Deposit on car, possibly clocked..

fatboypee

Hi,

I put a deposit on a car in the UK to secure the sale and had it checked over by an engineer. The engineer seems pretty sure the car is clocked, I've no problem walking away from the purchase, just wondering about the deposit ?

Thanks

FBP.

Anan1

Need much more detail than you've given.

VH

unless youve signed a waiver you are entitled to get your deposit back

brundle

Is the engineer willing to put in writing that its clocked?

LolaDub

Do they have log books to support the mileage?

maidhc

fatboypee wrote: »

Hi,

I put a deposit on a car in the UK to secure the sale and had it checked over by an engineer. The engineer seems pretty sure the car is clocked, I've no problem walking away from the purchase, just wondering about the deposit ?

Thanks

FBP.

Well you put a deposit to secure a car with x miles. It now appears to have y miles. It changes the complection of the transaction and essentially is a different car. Yes, you are entitled to your money back.

fatboypee

Thanks for the replies.

Situation is Credit Card Deposit for a car in the UK. Sent a car check man to see it and he calls me telling me that the original garage that supplied it had it in for a service 2 years ago at 26000 miles, it now only has 32000 miles on it two years later. Added to this there is an engine rattle that would indicate more wear than the odometer reading. Though, whether he can 'prove' the clocking I will find out today.

I'm simply concerned that, if he cannot (Although circumstantial evidence points to this), am I still entitled to a refund. I hope (and expect) so, but just already spent 160 pounds on the car check (worth it, as it turns out), I don't want to follow that up with losing the deposit...

Thanks

FBP.

Mr.David

Surely if it was 26k 2 years ago, there have been subsequent MOTs. This may help determine the mileage. Do one of the online car history checks I suppose.

xt40

600 miles in 2 years is not completely unbelievable .
if its an ex-leasing co mondeo then id be suspicious but if its a
mercedes sl or a fiat panda it could be genuine. it would be very difficult to prove either way even for an "expert" if 10-20k was shaved off a newish car.
if its been mot'd the miles will be recorded there as well. see what the dealer says and maybe contact the last owner if you can.

fatboypee

Car check man is very thorough, doing all the checks he can it seems, says he's talking to the garage again this morning. I read someplace that in the UK it's possible to check for MOT's online ?? I think the Certificates are conveniently misplaced. The AD said 'Mileage Check' on it, which led me there in the first place...


FBP.

bazz26

If the payment is not already taken off your credit card then ring your bank straight away and tell them not to pay out on that transaction.

Regarding the car, considering the large choice available in the UK I would not settle on buying a car that has more questions than answers about it.

vibe666

See, I told you car checkers were good.

I'd imagine it would be difficult to clock a car without leaving some kind of tell tale marks on the screws in the instrument panel or marks on the chip itself if it's a new'ish motor.

I've seen a car being chipped and they clip a little yoke onto the odometer chip and re-program it with a laptop, so there might well be visible marks if this has been done.

mind you, my mum bought a 2005 Ssangyong Rexton (seriously, don't ask she did it without telling me!) with 14 (one four, that's not a typo) genuine miles on it in 2007 so it's not impossible.

if it's a legit garage you're getting it from I'd be asking some very serious questions about the legitimacy of their operation anyway just to see their reaction.

find out how long they've had the car, it could have been with them a couple of years and never actually used. they should have a lgitimate verifiable explanation for the mileage to convince you (and the car checkers guys) that the mileage is 100% genuine or I'd be walking away and getting my deposit back.

don't hesitate to put in a small claim in te nearest UK court, it's a simple process from what I understand and can be done online iirc.

Henry Ford III

vibe666 wrote: »

...I've seen a car being chipped and they clip a little yoke onto the odometer chip and re-program it with a laptop, so there might well be visible marks if this has been done...

What?

Guy:Incognito

vibe666 wrote: »

See, I told you car checkers were good.

I'd imagine it would be difficult to clock a car without leaving some kind of tell tale marks on the screws in the instrument panel or marks on the chip itself if it's a new'ish motor.

I've seen a car being chipped and they clip a little yoke onto the odometer chip and re-program it with a laptop, so there might well be visible marks if this has been done.
.

