About to buy a car- history looks strange?

[NotYetCorroded]

Hi All,

first post here so apologies if it is in the incorrect section.

I'm about to purchase a used vehicle. While doing the usual checks I spotted something that concerns me:

1. the mileage readings as below from HPI check- note the weird-looking spike in October 2018 and then back to what you would consider standard mileage a couple of weeks later:

Date recorded Recorded by Mileage reading Total
19/10/2016 VOSA 13113 13113
17/10/2017 VOSA 18717 18717
16/10/2018 VOSA 25601 25601
19/10/2018 NMR 53535 53535
06/11/2018 VOSA 25945 25945
06/11/2019 VOSA 33339 33339
05/08/2020 VOSA 35726 35726

2. MOT history :

- shows a pass on 16/10/2018;
- a subsequent fail on 06/11/2018 [ defects: Nearside Front Headlamp aim too low (4.1.2 (a)) , Offside Front Headlamp aim too low (4.1.2 (a)) ] ;
- a pass on 06/11/2018 (defects repaired)

does this seem a bit off to you? Would you recommend pursuing the purchase or is it best to stay away? I've asked the dealer regarding these concerns (the dealer being TG2A if it matters)

Even if somehow the NMR reading is there as an error, I'm puzzled as to why someone would do an MOT 2 weeks after the previous one.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Fastdruid]

The mileage readings are from different source. VOSA - ie MOT vs the National Mileage Register.

You might have some luck trying to find out how the National Mileage register actually got that figure.

[mbwoy84]

Doesn’t look like anything wrong to me.

Mileage thing is 99.9% certainly a mistake, which happen often.

The MOT thing could be anything really. A new owner wanted to present it for MOT themselves for peace of mind or a purchaser wanted a vendor to present it for a fresh MOT (although seems less likely just for a month), but clearly nothing gained by anyone to put it through and for it to fail on something it passed on before, but would take 10 minutes and cost nothing to rectify...

[paradigital]

53535 also looks suspiciously like either an error, or someone typing a random number into a box.

I'd suggest that the VOSA records are correct and that the NMR was updated erroneously.

[Fastdruid]

I did wonder if the extra MOT could also be from the car receiving a VDRS...but it appears that's *not* treated as a MOT. - https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/legal/vehicle...

Odds are it's from being sold at that point, although it is a little bit odd to be only a month after the last one it's not beyond the pale.

[chrisch77]

The NMR figure is almost certainly from a change of keeper, I.e. when a mileage has been entered on a V5 and then sent to the DVLA. It does look like the MOT was done a month after a change of keeper. The nature of the failure is not significant in itself (headlamp aim) but it seems surprising a month after an apparent pass.

I did wonder initially if the car had been bumped (i.e. cat S/N) and subsequently re-MOTd to validate the repairs? Presumably nothing showing on the HP report?

[NotYetCorroded]

Thank you guys for all your replies.

just off the phone to NMR - they think the mileage reading is an error and will remove it now (that kind of defies the purpose of checking as theoretically you could say they can remove any signs of vehicle clocking but hey ho) .

fingers crossed it's all fine as the car is nice and I'd rather avoid reliability issues with it!

will let you know if any trouble as I'll go to view/pick up on Saturday.

[mbwoy84]

chrisch77 said:

The NMR figure is almost certainly from a change of keeper, I.e. when a mileage has been entered on a V5 and then sent to the DVLA. It does look like the MOT was done a month after a change of keeper. The nature of the failure is not significant in itself (headlamp aim) but it seems surprising a month after an apparent pass.

I did wonder initially if the car had been bumped (i.e. cat S/N) and subsequently re-MOTd to validate the repairs? Presumably nothing showing on the HP report?

Way too quick for anything like that the speed insurance companies work at! Plus, no one would take a car for MOT after a repair like that.

[NotYetCorroded]

chrisch77 said:

The NMR figure is almost certainly from a change of keeper, I.e. when a mileage has been entered on a V5 and then sent to the DVLA. It does look like the MOT was done a month after a change of keeper. The nature of the failure is not significant in itself (headlamp aim) but it seems surprising a month after an apparent pass.

I did wonder initially if the car had been bumped (i.e. cat S/N) and subsequently re-MOTd to validate the repairs? Presumably nothing showing on the HP report?

Yes that's what I was thinking too- if it was a head-on collision it makes sense that both headlights had to be exchanged and were out of position. Nothing on the HPI check though.

[Ron99]

mbwoy84 said:

Mileage thing is 99.9% certainly a mistake, which happen often.

Several years ago I part-exchanged my car. It had covered about 40k at the time.

A few weeks later I received a letter from an organisation like HPI or mileage register (can't remember exactly who it was) querying the mileage on the car when I sold it, possibly because the buyer of the car found a discrepancy.

The car was MoT'd a few days after I sold it and recorded as 60k miles but then re-MoT'd a few days after that showing about 40k miles.

I filled in the form saying that most likely the MoT tester had a 'fat finger' or 'forgot my glasses' moment and that it had indeed only covered about 40k when I sold it, so the 60k on the MoT a few days later was simply not possible.