Can you find out if car is clocked?

Bullseye1 · 12-04-2011 07:19PM #1

Is there anyway of determining if a car has been clocked? Especially if it's imported from the UK?

andyseadog · 12-04-2011 07:21PM

www.motorcheck.ie will tell you

Nissan doctor · 12-04-2011 07:47PM

Depending on the type of car, diagnostics can access the ecu's recorded mileage.

DanWall · 12-04-2011 08:22PM

It's recorded on the NCT

robtri · 12-04-2011 08:29PM

service history is a good indicator and easily verified

delly · 12-04-2011 09:11PM

Car checks such as motorcheck will only tell you if someone has run a check previously and you can compare mileage. A UK import however is slightly different as the revenue record the mileage when it would have been presented for VRTing and this would show up on a report. It may be different now that the NCT crowd do it. Speaking of which, the mileage entered on an NCT can't actually be accessed anywhere, other than if you have the last NCT docket.

shawnee · 12-04-2011 09:19PM

There are ads out there in the buy and sell every week for digital mileage correction, which is basically clocking cars. It is almost impossible to say for sure whether mileage is genuine, If you speak to the original owner you may got an idea of its history and mileage. :eek:

MarcinG · 12-04-2011 09:20PM

andyseadog wrote: »

www.motorcheck.ie will tell you

so far checked three cars and NONE of them shown record of mileage.

MarcinG · 12-04-2011 09:25PM

delly wrote: »

Speaking of which, the mileage entered on an NCT can't actually be accessed anywhere, other than if you have the last NCT docket.

i just asked for previous nct reports and got all of them for free.
But heard about people clocking cars on regular basis to keep low mileage consistent ;/

antodeco · 12-04-2011 09:27PM

The NCT added an extra digit at the end of my mileage on the docket, meaning it had 10 times more mileage than it actually does.

MidlandsM · 12-04-2011 09:33PM

MarcinG wrote: »

i just asked for previous nct reports and got all of them for free.
But heard about people clocking cars on regular basis to keep low mileage consistent ;/

As its a uk import, if you have the last/latest MOT cert, you can do a check on the directgov site.

If you don’t have your latest certificate, you can use the document reference number from the V5C registration certificate and the UK car reg.

That'll show up milages at MOT test back to 2005.

code187.2010 · 12-04-2011 09:50PM

With the modern cars it's far to easy to clock them, in the old days you could look for misaligned numbers on the odometer. Always Hpi or motor check a car, look for service history, failing that look for wear and tear, low mileage cars should in general have little wear on the pedals, steering wheel ,gear knob and seats etc.

mickdw · 12-04-2011 10:09PM

code187.2010 wrote: »

low mileage cars should in general have little wear on the pedals, steering wheel ,gear knob and seats etc.

My audi needed new seat back foam internals at 20k miles! Seat was in bits

Bullseye1 · 12-04-2011 10:18PM

Its kind of incredible that car manufacturers have not been instructed to ensure that the millage can not be altered.

mondeo · 12-04-2011 10:32PM

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Its kind of incredible that car manufacturers have not been instructed to ensure that the millage can not be altered.

Ye that portion of the ECU that holds mileage should be locked down with the only way to have it altered would be a newly programmed ECU from the manufacturer. It's so dodgy that you can connect a piece of hardware to your obd connector and slaughter the mileage like that. Any clown can do it aswell.

Nissan doctor · 15-04-2011 12:47AM

mondeo wrote: »

Ye that portion of the ECU that holds mileage should be locked down with the only way to have it altered would be a newly programmed ECU from the manufacturer. It's so dodgy that you can connect a piece of hardware to your obd connector and slaughter the mileage like that. Any clown can do it aswell.

Whats really crazy is that it is not illigal in Ireland to change the recorded mileage on a car!:eek:

Reloc8 · 15-04-2011 08:39AM

^ Ah well that's not entirely true -

Criminal Justice (Theft & Fraud) Offences Act 2001 :-

Section 6.—(1) A person who dishonestly, with the intention of making a gain for himself or herself or another, or of causing loss to another, by any deception induces another to do or refrain from doing an act is guilty of an offence.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both.

And Section 9 :-

9.—(1) A person who dishonestly, whether within or outside the State, operates or causes to be operated a computer within the State with the intention of making a gain for himself or herself or another, or of causing loss to another, is guilty of an offence.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.

It's fully covered by the legislation.

When you see all those adds for the 'corrective' equipment you'd be terrified of buying a low mileage newish car from many sources....don't just buy the car buy the seller.

nogoodnamesleft · 15-04-2011 08:59AM

^ That Legislation basically says the following:

- Its not illegal to change the recorded mileage on your own car.

- It is illegal to to change the recorded mileage on your own car and then try to sell it to an individual (i.e. By deception).

Reloc8 · 15-04-2011 07:10PM

Eh...yeah....if you want to clock it for your own self-pleasure belt away.

