Car icon Odometer Certification

When transferring ownership on any motor vehicle or motorcycle equipped with an odometer by the manufacturer, the seller is required to provide the buyer with a signed statement certifying the odometer reading at the time of sale unless exempt from requirements (see below).

Starting on January 1, 1989, Certificates of Title were redesigned to include the Odometer Statement.  After January 1, 1999, odometer certification will be accepted only on the Certificate of Title or Manufacturer's Statement of Origin (MSO) and no separate attachment will be accepted, with the following exceptions:

A separate  Odometer Disclosure Statement may be attached to:

Motor vehicles exempt from odometer certification:

  • Any motor vehicle with a manufacturer's model year designation of 2010 or older.
  • Any motor vehicle with a manufacturer's model year designation of 2011 or newer and an age of more than twenty (20) years.  Note,vehicles transferred prior to January 1, 2021 were subject to a ten (10) year odometer rule. 
  • Any motor vehicle exceeding sixteen thousand (16,000) pounds gross rated capacity;
  • Motorcycles manufactured without odometers (off-road vehicles)

Odometer notations on Nebraska Certificates of Title will be one of the following:

  • Actual – mileage is, to the best of the seller's knowledge, the actual mileage driven by the motor vehicle;
  • Not Actual – the seller has knowledge that the odometer reading differs from the actual mileage and that the difference is greater than that caused by odometer calibration error;
  • Exceeds Mechanical Limits – the seller has knowledge that the mileage shown on the odometer is in excess of the designated mechanical odometer limit;
  • Exempt – vehicle is exempt from odometer certification (see above).  Once the odometer reading on a title is recorded as exempt, the mileage cannot be recorded on any future titles.

If the vehicle's mileage is recorded in kilometers, it must be converted to odometer miles by the seller and acknowledged by the buyer. (1 kilometer = 0.621 miles) The odometer head and appropriate gears can be replaced with an odometer reading miles. The seller must retain a copy of the odometer statement for at least five (5) years from the date of transfer of ownership.

If the odometer statement is for an Assembled Vehicle, the exempt status is determined by the year the vehicle was assembled. 

If an odometer must be repaired or replaced , the reading on the new odometer is to be set at the mileage of the one replaced.

If the new odometer is unable to register the appropriate mileage, then the odometer must be set at zero (0). If it is necessary to set the mileage at zero, you must contact the DMV and request in writing an “Odometer Notice” sticker. The date of the odometer's repair or replacement must be indicated on the sticker as well as the mileage on the vehicle prior to the work performed on the odometer. When the vehicle is sold, the odometer reading must indicate “Not Actual”.

 

Questions regarding odometer statements can be addressed by email or by phone at (402) 471-3918.