Discount Motors Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Odometer Tampering

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A proposed class action claims Discount Motors owner Eddie Howard and salesperson Donald Adams have tampered with the odometer readings of vehicles sold by the Kentucky-based used car dealer and thus misrepresented the cars’ true mileages.

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According to the 14-page lawsuit, the defendants have intentionally falsified the mileages of used vehicles since 2019 by using a device to digitally “roll back” odometers before putting the cars on the lot. The suit alleges that the vehicles’ altered odometer readings, which were stated on buyers’ purchase contracts, were falsely declared as the accurate mileages at the time of sale.

The two men were arrested for odometer fraud in April of this year, the case relays. According to news reports, the duo also face trafficking charges after “oxycodone pills, a large sum of cash, and firearms” were found at Discount Motors after police executed a search warrant on April 13.

“It was only after the police investigation became public that Plaintiffs and Class members were made aware that they had been harmed by the Defendants’ conduct […],” the case states.

One plaintiff, a Kentucky resident who bought a 2011 Chrysler Town and County for around $10,000 in August 2021, received a purchase contract from Discount Motors which listed the van’s mileage as 122,184 miles at the time of sale, the complaint shares.

Another Kentucky plaintiff bought a 2009 Nissan Altima for $5,894.99 in January of this year, the filing says. Per the suit, the woman’s contract with the dealership stated that the car had 140,428 miles at the time of sale.

As the case tells it, when the plaintiffs began to suspect “possible odometer discrepancies,” they sought out third-party vehicle history reports which, in fact, listed the cars’ true mileages as 189,496 and 198,613, respectively.

According to the Owensboro Times, Owensboro police received information in February pertaining to Discount Motors’ alleged odometer rollbacks, and a joint investigation was launched by the Owensboro Police Department Traffic Unit and federal and state agencies. The investigation revealed that Howard and Adams “acted together in utilizing electronic devices to commit multiple acts of fraud,” authorities said.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who purchased a vehicle from Discount Motors, LLC, located in Owensboro, Kentucky, between January 1, 2019 and April 13, 2023.

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