If you clock it with the intention that someone else (whether directly from you or otherwise) will purchase at your clocked mileage under the impression that the mileage displayed is accurate, that's illegal.

shawnee · 16-04-2011 07:02AM

nogoodnamesleft wrote: »

^ That Legislation basically says the following:

- Its not illegal to change the recorded mileage on your own car.

- It is illegal to to change the recorded mileage on your own car and then try to sell it to an individual (i.e. By deception).

This needs to be tightened up alright. If you are caught with the equipment to doctor the speedometer in Germany.... five years in the slammer.:p

Reloc8 · 16-04-2011 08:40AM

I agree we should ban possession of the equipment, subject to licence (I presume the feckin things have some legitimate use - if not ban 'em full stop).

Bigus · 16-04-2011 11:09AM

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Its kind of incredible that car manufacturers have not been instructed to ensure that the millage can not be altered.

Eh it might encourage a few people to buy new cars in case secondhand ones are clocked. !

biko · 16-04-2011 11:29AM

Clocking is massive in Ireland and the "I can't possibly buy a car with more than 100K on it" attitude is encouraging clocking, from dealers and dodgy sellers.

zilog_jones · 16-04-2011 11:46AM

code187.2010 wrote: »

With the modern cars it's far to easy to clock them, in the old days you could look for misaligned numbers on the odometer.

In the old days you could just disconnect the speedometer for a few months/years...

Mar4ix · 16-04-2011 12:25PM

One my friend had vw passat, 99, diesel, was in terrible condition, on clocks was 92k. miles. i wouldn't believe. I have original VAG COM tester , i may test most of vw and audi group cars, so i connected up, and it show up 180k.miles ... wow ... thats look real miles .
I dont know how they change onclock, but everything stay on ECU.

Bigus · 16-04-2011 12:53PM

biko wrote: »

Clocking is massive in Ireland and the "I can't possibly buy a car with more than 100K on it" attitude is encouraging clocking, from dealers and dodgy sellers.

Nah lately there's more control,

Nct take a note at each test,

& Every change of ownership can't be completed without mileage reading,

motorcheck reports can't be got without submitting mileage either and if lower than last alarm bells go off

Along with databases of service records you'll see that there are a lot more high mileage cars for sale nowadays compared to years ago when every secondhand car had less than 65,000 miles

Helium · 16-04-2011 01:12PM

DanWall wrote: »

It's recorded on the NCT

I had instrument panel replaced on Mondeo in Ford garage and thought they would've had some way of putting original mileage back on, but no, gave me letter with mileage recorded to show NCT.

NCT weren't interested and stated that they put down whatever appeared on clock at time of test

Surely this cannot be correct procedure as car had over 130k on it, and now its disappeared.

slimjimmc · 16-04-2011 09:14PM

Dealers and certain aforementioned websites use the privately operated The Irish National Mileage Register.

zimmerseo · 02-01-2016 04:36PM

There is no clear cut way to tell if a car has been clocked, but having said that, there are a number of strong indicators.

1. Never buy a car without a full service history. Car owners who neglect their cars, don't keep them serviced regularly and therefore don't have service documentation. Cars that are not serviced regularly can have their lives reduced by 30%-50%.

2. If a card has a full service history, the milage should be there. Look for consistency of mileage. Why would a car with the same owner do 10k a year for 3 years and then 1k for the next 2. Always confirm mileage with the garage who has serviced it. They will have records. Failing that, the NCT always keep mileage records.

3. Look at the cars interior. Shiny gear knobs, steering wheel, pedals etc are indicators of high mileage. Seats can also be a giveaway. Sit in the passenger seat and move over to the driver seat. If there is a big difference in firmness, there might be an issue. Look for excessively stretched covers on the drivers seat. Check under cat mats to see if the carpet has been worn too.

Follow your instinct. If your gut tells you something is wrong....walk away.

zimmerseo · 02-01-2016 04:37PM

There is no clear cut way to tell if a car has been clocked, but having said that, there are a number of strong indicators.

1. Never buy a car without a full service history. Car owners who neglect their cars, don't keep them serviced regularly and therefore don't have service documentation. Cars that are not serviced regularly can have their lives reduced by 30%-50%.

2. If a car has a full service history, the milage should be there. Look for consistency of mileage. Why would a car with the same owner do 10k a year for 3 years and then 1k for the next 2. Always confirm mileage with the garage who has serviced it. They will have records. Failing that, the NCT always keep mileage records.

3. Look at the cars interior. Shiny gear knobs, steering wheel, pedals etc are indicators of high mileage. Seats can also be a giveaway. Sit in the passenger seat and move over to the driver seat. If there is a big difference in firmness, there might be an issue. Look for excessively stretched covers on the drivers seat. Check under cat mats to see if the carpet has been worn too.

Follow your instinct. If your gut tells you something is wrong....walk away.

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Can you find out if car is clocked?

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