A 20 year old Seacombe Gardens man who wound back the odometers on a used car that broke down within ten minutes of reselling it has been fined $10,000 in the Adelaide Magistrates Court.

Ioannis Mahramas had pleaded guilty to three counts of interfering with an odometer and one count of carrying on business as a secondhand vehicle dealer without a licence.

The court heard that, in 2025 and 2026, he bought three secondhand cars – a Ford Fiesta, a Nissan Murano and a Hyundai Elantra – that he later sought to resell at a significant profit, after winding back their odometers.

Mahramas wound back the odometer on each vehicle by between 80,000 and nearly 250,000 kilometres, before onselling two of the cars for as much as three times the price he paid for them.

Authorities were able to prevent the sale of the third car.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court was told that, in the case of the Nissan Munro, Mahramas bought it for $2,000 with an odometer reading of 218,000.

When he sold it for $5,500, the odometer read 97,000.

The Court heard that the car broke down within ten minutes of Mahramas selling it, and could only be driven at speeds of under ten kilometres an hour.

The consumer was forced to spend nearly $4,000 extra on repairs to the vehicle.

Mahramas was fined $10,000 and ordered to repay $6,500 in compensation for two of the consumers.

“Odometer tampering is an insidious crime that is difficult to detect, and often leaves consumers at a significant disadvantage,” Commissioner for Consumer Affairs Brett Humphrey said.

“In this case, a consumer bought a car that he had every reason to believe was reliable, only to have it break some within ten minutes of the purchase.

“It’s heartless behaviour that preys on people who are doing their best to save money.

“We’d urge consumers to exercise extreme caution when buying from online marketplace sites, and do their due diligence to ensure they’re buying from someone who is legitimately selling their own used car, and not using marketplace sites as a way of trying to circumvent the laws around the sale of secondhand vehicles.

I’d urge any consumers with concerns to report suspicious activity around used car sales by contacting CBS on 131 882.”