Bought a vehicle - had it for 12 months and on finance - miss -sold on mileage issues

moneyspender1981

 I purchased a Harley Davison from very large dealer, and was financed through Close brothers. The bike as having 1380 miles I received email from their from the dealer that stated the mileage was 2800, I queried and they said oh know its 1380. I then looked at last mot and it was 8657 - I email again and they said it was MOT tester error. 

So bike turned up mileage as it should be 12 months later I went to look at selling the bike and a diff main dealer said this bike mileage history is all over the place and its not really worth anywhere near what i paid. The Mileage is as per the below. I bought the bike because it had low mileage as an investment. Even spent maintenance of £500 as for a 2007 bike the and low miles I wanted to do it anyways 

• 1382 Last MOT
• 8657
• 8396
• 1294
• 1223
• 1223
• 1093
• 4053  1st Mot 

What is worrying is the bike i believe has then been "clocked" to look the millage I received it from. I have retained the original advert showing mileage, the confirmation emails received when i queried it, and the bike itself when i got it showing the mileage and the finance docs with the mileage it should have been on. 

I have contract the dealer today who agreed the mileage is all over and they will come back to me. The ideal for me is give the bike back. I will go to the finance company as there its still has finance on it. 

My question is what fair for me - can i give the bike back and have the monies including finance interest paid back. As it cant be fixed as the mileage is all over with no way to prove what its on. Ive only done 200 miles in 1 year, can i get the maintenance back i paid for as wasn't due but recommended due to low miles at that age. 

Really upset as loved this bike - any advice appreciated 

Brie

Well you can ask for all the money back but don't be surprised if they say no as you've had a year's use of the bike.  

I think you would be entitled to the difference between what you paid and what the new dealer might give you.  Not sure how you'll sort the finance though as that's a completely different company who had nothing to do with the problems you've encountered.

Mildly_Miffed

The MOT certificate has shown the previous four test's mileage for many years now - so assuming the 1382 mile certificate was the current one when you bought the bike, the 8000+ mile readings would have been visible.

Does the odometer have a trip reading?

I wonder if the trip read 839.6 and then 865.7, with the initial reading of 4053 possibly being a mis-read 1053?

To be honest, this market fixation over paying extra for stupidly low mileage - 1,400 miles in 17 years - is the root cause of clocking, as well as a lifetime average of <100/year being probably more likely to cause mechanical problems than actually using the vehicle.

Grumpy_chap

OP - please can you clarify the mileage information you had when purchasing?
It sounds as though you knew then about the mileage discrepancies yet still went ahead with the purchase.
Is that correct?

born_again

So 2007 bike.
Would make 2010 1st MOT

Unless you have missed some out you are 7 short on MOT's Unless it was never had MOT for the years.

Can't see dealer or finance co giving anything back. As buyer you would be expected to do your due diligence on the purchase. MOT etc

moneyspender1981

Hi All 

So i saw the last Mot only and was told it was an error - and they explained it was an error with the MOT tester. No problem i thought - the bike turned up with the right mileage and the trip odometer read 800 miles so it backed up the story. 

The bike dealer i bought it from a very big and claim all the checks are done and piece of mind, i HPI checked it all for finance. I bought the bike because of the low mileage yes unusual but that why i bought i. 

Ref 1 years use its done approx 3-400 miles and resides in my bike collection. 

Issue I have - is since finding out i have tried some bike dealers and no one will touch it with a barge pole. 

Even if i had checked all previous MOT's the bike still came with the 1300 miles which i took as confidence backed up with the sales receipt stating mileage, the explanation email and the fact the bike has the mileage 

Surely this has to have been miss sold, mis described. In addition the explanation from the dealer on the low mileage is that it came from another persons collection. 

The issue I have is there is no difference to give me - i cant really sell the bike, most dealers if they would touch it it was about 20% of what i paid ? this was suppose to be something that one day could be sold for a family event - kids wedding / uni etc while being a fun investment 


 

Mildly_Miffed

So you saw the mileage history on the MOT, but bought the story.
Others are seeing the same information, but not buying the story.

I'm not sure what the issue is here.

They have access to the same information you had when you decided to buy, but they're simply making a different decision to you.

Wonka_2

moneyspender1981 said:

Even if i had checked all previous MOT's the bike still came with the 1300 miles which i took as confidence backed up with the sales receipt stating mileage, the explanation email and the fact the bike has the mileage 

Surely this has to have been miss sold, mis described. In addition the explanation from the dealer on the low mileage is that it came from another persons collection. 

The issue I have is there is no difference to give me - i cant really sell the bike, most dealers if they would touch it it was about 20% of what i paid ? this was suppose to be something that one day could be sold for a family event - kids wedding / uni etc while being a fun investment 


 

Nowadays it's so easy to check vehicle history - even for a cursory check let alone for significant investment. Given the reason for purchase did you at any point contact the previous keeper to verify the status of the bike ?

Was it purchased from a HD Dealer under their Approved Used scheme which would give you a mileage verification check ?

Given the MOT history was readily available at the point of purchase and, as you've shown it's 'all over the place', I can't imagine you're going to get the financial outcome you're looking for.

Herzlos

How much are you expecting to lose on it vs what it would have been valued at without the mileage issue?

Because that's about all you can really be expected to be compensated for. You've had the bike for a year and paid for optional (but advised) maintenance.

I also suspect that given it's nearly winter, a lot of buyers aren't going to be interested enough to deal with the extra hassle for something that's going to sit in a showroom for 4/5 months.

Nobbie1967

I think you were entitled to accept the word of a large dealership on the mileage when buying and should expect them to take the bike back and refund the price minus some allowance for your use. I don’t think you’ll get the service costs back as this is just part of owning a bike. 

born_again

moneyspender1981 said:

Hi All 

So i saw the last Mot only and was told it was an error - and they explained it was an error with the MOT tester. No problem i thought - the bike turned up with the right mileage and the trip odometer read 800 miles so it backed up the story. 

The bike dealer i bought it from a very big and claim all the checks are done and piece of mind, i HPI checked it all for finance. I bought the bike because of the low mileage yes unusual but that why i bought i. 

Ref 1 years use its done approx 3-400 miles and resides in my bike collection. 

Issue I have - is since finding out i have tried some bike dealers and no one will touch it with a barge pole. 

Even if i had checked all previous MOT's the bike still came with the 1300 miles which i took as confidence backed up with the sales receipt stating mileage, the explanation email and the fact the bike has the mileage 

Surely this has to have been miss sold, mis described. In addition the explanation from the dealer on the low mileage is that it came from another persons collection. 

The issue I have is there is no difference to give me - i cant really sell the bike, most dealers if they would touch it it was about 20% of what i paid ? this was suppose to be something that one day could be sold for a family event - kids wedding / uni etc while being a fun investment 


 

Best sold privately anyway at that age.

Very dangerous ground for a investment. As far to much risk. Especially as the provenance of the bike is not clear at all with the changes in mileage & gaps in MOT, without any covering details from previous owners.