THE INVESTIGATION OF AN ODOMETER FRAUD, as reported by the Car Rental and Leasing "Insider" Newsletter, has now been turned over to the District Attorney of Nassau County, New York. A Nassau grand jury is investigating one of the community's largest lessors, as are the federal authorities. The grand jury investigation surfaced when the federal authorities descended on Briggs Leasing Corp­oration of Great Neck, New York to seize the company's records and found that they had already been confiscated by Nassau D.A. Denis Dillon. The five million dollar leasing company could be liable for more than a half million dollars. The federal action under U.S. Attorney David Trager, charges the company and five of its officers, with the responsibility for turning back odometers on several hundred cars between January 18, 1973 and this past month. This action was in direct violation of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Saving Act of 1972, commonly known as the Odometer Law. U.S. Attorney Trager is seeking an injunction that would bar the defendants from continuing the practice and also a judgment that would permit purchasers to recover their over-payments plus damages. Trager said purchasers could claim damages of at least $1,500 or three times their loss, whichever is greater. The County and the U.S. Attorney will cooperate and the grand jury could return criminal larceny charges.


GENERAL MOTORS HAS BEEN TESTING a German-built Diesel engine in both its Monza and Nova models. Could be possible they are contemplating offering a Diesel-powered passenger car in the near future. In the meantime, International Harvester will offer its first diesel engine light truck to the public shortly. Named the Scout II, it will feature a 198 CID engine made by Datsun in Japan.


SOME DEALERS REPORT used car prices will continue to decline until spring. Good, clean cars probably will become even harder to find as a large number of high mileage off lease and personal cars are traded for new models. New car dealers report that most of the new car buyers are customers who had postponed buying a new car as long as they could. Automotive Market Report stated the used car decline was the largest in a two week period in a long time. AMR's bi-weekly index dipped $8, to $1,269, after allowance for normal seasonal variation.

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