Vehicle mileage 'clocking'.

[unapalomablanca]

I am in the process of looking for a 2nd hand motor like many. I always have the fear of 'clocking' in my mind and heres a little story to explain why;

 

A few years ago i had an old car that had 125k miles on it from new, it had some damage to a door and the clutch went. I rang one of these blokes that takes your car away and he gave me £70. A terrible amount i know but i was ready to get rid of it and couldnt be bothered to pay out on it.

 

Anyway fast forward 3 months and i was driving past a reasonably local garage and there it was on the forecourt nicely tidied up with a £1300 price tag on it which i had no problem with. Business is business after all. Anyway, me being me, i pulled in and asked about the car and "whats the mileage on it mate"? A nice old boy he was this garage owner, 69000 miles came the reply and i thanked him for his time and drove off.

 

Well maybe business isnt business.........anyone on here experienced anything similar?

[Tam]

^{https://www.gov.uk/b...g/mot-insurance}

Edited February 1, 2013 by Tam

[Lord Geordie]

^{https://www.gov.uk/b...g/mot-insurance}

 

I used the MOT records to check my car. It's good to be able to verify the milage of a car. I was a tad worried as when I bought mine 2 year ago it had only 33.000 on the clock and is a 1995 car. I did all the checks through the MOT and service records and it verified the milage.

[huntsman]

its been going on for years

the only way of checking is garage servicing records and MOTs but these are only an indication as to the mileage not a secure way of telling the real mileage he car has done.

 

There are new cars that if less than 3 years old dont need an MOT these cars can have their mileage manipulated ,even on digital speedos.

 

buyer beware’ is 'caveat emptor’. This is a maxim (principle) which means that the purchaser of goods must take care to ensure that they are free from defects of quality, fitness, or title. In other words, all the risk is borne by the purchaser and not by the seller. If the goods turn out to be defective, the purchaser has no remedy against the seller.

[parapilot]

I change mileage in work it's very easy to do with the right kit. It needs doing legally when units, ESP the clocks are replaced with second hand units the mileage needs correcting etc.

 

Every mot the mileage is recorded, you can get access to this to see previous mileage logs. So if last 5 years you have 132, 152, 164, 187, 69 thousand, you know it's wrong. Look for other signs to like ware on peddles steering wheel etc. or speak to a pro. Mileage is stored is quite a few units, so if someone clocks the dash, you may still be able to see real mileage in ECU, bsi, immo etc etc. BMW even store it in the key!!

 

J

[Northamptonclay]

Some people disconnect speedo between mot's though

[unapalomablanca]

^{https://www.gov.uk/b...g/mot-insurance}

So you just ask the seller for the test cert no. and go from there? Sounds good

[parapilot]

Still only a guide like said above. If between mots I do 60,000 miles, but the day before the new mot, clock it so it looks like iv only done 5000 then that's all that will show and no one will be the wiser.

 

Not all can be done diagnostically, so look for signs is someone taking dash out / apart.

[Tam]

So you just ask the seller for the test cert no. and go from there? Sounds good

 

You can do an MOT history check with either the V5 reference number or the MOT test number HPI & Experian also do checks but you may have to pay

Edited February 1, 2013 by Tam

[leeds chimp]

Went through this with an Audi I bought Lucky it was on a finance agreement so had the lot wrote off and kept the car

[subsonicnat]

buyer beware’ is 'caveat emptor’. This is a maxim (principle) which means that the purchaser of goods must take care to ensure that they are free from defects of quality, fitness, or title. In other words, all the risk is borne by the purchaser and not by the seller. If the goods turn out to be defective, the purchaser has no remedy against the seller

 

If my memory serves me right, as I have a dodgy ****** opposite me:

He Nearly went to jail for clocking:

You have 3 months warranty by law if anything is not right:::

Thats any SELLER:::: Onus not on the buyer..

[parapilot]

He Nearly went to jail for clocking

 

It's perfectly legal to clock a car, your only breaking the law when you sell the car and dont declare real mileage. Becomes fraud I think.

 

[Gordon R]

You need to check the MOTs - via DVLA - service history and still look closely at whether the general condition of the car matches the mileage.

 

Well used back doors and seats - normally a taxi.

 

Screw holes in the dash - taxi or had other equipment fitted.

 

Signs of interior trim being badly replaced.

Edited February 1, 2013 by Gordon R

[robbiep]

1. Ask if the mileage has, to the best of the vendors knowledge, been altered. A false answer is a criminal offence. Most clockers know this, and rely on you not asking directly.

