FedEx accused of biggest odometer fraud in history with used vans

The lawsuit accuses FedEx of replacing the odometers on several of its vans with new ones that show zero miles, using the vans a bit longer afterward, then auctioning them off with 100,000 miles or less on the new ones. odometers. With such low mileage, business owners were buying the vans at top dollar, thinking they were still pretty fresh. However, their actual mileage was sometimes up to four times the odometer reading, leading to countless mechanical issues that would cost customers far more money. In some cases, the problems were so severe that the vans were useless and the businesses went bankrupt.

According KTNV Las Vegas, Tom Layton of Henderson, Nevada first noticed FedEx odometer rollbacks in 2017. Layton, who has been buying and selling trucks and vans for 36 years, bought a FedEx Freightliner truck with about 180,000 miles listed . When he sold the truck, his buyer hooked it up to a computer which told him the actual mileage was around 400,000 miles. Layton filed his own lawsuit at the time, which is separate from the class action lawsuit FedEx is currently facing.

Since then, customers in California, Tennessee, New Jersey, Florida and Virginia have all noticed odometer rollbacks on older FedEx vehicles.

FedEx hasn’t always sold its retired vans. Once they hit around 350,000 miles, they usually scrapped the vans. It wasn’t until 2011 that FedEx began auctioning old pickup trucks through its fleet company, Holman Fleet Leasing (also a defendant in the lawsuit). The lawsuit alleges that FedEx and Holman intentionally replaced odometers to artificially inflate the values ​​of the vans, so they would fetch higher prices at various auctions across the United States. Then, according to the charges, the two companies would split the profits.

“FedEx, with the knowledge and assistance of Holman, replaced thousands of odometers on FedEx/Holman vehicles,” the lawsuit states. “Although odometers, as automotive components, sometimes wear out or malfunction and need to be replaced, there was no good reason for this large-scale replacement of odometers on FedEx/Holman vehicles, other than to perpetuate their agreement to commit odometer fraud.”

It is not illegal to replace odometers and it is not even illegal to sell vehicles with odometers that have inaccurate mileage readings. However, to do this, a liability waiver must be made by the seller, indicating to the buyer that his mileage report is inaccurate and that the odometer has been replaced. According to the lawsuit, neither FedEx nor Holman did this.

“Defendants deliberately omitted or refused to attach such disclaimer because they intended to mislead potential purchasers of the vehicles.”

However, FedEx denies the allegations. “We are aware of the allegations made in the complaint and will vigorously defend the lawsuit,” a FedEx representative said. Spectrum News.

The Drive has contacted FedEx for comment and will update this statement if we receive one.

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