Just bought a car today, have a couple of questions

missile

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Perhaps, but as with most people who are as inexperienced as the OP in buying cars, they didn't think of that at the time, But they have asked now and it would churlish for some people to beat them up about it. As it turns out, there seems to have been no harm done.

I am not being "churlish". OP may be inexperienced, but even the most naive should know to check the mileage (and documents). OP stated he was aware of the change.

they didn't think of that at the time

Not true. OP then confirmed the instrument change had been declared by the seller.

No harm done

..... will he be able to explain this when he tries to sell the vehicle?

macman

It doesn't just apply to buying cars though, it applies to everything...

patman99

At least the OP is safe in the knowledge that a garage changed the instrument cluster. This certainly not a case of getting a replacement from a scrapyard and swapping-them over. There are a couple of chips on the PCB that interact with both the smart-charge system in the alternator and the EMU. If the numbers do not match, then the car will not start. The cluster needs programing to the other 2 parts using software. Not something the average home mechanic will have in their toolbox.

As for low mileage, my dad' bought a 1996 Clio in 2006 with 26k on the clock. The dealer (a small back-street jobbie) refused to accept the mileage as genuine and was selling the car as 'mileage unknown'.
A quick look in the glovebox revealed the owners manual and service record. Last service was 1 month before my dad bought the car and the mileage tallied-up perfectly. No, we did not tell the dealer what we had found in case he put the price up