Were these cars clocked wth a calculator and a bit of wire?

All they do is hook it up to laptop using the diagnostics socket.

VH

Stekelly wrote: »

Were these cars clocked wth a calculator and a bit of wire?

All they do is hook it up to laptop using the diagnostics socket.

on some makes the odometer cannot be altered that way

Eoin

xt40 wrote: »

6000 miles in 2 years is not completely unbelievable.

Corrected your post, but I agree with you. That's an average of 8 miles a day, which is not that hard to believe.

Mylow

eoin_s wrote: »

Corrected your post, but I agree with you. That's an average of 8 miles a day, which is not that hard to believe.

Ask the garage for a copy of the V5. It will have previous owner details, go to www.bt.com and then look up their phone number, ask them mileage on car when purchased and sold. If car has MOT's mileage will be there. I am surprised your vehicle checker doesn't have an account with HPI, he can get mileage check done for around £2 if he has an account.

fatboypee

I have an inkling the garage knows its clocked, just by the way the salesman dealt with me and the fact that the V5 was 'conveniently' in the post to the DVLA/C (wotever) ....

The report from the car checkers was comprehensive and one statement alone in the comments should be enough, along the lines of the condition of the vehicle is not in keeping with the odometer reading.....

Tried calling the guy today but he was on a day off, so left an email copying the report and highlighting the comments.. bit of luck it will be enough..

FBP.

galwaytt

back to the question: you're entitled to your money back.

If garage gets stroppy, get VISA to do it, and they will reverse any charge.

L-M

It's entirely possible. Just an example
Sister has a 02 car, bought it new 38000 miles.
That's a bit under 6K a year.

Father has a 06 with 22kms.
Nearly three years old so what just under 5000 miles a year. If you found out a bit of background too it, but i can't imagine the point of clocking a car which such mileage, unless it did a hundred thousand or so in the two years, clocking a car for 10000 or 15000 would only be a waste of money and arouse suspicion.

Just do a few more checks, that's all you can do. Other than that it's up to yourself. Only thing is to have prove in a few places it's not clocked for yourself when selling it in a few years time.

vibe666

Stekelly wrote: »

Were these cars clocked wth a calculator and a bit of wire?

All they do is hook it up to laptop using the diagnostics socket.

the car i saw done was a 99 golf (in 1999) so things may well be different now.

he did try plugging something into the back of the dash first but couldn't get a reading afaik (maybe he was bullsh*tting, i don't know) so he opened it up and connected it directly to the chip itself and did it that way.

had assumed that it would be done a similar way now, but i guess not. so much for security. :eek:

before anyone asks it was a mate with a leased motor in the UK who got stiffed out of his rather substantial deposit by the leasing company and would have been reamed over excess miles on top of that so paid some guy in the exchange and mart £75 to 'correct' the mileage a few thousand miles on a 6 month old car to save a few quid on top of what he'd already been swindled out of.

Bandara

as an aside, my missus has put 3200 miles on her car in 3 years, she drives about a mile and a half to the bus stop in the morning and the same distancde back a night and goes to tesco and her mothers at the weekend.

its a 9 year old car with just over 39000 miles on it.

:P

Run_to_da_hills

There are heaps of tell tail signs of a docked car, general wear and tear on trimming, worn rubber on pedals, brake disks etc. Also dust or fingerprints inside the clock face from a clumzy "calibration engineer" , screws missing from the dash etc.

A garage will often get one of their own mechanics or an apprentice to remove the clocks from the dash and then send it off to get "recalibrated" to save cash. They can also replace the clocks with a lower milage set of clocks from a scrapped car which is not illegal if they can state that the old clocks were "faulty".

vibe666

Hammertime wrote: »

as an aside, my missus has put 3200 miles on her car in 3 years, she drives about a mile and a half to the bus stop in the morning and the same distancde back a night and goes to tesco and her mothers at the weekend.

its a 9 year old car with just over 39000 miles on it.

:P

dude, you could get her a really nice pair of runners twice a year and you'd still save a fortune. :pac:

doesn't sound like she needs a motor at all.