>odometers, as automotive components, do occasionally wear out or malfunction and need to be replaced
In many vehicles the mileage is stored in an engine control unit and the odometer is simply a digital display. In others it's stored electronically in the instrument cluster. What if you need to replace a faulty ECU or instrument cluster? There are ways to reflash that data so replacements are accurate.
If you're selling a vehicle at auction, typically it's as-is. So if the ECU or cluster are having problems and can't read out the mileage, it seems unfair to make it illegal to sell.
A disclaimer isn't admitting to lying. It's admitting that the reported value could be inaccurate. That seems to be the most fair requirement in an auction scenario.