A 33-year-old who bought two cars online and wound back the odometers to onsell them at a profit has been convicted and ordered to repay more than $4000 to consumers who bought the cars.

In an action taken by Consumer and Business Services, the Adelaide Magistrates Court was told that in 2020 Salameh Soud Haddad of Seaford bought a Holden Commodore and a Subaru Forrester online.

He bought the Commodore for $6,830 with an odometer reading of 256,416 kms and the Forrester for $4009 with an odometer reading of 282 627 kms.

Haddad later sold the Commodore on social media for $7,700, with an odometer reading of 190,000 kms.

As CBS staff investigated the sale of the Commodore, officers became aware of the Subaru that had also been listed for sale on social media.

Haddad found a buyer, who was prepared to pay $7,000.

At the time, the car had an odometer reading of 182,360.

The Court was told that the consumer ended up having to resell the Subaru at a $2,000 loss after discovering it had a faulty engine mount.

Haddad was ordered to compensate the consumer for that $2,000 and was also ordered to repay $2,100 to the latest owner of the Subaru, to compensate him for further repairs to the vehicle, and $300 to the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs to cover the cost of restoring the odometer to the correct reading.

He was also fined an additional $450.