehicle so as to thereby indicate  a  lesser  mileage  than  such  motor vehicle has actually travelled, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
2-a.  (a) No person, firm, partnership, or corporation shall, prior to the transfer of ownership  of  a  motor  vehicle,  misrepresent  by  any statement,  express  or  implied and which in fact is false, the mileage said motor vehicle purports to have been operated as the same appears on the odometer in such motor vehicle. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to supersede the provisions of any other subdivision of this section.
(b) A violation of this subdivision shall be subject to a fine not to exceed  five hundred dollars for each violation; provided, however, that a knowing or willful violation of this subdivision shall be subject to a fine not to exceed one thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  each  such violation.  No person, firm, partnership, or corporation shall be deemed to have violated this subdivision where the vehicle is sold, offered for sale, or advertised for sale in reliance on the  required  statement  of the prior owner and pursuant to the provisions of subdivisions one, two, three and four of this section.
(c)  Unless  the misrepresentation was made with an intent to defraud, the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision  shall  not apply to a statement made regarding a vehicle the most current ownership document for which is a salvage certificate or like document issued by a state  or  jurisdiction  or  regarding  a vehicle sold by a salvage pool registered under section four  hundred  fifteen-a  of  the  vehicle  and traffic law.
3.  Nothing  herein  contained  shall  prevent  the service, repair or replacement of  a  mileage  registering  device,  provided  the  mileage indicated  thereon  remains  the  same  as before the service, repair or replacement; or provided the mileage registering device reads zero and a notice in writing is attached to  the  left  front  door  frame  of  the vehicle  by  the  owner  or  his  agent, indicating the mileage prior to replacement and the date on which  it  was  replaced.  Any  unauthorized removal  of  such  notice  so  affixed  shall  constitute a violation of subdivision two of section three hundred ninety-two-e.
4.  This  section  shall  not apply to new motor vehicles. A new motor vehicle is one sold or transferred by  a  manufacturer,  distributor  or dealer  and  which  has  not been placed in consumer use or has not been used as a demonstrator.

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