We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Please can someone help me...
Comments
-
What does the service history say?0
-
How is it picked up at the last MOT? Sorry to be a bit dense, the report stated the really high figure from 2008 for some reason, but since the mileage figures have gone on the gov database later it has always been the lower figure. Surely if the mileage was easy to verify from one MOT to another they there would be no clocked cars? I don't understand sorry.0
-
The service history stamps in book look ok, Hubby looked at them, it was serviced up to about 18 months ago.0
-
It sounds like a mistake from the RAC, its 267k out, which whilst not impossible isn't likely (they were used for taxi runs in the Olympics, but even then I doubt they'd have done that mileage). You've only got 1 number which doesn't fit, and it's so far out it's unlikely to be real.
You should have a very careful look at all of the paperwork it comes with to see if anything is odd, and ask the garage to do a fresh HPI (offer to pay them the couple of £ it'll cost them), and if you're still worried, get the AA/RAC to inspect it or ask your friendly local mechanic.
Realistically, if it's in good condition, the mileage is largely irrelevant anyway, and you're already looking at an 11 year old car with 103k miles on it so it's presumably not costing you that much.
Clocking was a big thing before the MOT recorded mileage in a checkable way, or was done before the MOT (i.e. you'd do 20,000 miles over a year, and roll it back by 15,000 before the MOT, so it'd look like you only did 5,000, rinse and repeat).0 -
371 from one website and 71 from the first MoT statement sounds remarkably coincidental. Especially as it seems to have been doing around 10k miles a year for most of its life.This figure of 371 isn't quoted on the government website, your concern is that the figures that ARE quoted, are false?
Actually I've driven cars with higher mileage. You'd be surprised how good a high mileage maintained car is - yes, depending on the brand it might be on its third gearbox or second engine, but replacing many of the suspension bushes, shocks, etc over the lifetime will make an old car drive better than one with half the mileage which hasn't had parts replaced.To my mind, if it'd done 371k miles, it would be on the verge of falling to pieces, that's a hell of a lot of miles - but then again I'm not a mechanic.
Buying cars in Spain, the rule of thumb was ONLY buy a high mileage car as low mileage cars will be exactly the same, just that they will have been clocked, and sold at a higher price.
Anyway, my money's still on 371k being a typo of 71k...0 -
Everytime an MOT is done, the mileage is recorded.
If you see the mileage from one MOT to another go down, then it is clear that the car has been clocked.
Does the dealer have a copy of the 2008 and 2009 MOTs? Do they have any invoices for services or work done from those years? You need to peace together the history of the car.
What is likely to have happened is that when selling the car, a previous owner will have been contacted to provide verification of the mileage at the point they sold it.
They have likely written one too many digits down and this was recorded against the car. Is 37k miles a more likely number for the car in 2008/2009?
As I said, the only real way to work out what is going on is get the history infront of you, in order and check for anything strange.
There is no need to run away from the car unless you find something dodgy.0 -
WellKnownSid wrote: »Anyway, my money's still on 371k being a typo of 71k...
I agree; it's most likely a typo.0 -
It is much more likely that in 2008, someone inadvertently typed '371' instead of '37' into a system somewhere...0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 352.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.3K Spending & Discounts
- 245.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 601.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.5K Life & Family
- 259.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards