49 U.S.C. § 32701
Section 32701 · Findings and purposes
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 60 court decisions — leading case Molo Oil Co. v. River City Ford Truck Sales, Inc. (1998)
Most recently applied in 2025 IL App (4th) 250297 - Erickson v. Mitrione (December 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Findings.—Congress finds that—
(1) buyers of motor vehicles rely heavily on the odometer reading as an index of the condition and value of a vehicle;
(2) buyers are entitled to rely on the odometer reading as an accurate indication of the mileage of the vehicle;
(3) an accurate indication of the mileage assists a buyer in deciding on the safety and reliability of the vehicle; and
(4) motor vehicles move in, or affect, interstate and foreign commerce.
(b) Purposes.—The purposes of this chapter are—
(1) to prohibit tampering with motor vehicle odometers; and
(2) to provide safeguards to protect purchasers in the sale of motor vehicles with altered or reset odometers.