2. MOT history check (as already said). Reg No and MOT test number will pull up mileage on any MOT since 2005.

3. Service book. Note down the tel Nos of the garages that did the work, and call one or two to check if they exist (yes, it's been tried, someone actually created a fake Audi stamp for a non-existent dealership)

4. As Gordon R said, use your eyes.

5. Trust your instincts. If something doesn't seem right, don't ignore it

[castletyne]

Some makes of car the key registers the mileage and they can be checked

[m3vert]

Been stung many years ago with this! Bought a car with 36k on the clock, 3 years old and true mileage turned out to be 120,000miles!! Not a sign to suggest this as the garage had replaced gear knob, pedals etc! Only found out 12 months later when I got a call from trading standards who were investigating the garage and discovered documents showing true mileage! Garage did take car back but I still ended up out pocket!! Garage went out the game soon afterwards as STV made a tv show featuring their scam!!

 

[station]

20 plus years ago when this could be done relatively easily, I knew a guy with...... shall we say........... questionable morals.

 

I once got in to a conversation with him reference 'clocking' cars.

The chat went along the lines of him telling me that it gave buyers confidence in their purchase !

His take on it was this - if a car had 90k on the clock then the buyer would be thinking all the negatives - clutch, gearbox, engine etc.

But, if he clocked it down to 60k, then they would feel confident that the car would not present any costly repairs for 20-30k miles !

 

At the time I just thought - oh well, it will never happen to me because I only buy cheapo runabouts.

Well surprise surprise, 12 months later I bought an escort showing 65K and then found anongst the paperwork an old MOT saying 2 years previous it had 87K on it !

I wondered at the time whether it was one of my friends questionable 'hair cut' (a little off the top) cars

 

Thankfully now there is far greater access and means to verify true mileages.

ATB.

[Paul223]

New mot certificate has the last 3 our 4 odometer readings printed on it, so no getting away

 

Which has concerned a local dodgy car dealer, he knocked off 100k of a mondeo which had 220k on the clock, oh dear...... Ha ha hope he gets caught the toe rag

[Guest cookoff013]

if i rewind the miilage on the car will it automaticly repair the wear and tear? will the petrol tank fill itself them?

 

 

 

[leeds chimp]

http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/164224-cars-mileage-has-been-clocked/page__hl__clocking

[littlerob]

there is a few things if someone drove a brand new car for 3 years doing 100k and clocked it back to 30k just befor its first m.o.t would not show up on any checks.

 

or buy a second hand car with say 40k unplug the speedo cable/ mileage cable plug from the gear box drive for 10 months with it un plug and be for it mot re plug it up and put about 1k on it keep doing it and you will have a car with low mileage wich means more money to resale.

 

there is so many dirty tricks out there even the one is fitting a secondhand speedo wil low mileage on it and selling it as what it reads and when someone comes back they say i said it had a replacement speedo WATCH OUT THATS WHATS I SAY NEVER TAKE ANY THING AS THE TRUTH

[ST3V3]

wear and tear isnt always a true sign of mileage my x type has 45k on the clock and its genuine but looking at the steering wheel its 100 plus.

poor build quality!

[Hamster]

there is a few things if someone drove a brand new car for 3 years doing 100k and clocked it back to 30k just befor its first m.o.t would not show up on any checks.

 

or buy a second hand car with say 40k unplug the speedo cable/ mileage cable plug from the gear box drive for 10 months with it un plug and be for it mot re plug it up and put about 1k on it keep doing it and you will have a car with low mileage wich means more money to resale.

 

there is so many dirty tricks out there even the one is fitting a secondhand speedo wil low mileage on it and selling it as what it reads and when someone comes back they say i said it had a replacement speedo WATCH OUT THATS WHATS I SAY NEVER TAKE ANY THING AS THE TRUTH

 

The service records wouldn't match up would they?

 

I'm in the trade and you can rest assured clocking is a thing of the past relatively speaking, there's more chance of finding horse meat in a burger than a saddo having leapt under the bonnet to disconnect the speedo for cryingoutloud.

[littlerob]

the service records can just be simply thrown away and yes i know a guy who uses his works vehicle very time he got a private job to do he remove the speedo cable as they dont have trackers

[jgguinness]

I beg to differ that clocking is a thing of the past. I know a few lads with garages. One lad, does body work for a taxi firm.

 

One lad who is a regular customer gets a 'mileage adjustment lad' to shave 10,000 miles off before every service or MOT to help the after sales price. A little van came in, 141,000 miles, mileage adjustment lad came in, "what does he want off??", other lad says "well he would be happy if you can knock the one off", mileage lad says "I haven't come all this way to knock 1000 miles off", "no mate, the front one"!! was the reply given!

 

The same taxi driver was in the process of buying a Mondeo from a major garage chain, the opposite to Slows! He took it down to the garage to ask the lads opinion before he parted cash with it. It to had previously been a taxi, but had a bad local repair the rear bumper where the plate went, rear boot seal was damaged in the top corner where the light wire had passed through, battery terminals still had connectors where they had just cut the wires for the radio feed, dash had been hacked, and the major chain still tried t say the mileage of 69,000 was genuine!

 

It's easier now with digital odometers!

 

Kind regards

Jonathan