Clocked cars

Johnny1 said:
Where does this leave the DIY man when he wants to sell his car? I service my own car which is a lot cheaper that any garage, service history is great but it costs a lot of money.
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Keep all receipts for parts you've bought, even if it's just a gallon of oil and an oil filter. Not as good as a service history, but at least it gives some indication that the car was looked after.
 
Look at the condition of the car first, check wear and tear then take an educated guess at the mileage. Generally someone who knows about cars will be within 10,000 miles.

Service histories can be easily forged. Look at service history and ring garage to confirm.

Years ago I was looking to buy a car privately and the owner had lots of receipts. 10 mins later I handed them back pointing out he had a receipt dated 3 years ago with 20,000 more miles on it than the car had now.
 
But what do you do if you buy one can you sell it on can a garage tell by looking at it if it was clocked??? i bought a car 2months ago and now found that the mileage was clocked??? any advice how do i get rid of it will i loose the money on it???
 
pussycat said:
But what do you do if you buy one can you sell it on can a garage tell by looking at it if it was clocked??? i bought a car 2months ago and now found that the mileage was clocked??? any advice how do i get rid of it will i loose the money on it???
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Take legal action against whoever sold it to you. Trying to pass it off to someone else as genuine would mean that you are liitle better than the crook who sold to you in the first place.
 
so if i tell the garage would they do a trade in i am going to get a new car on finance??
 
You are not covered by the sale of goods act if you bought a car privately. What kind of car is it, how old is it, how many miles are on it, and how do you know it is clocked? If it's an older car, the garage won't worry about it too much as they are only going to sell it to the trade anyway. If it's a newer higher value car, then you may have a problem.
 
its a volkswagen bora 00 - 52,000 miles on it. Last service on computer records was in 2003 50.000.
 
pussycat said:
But what do you do if you buy one can you sell it on can a garage tell by looking at it if it was clocked??? i bought a car 2months ago and now found that the mileage was clocked??? any advice how do i get rid of it will i loose the money on it???
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You will loose money on it if you bought it privately.

I don't like Cartell, particularly it's lack of warranty, but it's essential.

If anyone buys a clocked car in from the North or UK without getting a HPI check done, they are foolish.
 
The seller would still be able to say it was lying up. Have you confronted them and asked them to explain the lack of mileage over the last 4 years?

Hard to prove if there is no documented proof of it having had previous higher mileage than indicated now.
 
Johnny1 said:
Where does this leave the DIY man when he wants to sell his car? I service my own car which is a lot cheaper that any garage, service history is great but it costs a lot of money.
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Good point. I would say that the money you save by not going to a garage for a service, will then be lost in longer time for resale (if selling privatly) and lower resale price. Might be more economical to go the the garage for a service in the long run - even if you can do an equally good (or even better) job yourself.
 
Without naming the garage or anything, DH went to look at a car today and thinks it may be clocked. It is supposed to have 38k on the clock, but the mat on the drivers side of the car is missing and the carpet there is worn away. It's a 4 year old diesel, is it likely that someone bought a diesel and did less than 10k miles a year? We're pretty happy in the decision we made, but I was wondering what everyone else thinks...
 
terrysgirl33 said:
Without naming the garage or anything, DH went to look at a car today and thinks it may be clocked. It is supposed to have 38k on the clock, but the mat on the drivers side of the car is missing and the carpet there is worn away. It's a 4 year old diesel, is it likely that someone bought a diesel and did less than 10k miles a year? We're pretty happy in the decision we made, but I was wondering what everyone else thinks...
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10K a year is pretty much average for a car, whether it be a diesel or not. As for the carpet wear, it could be just down to the driving style of the owner, they could be wearing boots, heels etc when they drive
 
woodseb said:
10K a year is pretty much average for a car, whether it be a diesel or not. As for the carpet wear, it could be just down to the driving style of the owner, they could be wearing boots, heels etc when they drive
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I don't agree. Average mileage is 12,000 miles per annum, and to make a diesel an economic winner requires substantially more than that.
 
woodseb said:
10K a year is pretty much average for a car, whether it be a diesel or not. As for the carpet wear, it could be just down to the driving style of the owner, they could be wearing boots, heels etc when they drive
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It is almost unthinkable for someone to buy a diesel & do only 10k per year. Not impossible but very rare indeed. Would certainly be looking for some coroborating paperwork.
 
RS2K said:
I don't agree. Average mileage is 12,000 miles per annum, and to make a diesel an economic winner requires substantially more than that.
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depends who you ask, i've been told its between 8-12k pa - does anyone have a definitive answer on this?
 
terrysgirl33 said:
Without naming the garage or anything, DH went to look at a car today and thinks it may be clocked. It is supposed to have 38k on the clock, but the mat on the drivers side of the car is missing and the carpet there is worn away. It's a 4 year old diesel, is it likely that someone bought a diesel and did less than 10k miles a year? We're pretty happy in the decision we made, but I was wondering what everyone else thinks...
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Have a look at the steering wheel. If its nice and shiney then it has been used a lot. If there are still ridges all over it then it has not. Take a look at a couple of cars with different mileages and you will see what I mean.

It's one thing for someone clocking a car to alter the mileage, put new pads on the foot pedals and put in new mats. Changing the steering wheel is a much bigger job and to do so would eat into the clockers profit margin both in terms of the cost of the wheel and getting it installed. I'm sure it can be done, but would they bother?


Murt
 
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. In other words if something is too good to be true then it probably ain't true. Walk away if in any doubt about the car.
 
I just bought a diesel passat from the UK, private sale. I have test driven in access of 10 different cars (mostly the same spec) before I went to the UK. One car was clocked for sure. (no service history, UK car with 60k on clock, seat belt restraints had lost their spring retention, engine covers tampered with and a lot of road grit located in parts of the engine bay). Quite an obvious "clocked" car. Armed with this knowledge, and the experience of driving other genuine milage cars, I was able to purchase the car in the UK without any doubt in my mind. Of course the service history all stacked up with receipts and the car was immaculate with a good HPI report. Point being, drive plenty of cars in Ireland from garages and private sellers. A bit tedious but well worth it in the end.
 
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