Claim for mileage discrepancy - what value?

adam.mt

Recently I purchased a second-hand Ford C-Max (58 plate) from a well advertised dealership but soon found that unfortunately it had a number of faults.

On approaching the dealership they have been unwilling to address the issues. From seeking advice I understand that leaves me the option of either a Section 75 claim from my credit card company (since I paid the deposit by card) or pursuing the Small Claims track of the County Court.

One of the issues with the car was that it was sold as being 'HPI clear' but when I lost confidence with the dealer over the other issues I decided to pay for my own check; whereupon I discovered it was in fact not - there is a mileage discrepancy with the vehicle. (Between 2009 and 2010 the National Mileage Register logged a mileage drop of 10k).

I believe it may possibly be a clerical error (the 2009 reading being inaccurate), but I obviously can't be sure. There's no way to investigate this without the dealers help (the car is ex-mobility, but they refuse to assist saying I must go through the selling dealer).

Given that this mileage discrepancy will make selling the vehicle on more difficult when I later need to, and it's not what I thought I'd been sold, it obviously affects the vehicle's value. The question is, by how much? If I'm to make a claim, what value should it be for?

As the vehicle cost £6k and it was more than a month before I discovered this problem, I think I'd be extremely unlikely to be able to return it for a full refund and couldn't pursue such via Small Claims (due to the £5k limit). Thus, I've decided I'd be happy to keep the car if the other faults are fixed and I'm compensated for the loss in value due to the dodgy history.

Thus, any advice as to what monetary value to assign to the mileage discrepancy for the purposes of making a claim? Anyone in the motor trade able to assist?

Thanks.

scheming_gypsy

adam.mt wrote: »

One of the issues with the car was that it was sold as being 'HPI clear' but when I lost confidence with the dealer over the other issues I decided to pay for my own check; whereupon I discovered it was in fact not - there is a mileage discrepancy with the vehicle. (Between 2009 and 2010 the National Mileage Register logged a mileage drop of 10k).

I believe it may possibly be a clerical error (the 2009 reading being inaccurate), but I obviously can't be sure. There's no way to investigate this without the dealers help (the car is ex-mobility, but they refuse to assist saying I must go through the selling dealer).

.

with it being only 3 years old there won't be any MOT history, but presumably it'll have full service history? how does the mileage match up on that?

motorguy

adam.mt wrote: »

Recently I purchased a second-hand Ford C-Max (58 plate) from a well advertised dealership but soon found that unfortunately it had a number of faults.

On approaching the dealership they have been unwilling to address the issues. From seeking advice I understand that leaves me the option of either a Section 75 claim from my credit card company (since I paid the deposit by card) or pursuing the Small Claims track of the County Court.

One of the issues with the car was that it was sold as being 'HPI clear' but when I lost confidence with the dealer over the other issues I decided to pay for my own check; whereupon I discovered it was in fact not - there is a mileage discrepancy with the vehicle. (Between 2009 and 2010 the National Mileage Register logged a mileage drop of 10k).

I believe it may possibly be a clerical error (the 2009 reading being inaccurate), but I obviously can't be sure. There's no way to investigate this without the dealers help (the car is ex-mobility, but they refuse to assist saying I must go through the selling dealer).

Given that this mileage discrepancy will make selling the vehicle on more difficult when I later need to, and it's not what I thought I'd been sold, it obviously affects the vehicle's value. The question is, by how much? If I'm to make a claim, what value should it be for?

As the vehicle cost £6k and it was more than a month before I discovered this problem, I think I'd be extremely unlikely to be able to return it for a full refund and couldn't pursue such via Small Claims (due to the £5k limit). Thus, I've decided I'd be happy to keep the car if the other faults are fixed and I'm compensated for the loss in value due to the dodgy history.

Thus, any advice as to what monetary value to assign to the mileage discrepancy for the purposes of making a claim? Anyone in the motor trade able to assist?

Thanks.

Why is it always claiming is the first thing that comes to peoples minds these days - surely what we seem to be talking about here is some sort of error on HPI. It should be a simple matter of making a couple of phone calls to the previous owner and the servicing garage to clarify?

I recently bought a car that according to the HPI records was declared manufactured in 2003 and first registered in 2002, so mistakes on input do happen.

Also, you seem to be very unlucky that everyone is 'refusing' to help you - maybe a different style of approach is required?

LandyAndy

adam.mt wrote: »

As the vehicle cost £6k and it was more than a month before I discovered this problem, I think I'd be extremely unlikely to be able to return it for a full refund and couldn't pursue such via Small Claims (due to the £5k limit). Thus, I've decided I'd be happy to keep the car if the other faults are fixed and I'm compensated for the loss in value due to the dodgy history.

.

But you can still sue in the county court and it is a straightforward procedure you just go along a different 'track' from the small claims. I recently succesfully sued someone for £9k. I'm not saying you should sue, just that you can if you wish.

harveybobbles

When you did the HPi check and it came back with a descrepency, you would have been given the option to have an "investigation" done - Hpi will contact all the registered keepres on your behalf to ask for dates and mileages of when the car was aquired/sold.

This obviously costs money, so you could contact Motability your self. If it has a few keepers you could send £2.50 to the DVLA to request the keeper details and contact the keepers your self.

