PHOENIX (AZFamily) — If you drive a vehicle, sooner or later, you’re going to need a new one.

And in many cases, Arizona consumers turn to used cars for sale. If that’s you, pay special attention to the odometer.

“Carfax data shows there are more than 2.1 million cars on the road that are suspected to have had odometer rolled back,” Carfax spokesperson Em Nguyen replied.

Nguyen, along with Carfax, just released the latest numbers for odometer fraud .

As it turns out, Arizona ranks No. 9 in the nation, with more than 60,200 vehicles having rolled back odometers. That’s an 8% increase from the year before.

One reason is that more cars use digital odometers.

“When we take a look at the newer cars with the digital odometers, many people believe it’s harder to tamper with those odometers. But really, that’s not true. They’re actually harder to detect if the odometer had already been rolled back. And that’s because they do not leave a digital footprint,” Nguyen said.

On Your Side has exposed odometer fraud in the past.

In a previous report , an electronics expert showed On Your Side how scammers are ordering rollback devices online, plugging them into a vehicle and changing the mileage.

In the report, the expert showed us a truck’s odometer with 89,989 and in a matter of seconds, it changed to just 49,989.

“It certainly does not cost a lot of money (to rollback),” Nguyen said. “It costs just a couple hundred bucks. You can find it online. It’s a very easy way for scammers to take advantage of potential buyers.”

So, before buying a used car, On Your Side recommends always paying attention to the vehicle’s condition.

For example, does the “wear and tear” match the vehicle’s mileage? If not, the odometer may have been rolled back.

Also, take the vehicle to a trusted mechanic trained on what to look for because the last thing you want is a car that has been driven much more than the odometer may indicate.

“Let’s say the odometer is rolled back an average of about 100,000 miles. That’s about a $4,000 difference or more of what the car’s actually worth. So if you’re putting out this money, you’re probably paying, much more than the car is actually worth,” Nguyen said.

Finally, if you’re interested in ordering a Carfax report detailing the history of a vehicle, including the mileage, click/tap here .

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