XSeries-forum

Looking for any helpful advice as a friend of mine has just fallen foul of a clocked car. He took the car to have it's 2nd MoT and found the mileage to be at 98,000 and not the indicated 44,000 on the dash.

It's a one owner car which went to auction after some minor bodywork damage. He bought the car from the auction (they have their stickers saying the mileage cannot be guaranteed, etc) and then when he took it for it's MoT, low and behold.

He has no idea if the first owner clocked the car before it went onwards or whether or not the auction house may have done so.

Is there any helpful advice for this guy or is he dead in the water....? Would appreciate any helpful advice as he's pretty cut up about it.

Looking at the inter webs indicates that as it was sold with unwarranted mileage stickers in place then there is very little, if anything, that can be done.

If the seller was the only owner then I suppose the questions could be posed to him/her regarding what mileage was on the car when he/she put it into the auction.  All that would do is give a better idea of who might have tampered with the odo.  The sticker effectively pulls the rug though.

I have a nasty feeling that realistically your friend will have little comeback unfortunately.... >:(

Richard

Thanks buddy for replying - exactly my thoughts. And of course the original owner could always deny all knowledge... The answer is most likely to be 'it wasn't me'.

I very much doubt it would be the auction house.

Youll find it to be whoever bought it from the salvage company to repair it.  So many people do this with cat d/c and x vehicles. Theres a place near me and tbey got caught a few yrs back as were clocking the vehicles then damaging the clocks.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

No, no salvage company involved - car sold through auction in that state and as the new owner he fixed it. Only to find when MoT time came...

Few questions Sanj... Was it a salvage auction? Did the car not have the existing mot with it? Also was it a private type auction house? How long from purchase to getting Mot done?
I was under the impression that any purchases from the likes of bca, involved a private purchasers buyers premium which is meant to cover things like checking hpi, mileage status etc?

I thought the stickers on the dash saying mileage not warrantied was a thing of the past. If a car is sold at auction with a mileage discrepancy they need to be stating it?

Hi,

Just my thoughts.

All car auctions are " caveat emptor ".........means buyer beware. It is the buyers responsability to check the quality of the goods they are buying. Same as all houses sold in the UK. Absolutely NO onus on the seller to reveal anything.

Car was bought with 44 k on the clock and no service history ? was there NO supporting evidence at all with regards to the cars history ?

If thats the case then you HAVE to treat the car mileage as suspect. Its the biggest lie in the world........Oh sorry service records lost .......... BOLLOCKS.......... Its not lost , you have clocked it and destroyed /hidden it because it proves the mileage is NON genuine. This is the most comon " lie " I hear.
How did the car auction advertise it ? Must have been in the sold as seen section.

Auction house probably didn't clock it. They get paid commission per sale.

I havent been to an auction for a while, but they used to give you 24 Hours to reject anything you have bought. So if the car has a fault you can take it back. Your mate had 24 hrs to check its history, if he didnt thats his fault.

Still think its worth reporting, auction house will know who they paid . Id start there first. If they dont co-operate say the power of the internet is vast and threaten to name and shame. They wont like that . Then report to the Police.
Think chances of redress slim but worth a go anyway .

Reason cars go to auction is because thats the easiest place to get rid of the difficult to sell + also its full of people who dont know what they are doing looking to bag a bargain.

With a bit of luck although he paid based on 44 K miles, given it was bought at auction he hopefully paid a lot less than its really worth with a genuine 44 k and full history.
Still not nice.

Dont mean to be harsh, but you should ALWAYS familiarise yourself how things work so as not to get stung. More sharks in the used car market than anywhere else.

Id check the car very carefully and contact the previous owner for details of the cars history, then you can call all the dealer/ other service centres and re-create its history. Consider adjusting the mileage back to what it should be if it all checks out, or even not as now he knows mileage is wrong its pretty unsaleable as is...unless he clearly states exactly what it is.

A lesson for all of us ,

Regards,

Nat.

As with other responses, he can try to find out who but tbh it's his loss in essence. Have to knock this one up to an experience and learn from it. 

Gents thank you all for your comments, very much appreciated.

Max - I've passed on your questions (in fact this thread) for him to go through and digest.

I'm with you on this - he should have done his homework and taken more care. But... He's done this type of purchasing before and never been stung, so perhaps he's stopped being so vigilant. And yes - buying in this manner could mean he has a chance to recoup his money based on the 'correct' mileage when and if he decides to sell. Bought for the missus so he's in even deeper water! She's threatened a Bobbit if he attempts to buy another car any time soon!

Again - thank you for taking the time to respond.

Sanj....................

Pass this on...............

Bobit was painfull to begin with, but after the event he got rid of the mad cow, his sex life went through the roof as did his income.

Perhaps he should suggest to his beloved, next time go get your own car , see if you fare better.

Thats all you need.....................!!