Doctoring the Mileage

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frash

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I'm going to see a VW Passat in a private sale tomorrow.

It's a 2000 but only has 15,500 miles on the clock.
The owner claims it was off the road for three years.

It's got NCT until 04/08.

My question is does this low mileage seem too good to be true?
How easy is it to alter the milage reading on a Passat?

Thanks...
 
Hi Frash ,


The mileage does seem a bit low but a low mileage car doesnt gaurantee a good car , fair enough if it turns out to be fine but cars standing that long can wreak havoc with pipes , hoses , sealants , pads and bearings being tired or corroded from the ageing(and non use) of the solvents and chemicals in them...id be happier buying a 00 with 50k on the clock as you know its been used and any earlier problems have been worked out or fixed......but thats just my feelings anyway

As for the clocking of the car i think its an electronic odomoter and can easily be done with a laptop and software but im not sure how you can detect this......if you have any doubts checke www.cartell.ie.....i think 40euro is nothing if you want peace of mind on this too good to be true deal.....
 
Thanks Parker.

I've more doubts now as he blames it being off the road due to "problems with the electrics"

Could this have reset the mileage?

He says it's all fixed now & has just got it's NCT
 
you could ask to see all previous NCT reports, these would hold the milage at the time of the tests. May not help as the milage may have been changed before the tests.
 
I doubt this car has been clocked.

Clockers normally buy high mileage cars and clock them back to apparently normal mileage.

How much would you be prepared to pay for a 00 passat with 190,000 miles on the clock. Not a lot. If the same car had 60,000 you would be interested. Any mechanic will easily be able to tell you if a car has only done 15,000 but if it has done 150,000 motorway driving and been clocked back to 70,000 it would be much harder to tell.

I agree with Parkers point that just because a car hasn't driven a lot of mileage that it is necessarily a good car. I was talking to a mechanic recently who bought a very low mileage diesel golf and it gave him nothing but trouble.

Cars are meant to be driven. The engine is suppost to heat up etc. Think of what a person would be like if they didn't have any exercise at all for a couple of years.

Having said all that the car may be a bargain
 
Hi Frash ,


3 years off the road for electrical problems ????...theres more to that story than hes letting on..why didnt he hand it back to the garage.....

If what hes saying is true , it was only a 3 year old car when problems first arose.....what did he drive while it was off the road....if it was off the road for 3 years and he was driving something else it wasnt a financial issue why it was laid up so ask him what was done to it.....when , by whom.....is he the first owner???

Check the log book , at 15000 mls there should be only a preliminary service and one at between 10 and 15k..

Are the seats worn , are the pedals smothed off at the edges , the vw gearknob and leather gaiter get worn with high mileage....this one should be pristine if theres only 15k on the clock.....is the steering wheel shiny.....

It could be completely genuine but if it doesnt feel right , trust your instinct and walk away
 
Yeah soubnds very dodgy....
Even if the miles are genuine a car that has been sitting un used for 3 years is not a good idea.
 
Once you start thinking there is something dodgy going on, you should walk away. Perhaps you are missing the deal of the centurty, but more likely you are saving yourself a lot of trouble in the long run. If you go for it and something does go wrong, you will be kicking yourself for not listening to your original instincts.
 
If something appears too good to be true.....

There was a PrimeTime report a couple of months ago about car dealers clocking milage. A couple of them on the Nass Road (Near Coke) were stung.
 
Parker said:
Hi Frash ,


The mileage does seem a bit low but a low mileage car doesnt gaurantee a good car , fair enough if it turns out to be fine but cars standing that long can wreak havoc with pipes , hoses , sealants , pads and bearings being tired or corroded from the ageing(and non use) of the solvents and chemicals in them...id be happier buying a 00 with 50k on the clock as you know its been used and any earlier problems have been worked out or fixed......but thats just my feelings anyway

As for the clocking of the car i think its an electronic odomoter and can easily be done with a laptop and software ...
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't touch that car with a bargepole. My experience with cars like this is that it will be nothing but trouble.
 
cant say about this car but mrs cu was looking for a run around a few years ago and found a one year old with 700 miles on the clock. Garage said owner didnt like it and didnt use it. now 5 years old , 25,000 on clock. sailed through nct. not one minutes problems with it. mostly run around admittedly but a few longer trips ( dundalk/galway. dundalk/mayo etc ) oh yeah , its a lawn mower with a roof - daewoo matiz. One of the terrible two was looking for her first motor last week and settled on a 2005 puegeot 206, less than 6,000 kms on the clock. I took it for a drive and also had a friend mechanic take a look at it. absolutely genuine. car feels new, drives new, and is in effect new, (personally I would have preffered if she went for an older car and maybe a more reliable make ie yaris but know enought to stay out of decisions like this)but at a two year old price. so maybe this passat will be the same.
 
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