Help- my cousing just bought a car which has been clocked

bobby321_2

my cousin has just bought a BMW® - he did the hpi called BMW® etc to check it was- legit- he didnt call each dealer though to validate warranty etc- mistake!

The guy was a trade seller operating from home- checked his driving license and it was ok

the car has just come out of the 3 year warranty so had its first MOT and the service book was present with the BMW® stamps from a main dealer-

when he got home the next day he called the dealers to check the car had been there and found that actually it hadnt been there- on further digging found the car had been to other places leigitimately but the mileage was 40 k higher- so basically dodgy service book

he called the dealer and he said he wont give money back- we have said we would call trading standards and police and he said that he had also got it in this condition so not his fault

what do we do

1. report to police- car gets recorded as involved in fraud and we have no chance of ever selling it on then even if we declare proper mileage- will we really get money back through thus route and through the courts? what are the steps we would take to do this
2. get a duplicate of the original service book with original mileage- put the clock forward to actual mileage (dont know how to do this) and sell the car and just cut his losses

any other advice here- also how do i get a copy of the original service book?

Nile

Hello bobby321

Welcome to the MSE site.:wave:

I'll move your thread to the 'Motoring & Public Transport' board.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

Regards

Nile

goldspanners

tread carefully, this could end up costing you lots of cash.
something similar happened to my dad years ago,bought a car,all be it from a private seller,the car turned out to be a ringer,my dad thinking he was in the right and doing the right thing got in touch with the police,took the guy to court,ended up my dad lost as the seller said he knew nothing about the cars history.

i think you may have a better chance though as its a dealer you are dealing with rather than a private seller.

good luck.

sportage1kia

Hi there
I would contact the Trading Standards office in the area you purchased the car. Many years ago I purchased a clocked car off a dealer, that went to court, but it took 5 years and was very messy, and in the end I lost out. all because I did not take the trading standards advice.
Good luck anyway

SailorSam

Deinitley trading standards they may know the guy, if others have complained, Something else to consider a lot of these so called dealers selling cars from home, do it as a side line.
I wonder does he pay tax and council tax, is he on the dole ? If he's doing the dirty on you, make a few phone calls and find out if he's legit.

bobby321_2

SailorSam wrote: »

Definitley trading standards they may know the guy, if others have complained, Something else to consider a lot of these so called dealers selling cars from home, do it as a side line.
I wonder does he pay tax and council tax, is he on the dole ? If he's doing the dirty on you, make a few phone calls and find out if he's legit.

Thanks for the advice- the worry is if he reports it then it may get recorded as having a bad history which may show up badly on a hpi if he ever tries to sell it- will trading standards log car with police if it is discussed with them

also what are the chances of getting a refund on this- he paid cash and the seller was trade but operating from h ome- he has a hand written receipt and thats it- what evidence will the court take into account

we do have the guys details who sold the dealer this car from the log book which my cousin was given so it would be a matter of the two guys being interviewed by police to see who did the clocking- the former keeper or the dealer we got it from

what would the process be if i reported to trading standards- do i need an officla receipt etc what other evidence is used and is the care still usable etc whilst this goes on?

harveybobbles

Take the key into any BMW dealership and they will be able to tell where it's upto on servicing and what its mileage is without needing to see the car.
They will also be able to tell you if it's been clocked.

Was the car advertised? If so, was the mileage in the advert? If so, print the ad off and take it to Trading Standards.

Did your cous get an invoice with the mileage stated on it?

Bielzibub

Unless the dealer specified that the mileage is genuine, you might have little comeback. They can be caught out just like you when they've bought one and it's for this very reason that most dealers put "mileage is not guaranteed" stickers on the speedo.

bobby321_2

harveybobbles wrote: »

Take the key into any BMW dealership and they will be able to tell where it's upto on servicing and what its mileage is without needing to see the car.
They will also be able to tell you if it's been clocked.

Was the car advertised? If so, was the mileage in the advert? If so, print the ad off and take it to Trading Standards.

Did your cous get an invoice with the mileage stated on it?

how can bmw tell whether it has been clocked from the key- the advert has gone from autotrader but i can assume that autotrader will have access to it if required by trading standards

if he decides to keep the car and leave the mileage as it is- next time he takes it to bmw for a service are they going to flag this and if so what action will they take if they realise it has been clocked?

hewhoisnotintheknow

bobby321 wrote: »

how can bmw tell whether it has been clocked from the key- the advert has gone from autotrader but i can assume that autotrader will have access to it if required by trading standards

if he decides to keep the car and leave the mileage as it is- next time he takes it to bmw for a service are they going to flag this and if so what action will they take if they realise it has been clocked?

The key holds info on services etc

for example If it was serviced at 100000 6 months ago and now it has 60000 on it, something is not right

markelock

i bought a clocked car many years ago. I informed trading standards, which ended up with the "trader from home" being taken to court. I ended up turning up at court as a witness, he pleaded guilty at the last minute, and had no money to pay compensation to myself or the others who had been duped.

worth informing TS though, this sort of thing needs stamping out.