Odometer Exemption Requirements to Change January 1, 2021

December 15, 2020

South Carolina vehicle owners and dealers who are planning to sell or lease vehicles should be aware of an upcoming change to odometer disclosure exemptions that will go into effect on January 1, 2021.

When a vehicle is transferred or leased from one owner to another, the law requires the current owner to record the actual mileage on the title at the time of ownership transfer. Currently, owners of vehicles that are ten years old or older do not have to disclose and record the odometer mileages during transfers of ownership, as the law allows the current owner an option to exempt recording the vehicle’s mileage on the title.

Beginning in 2021, the existing ten-year exemption eligibility for disclosing odometer mileage will be gradually expanded to a twenty-year exemption eligibility. With the new requirements, odometer disclosures will be required on all vehicles less than twenty years old at the time of ownership transfer. The new twenty-year exemption eligibility requirements will affect vehicles of model year 2011 and newer. The twenty-year period will extend from the vehicle’s date of manufacture.

The twenty-year exemption eligibility means that both dealers and private sellers are required to record the actual mileage on the title of a vehicle during an ownership transfer if the vehicle is less than twenty years old AND the vehicle’s date of manufacture is 2011 or newer. All model vehicles 2010 and older will not be affected by the new requirements. Below is the Odometer Exemption Applicability to Model Year Vehicles chart which can be used as a guide to determine when a vehicle may be eligible for mileage exemption.

Sellers and dealers should also be aware of some exceptions to the new twenty-year exemption eligibility including: vehicles that have Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings of more than 16,000 pounds; vehicles that are not self-propelled (e.g., trailers); low speed vehicles without odometers; or vehicles with odometers that register hours (instead of miles or kilometers).