Bought a clocked car

lucky7786

Bought a car back in March from a dealer. Paid 6,900 for a car, it had around 37k miles on the clock. However, today I have paid for one of these HPI checks online and the mileage has been flagged up as an issue. It seems that the car has been clocked before it's first MOT and the record has shown this;
16/01/2014 6000 miles (National Mileage Register)
16/01/2014 20 000 (National Mileage Register)
04/03/2014 12 000 (National Mileage Register)
12/01/2016 11 399 (Manufacturer)
18/06/2018 28 358 (VOSA)
04/07/2019 35 774 (VOSA)
This mileage history seems dodgy and I wonder if my car is not as described by a dealer? Many thanks

williamgriffin

What does the mot history tell you about mileage?

Grumpy_chap

Why did you buy an HPI check in August for a car bought in March?  The correct time for this check is before buying.

The_Rainmaker

Time to do your checks is before you buy.

You have two differing mileage figures for the same date, does that not make you question the national mileage register?
The car is at least 6 years old so take the MOT figures and check the service records.

lucky7786

I never knew about HPI test before yesterday, my boyfriend done it yesterday on the car he bought, so I done the same with mine today. MOT checks shows this
18/07/2014 - 10 160 miles
13/07/2015 - 11, 169
16/02/2016 - 11, 410
15/07/2016 - 17,074
4/07/2017 - 24,307 

AdrianC

lucky7786 said:

16/01/2014 6000 miles (National Mileage Register)
16/01/2014 20 000 (National Mileage Register)
04/03/2014 12 000 (National Mileage Register)
12/01/2016 11 399 (Manufacturer)
18/06/2018 28 358 (VOSA)
04/07/2019 35 774 (VOSA)

Just pause and look at those for one minute.

When was it first registered?

16/1/14 - 6k AND 20k on the same date. One is going to be wrong. Let's ignore the 20k one completely.

Two months later, +6k to take it to 12k - not impossible, but seems a lot in a short time. 3k/mo = 36k/yr. So is that wrong, too?

21mo later, 11.4k - so 21mo to cover just 5.4k, if we assume the 20k and 12k are wrong? It's not ridiculous. MOT would have been due around then, surely... so what does the MOT history say? https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

29mo later, +17k to take it to 28.3k
13mo later, + 7k to take it to 35.7k

Strikes me the issue is probably the two anomalous figures. They don't make sense... Unless... Is it a digital odometer, switchable between km and miles? If so, then the 12k figure could be 12k km - so 7,500 miles. That would fit the pattern, wouldn't it? Leaves just that ridiculous 20k one.

lucky7786

The car was registered on 18 july, 2011. 

AdrianC

So it was 2.5yo at the time of the 2014 mileages, and would have been MOTd twice before the 2016 one. What does the MOT history say?

MinuteNoodles

If it's done more like 70k-80k than 37k by 9 years old you've dodged a bullet. I'd rather have a car that's done 10,000 miles a year than one that's done 4,000 as that low mileage will be pretty much consisting of short journeys and periods stood, neither of which are good for a car.

If I'd bought a 9 year old car with 37k on the clock I'd be waiting for the engine to go pop in the next 2 years. Lots of 9/10/11 year old cars with very low mileage for their age with engines that sound like a bag of spanners.

Jumblebumble

lucky7786 said:

Bought a car back in March from a dealer. Paid 6,900 for a car, it had around 37k miles on the clock. However, today I have paid for one of these HPI checks online and the mileage has been flagged up as an issue. It seems that the car has been clocked before it's first MOT and the record has shown this;
16/01/2014 6000 miles (National Mileage Register)
16/01/2014 20 000 (National Mileage Register)
04/03/2014 12 000 (National Mileage Register)
12/01/2016 11 399 (Manufacturer)
18/06/2018 28 358 (VOSA)
04/07/2019 35 774 (VOSA)
This mileage history seems dodgy and I wonder if my car is not as described by a dealer? Many thanks

All this highlights is that the National Mileage register's data is somewhat suspect
You could always ask where they got this data from
They will probably refuse to tell you and you can draw your own conclusions about why
I am also led to believe that a main dealer can usually tell if a car has been clocked so perhaps explore this option

facade

Jumblebumble said:

All this highlights is that the National Mileage register's data is somewhat suspect
You could always ask where they got this data from
They will probably refuse to tell you and you can draw your own conclusions about why
I am also led to believe that a main dealer can usually tell if a car has been clocked so perhaps explore this option

I had a letter from them some years ago, about a car I had traded in, 8 years old, and around 40,000 miles from new ( I'd had it from new, so it was genuine). They wanted me to fill in how many miles it had when I sold it. I really hadn't a clue, and as there was nothing in it for me, not even a cheap biro or voucher for a Mars bar I ignored it, but I could have put 80,000 I suppose just to be awkward...