Vehicle Mileage Verification: Fake mileage is one of the most dire problems that buyers of used cars in Kenya face. This is because dealers of used cars are notoriously famed for doctoring the mileage of used cars in a bid to lure in buyers. But the days of doctoring used vehicle mileage may have gone by. According to anew proposed law, car dealers will face a Sh. 2 million fine and five-year jail term for misleading online advertising and declaring false mileages on imported vehicles.
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The new proposed law is contained in a Bill that has been sponsored by the Kipipiri Member of Parliament Amos Kimunya, who is also the Leader of the Majority Party in the National Assembly.
Kimunya’s bill seeks to seeks to update the current Trade Descriptions Act (Cap. 505) that has been in place since 1979.
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“Dealers who quote false mileage –number of kilometres traveled— on passenger cars or commercial vehicles will now be prosecuted if the law is overhauled as planned. Offenders face a maximum fine of Sh. 2 million or a five-year jail term or both” says a report that appeared in the Business Daily on Tuesday.
The report further says that car mileage has been absent in the existing law despite explosion of motor vehicle sales, especially second-hand imports whose sellers have been accused of manipulating odometers to downplay usage and depreciation.
“More than 80 percent of vehicles imported into the country are used models and mileage is one of the key determinants of the retail price besides year of manufacture. Government inspectors will now be able to check a vehicles’ displayed mileage against that declared in the source markets to determine if the odometer has been tampered with. It is estimated that many used vehicles have their mileage wound down by 50,000 kilometres or more,” says the report in the business newspaper owned by the Nation Media Group. Vehicle Mileage Verification.