Clerical errors do happen. We had a batch of Passat 1.8 Turbo petrols listed as diesels. We had a Vectra 2.5 CDX listed as a GLS on the V5.

Alos the mileage errors happen at places like KwikFit who sometimes slap any mileage in. Some cars when you turn the ignition on display some numbers - but these will be the miles to the next service, and the spanners at Kwik Fit will use this as the cars "mileage" - unaware that its a service indicator.

This then spacks up the log at HPi.

jwruk

What are the mechanical problems with the vehicle, and have you asked the dealer to fix these?

It sounds like you're trying to off-load the car back to the dealer due to some faults and now because you've found a possible discrepancy in mileage, although by your own admission you say this could be a clerical error, you appear to be using this as an excuse to get a refund.

MX5huggy

Your claim would not be for more than the £5k limit.

adam.mt

Thanks for the advice so far.

Some extra detail to fill in the blanks.

Faults found with car:
* Noise from the engine bay when starting the vehicle from cold; diagnosed by main dealer as faulty auxiliary belts, replacement cost will be £120. Was told at purchase that this was due to "overspray of cleaning solution and it would disappear within a few days, if not then bring it back". Well, I did and they didn't want to know.

* The rear offside quarter of the vehicle was dented when I originally viewed, along with some other paint damage and marked alloys. These were all to be professionally fixed prior to purchase. Unfortunately, I failed to properly check on collection (bad weather) and thus I missed that although the other fixes were fine, the bottom of the rear quarter was very badly repaired. The paint work is a right hash. It will cost £380 to get fixed. When I got a quote they told me it would have been better if they had left alone.

* Mileage discrepancy - Feb 2009 reading of 35537, next reading Feb 2010 of 26968. This was while owned by previous owner and not between owners or in traders hands. Service book wasn't supplied, told that Mobility vehicles don't have one just a printout of the service record instead; that they supplied after the car's purchase, but it can't be relied upon since it shows three vastly different mileage readings for Feb 2009, all on the same day! Hence, why I thought the "discrepancy" could be a clerical error, but obviously I don't know for sure. Original suppling dealer (when vehicle was new) and who did the yearly services say they have no mileage record; they can only confirm that the services were done. Mobility say they are unable to help me, they will only deal with a trade dealer so I must return to the garage I bought the car from. That I've obviously tried, but they just fob me off and are unwilling to do anything. (Surely, it would only take a few phone calls if a genuine mistake, how hard can it be? But nope, they aren't helping).

* Rear brakes 70% worn, found out via a free 'Health Check' at a Ford dealership. Prepared to accept this as par for course for a used vehicle.

* Remote key fob was defective; they initially said 'tough', but when I reminded them they'd had to get a new key cut, they told me the name of the retailer who did it and I was able to take it up with them (although it meant two trips out to them, costing £35 in petrol and 6 hours of my time).

* V5 took over two months and lots of chasing to be supplied. Door trim 'fell off' letting wind/air inside, they eventually supplied a replacement (cost £17 to them; huge inconvenience and repeated chasing for me and it's not been fitted properly). Power socket faulty (thankfully able to fit a new fuse myself). Wrong handbook supplied, they actually replaced that without issue.

I can't go via Small Claims for a full refund as this would be over £5k and to be honest I think that asking for such would be too much. I'm not too bothered about the mileage thing, but had I known about it then there's no way I would have bought the car. I know too that it would make most buyers extremely wary of making a purchase, particularly for a private sale, which it what I intend to do in a couple of years time.

Simply put, I basically just want the car I was promised (ie. an equivalent resolution) and not to be out of pocket for faults they knew about; for them to honour what they promised me at the point of sale.

I think possibly my best action may be a Section 75 claim (since the deposit was paid by credit card), hence raising the question of what's the damage worth?

I think I'm being reasonable, am I not? Should I have been more careful and 'buyer beware'?

adam.mt

jwruk wrote: »

It sounds like you're trying to off-load the car back to the dealer due to some faults and now because you've found a possible discrepancy in mileage, although by your own admission you say this could be a clerical error, you appear to be using this as an excuse to get a refund.

No, as I said I think expecting a refund would be pushing it too far and unrealistic. I just don't want to be at a loss.

adam.mt

harveybobbles wrote: »

When you did the HPi check and it came back with a descrepency, you would have been given the option to have an "investigation" done

Nope. I actually did the check via the RAC, which claims to be "powered by HPi" and on emailing them the RAC passed me to HPi, and from them to the National Mileage Register, who have confirmed the discrepancy. They've also said that if I can supply servicing etc details then they would be able to correct any mistakes.

Problem is the servicing garage claim not to have recorded the mileage, that was down to Mobility who say they won't help me, they'll only deal with the selling garage. The only servicing paperwork I have is the Mobility printout which is completely unreliable due to showing three different mileage readings taken on one day (each differ by thousands of miles).

harveybobbles

The best thing to do about the mileage is to phone Motability again and hopefully you will speak to someone else. You could try phoning Ford Customer Services and see if they have acess to the mileages for the services. I know BMW, Audi etc are all linked.

As for the damage - you have already said in a round about way that you accepted their repairs as "you couldnt check due to the weather".

You should have got them to get the car under cover or dry so you could examine it before you signed the paperwork (which will say you are accepting the car as described and have inspected the condition)