Used car milage discrepancy - resolution options
Discussion
Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster.
Just looking for any views on this predicament....
I bought a used car from a very well known nationwide dealer last week. The car was advertised as having 50k miles. This seems entirely inline with the condition of the car and mot history and I have photographic evidence that this was displayed on the odometer at some point (from the dealer themselves)
On collecting the car and driving it home I then noticed that the odometer (note: NOT the trip computer) had 'somehow'* been reset to zero while at the dealer originally being prepared for sale
(* I have no idea how! Given they confirmed no work has been done on the instrument cluster etc)
As soon as I noticed this issue I raised it immediately and it's gone back to the dealer this morning for investigation.
As I dropped it off, the lass on the desk said she'd never seen this before and that it should never do that (erm, yes I know!!!!) and she did not seem very confident at all about them being able to resolve it.
So I'm expecting a call back later basically confirming they can't fix it.
As such, considering my options here.
I guess I could choose to:
1) Just hand the car back. May be the most sensible thing to do but then I'm into the total ball ache of having to find another. I don't have any other transport and these cars don't come up locally that often. Otherwise the car is great and exactly what I want.
2) Speak to the manufacturer's dealership to see if they can fix it. This is probably what I'll do next but all the faffing about is a bit annoying and I'd also want the dealer I bought it from to stump up any costs.
3) See if I can negotiate some sort of meaningful reduction/refund on the car. This is probably very risky in terms of being left with a car that's got a very obvious milage discrepancy.
Any views from you on the above options? Would you walk away? Would you consider option 3 and how much reduction would you be looking for to make taking it on worth your while
Ps I paid £22k
Just looking for any views on this predicament....
I bought a used car from a very well known nationwide dealer last week. The car was advertised as having 50k miles. This seems entirely inline with the condition of the car and mot history and I have photographic evidence that this was displayed on the odometer at some point (from the dealer themselves)
On collecting the car and driving it home I then noticed that the odometer (note: NOT the trip computer) had 'somehow'* been reset to zero while at the dealer originally being prepared for sale
(* I have no idea how! Given they confirmed no work has been done on the instrument cluster etc)
As soon as I noticed this issue I raised it immediately and it's gone back to the dealer this morning for investigation.
As I dropped it off, the lass on the desk said she'd never seen this before and that it should never do that (erm, yes I know!!!!) and she did not seem very confident at all about them being able to resolve it.
So I'm expecting a call back later basically confirming they can't fix it.
As such, considering my options here.
I guess I could choose to:
1) Just hand the car back. May be the most sensible thing to do but then I'm into the total ball ache of having to find another. I don't have any other transport and these cars don't come up locally that often. Otherwise the car is great and exactly what I want.
2) Speak to the manufacturer's dealership to see if they can fix it. This is probably what I'll do next but all the faffing about is a bit annoying and I'd also want the dealer I bought it from to stump up any costs.
3) See if I can negotiate some sort of meaningful reduction/refund on the car. This is probably very risky in terms of being left with a car that's got a very obvious milage discrepancy.
Any views from you on the above options? Would you walk away? Would you consider option 3 and how much reduction would you be looking for to make taking it on worth your while
Ps I paid £22k
If you know the mileage of the vehicle when it sat on the dealer stock list, and this can be backed up with the MOT and service history, then is this not a case of having the mileage legally corrected, by a mileage correction company?
I appreciate it does not resolve how this has happened, but it would be a solution.
I appreciate it does not resolve how this has happened, but it would be a solution.
This is probably annoyingly unhelpful unless someone else remembers but I read the same thing recently and the dealer changed the cluster and it still read zero.
Then it turned out if the car was switched to KMs it worked fine. I don't recall if it got resolved.
Then it turned out if the car was switched to KMs it worked fine. I don't recall if it got resolved.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Friday 9th October 17:05
I bought a car with clocks replaced but the mileage was not moved forward from 0. It was done under main dealership warranty and the invoice had the original mileage on and it was a few hundred off the MOT so I was fine with it.
Guess who wasn't fine with it? Every person I tried to sell the car to 3 years later.
Don't bother unless they can correct the mileage would be my advice... but I'd be worried the cars they are selling are clocked and they've messed up winding yours back. What does the trip say out of interest? Is it more than the odo?
Guess who wasn't fine with it? Every person I tried to sell the car to 3 years later.
Don't bother unless they can correct the mileage would be my advice... but I'd be worried the cars they are selling are clocked and they've messed up winding yours back. What does the trip say out of interest? Is it more than the odo?
v8notbrave said:
Too many unknowns, you're leaping to conclusions, be patient and have your BS sniff test ready
Cheers l'm not necessarily leaping to conclusions on anything, just considering what scenarios might play out so I'm prepared. Rather than having to think things through (possibly badly) on the spot when I speak to the dealer later about itSaudade said:
I bought a car with clocks replaced but the mileage was not moved forward from 0. It was done under main dealership warranty and the invoice had the original mileage on and it was a few hundred off the MOT so I was fine with it.
Guess who wasn't fine with it? Every person I tried to sell the car to 3 years later.
Don't bother unless they can correct the mileage would be my advice... but I'd be worried the cars they are selling are clocked and they've messed up winding yours back. What does the trip say out of interest? Is it more than the odo?
This is exactly my worry about keeping itGuess who wasn't fine with it? Every person I tried to sell the car to 3 years later.
Don't bother unless they can correct the mileage would be my advice... but I'd be worried the cars they are selling are clocked and they've messed up winding yours back. What does the trip say out of interest? Is it more than the odo?
When I first noticed, odo was saying 100, trip 80.
I'm pretty certain they won't have clocked it themselves.. however quite exactly how it's happenwd is still a worry..as I say - major nationwide used car dealer, it would be a massive scandle and tarnish their brand if caught clocking, I'd expect
I'm pretty certain they won't have clocked it themselves.. however quite exactly how it's happenwd is still a worry..as I say - major nationwide used car dealer, it would be a massive scandle and tarnish their brand if caught clocking, I'd expect
safetycamera said:
Saudade said:
I bought a car with clocks replaced but the mileage was not moved forward from 0. It was done under main dealership warranty and the invoice had the original mileage on and it was a few hundred off the MOT so I was fine with it.
Guess who wasn't fine with it? Every person I tried to sell the car to 3 years later.
Don't bother unless they can correct the mileage would be my advice... but I'd be worried the cars they are selling are clocked and they've messed up winding yours back. What does the trip say out of interest? Is it more than the odo?
This is exactly my worry about keeping itGuess who wasn't fine with it? Every person I tried to sell the car to 3 years later.
Don't bother unless they can correct the mileage would be my advice... but I'd be worried the cars they are selling are clocked and they've messed up winding yours back. What does the trip say out of interest? Is it more than the odo?
I'd do everything I possibly could to reject the car.
No matter what calculations they do to ascertain the mileage, it is always going to have a technically inaccurate mileage reading (even if it is only a few hundred out) and when you come to sell and explain it, people are going to be very wary/ sceptical of the story.
I suppose if they were able to do it without any trace whatsoever, you might be ok, but I don't know if that is even possible with modern cars, i.e if someone plugs in to the ECU for data.
Edited by MattsCar on Friday 9th October 12:54
Let us know what the dealership say.
Surely they must have changed the instrument cluster?
But you need to get to the bottom of it on a 22k car.
Many cars the mileage is stored in different places on the car, so if plugged into dealership diagnostics this can show up if one doesn't match the other.
So if they do resolve it I'd be then taking to the franchised dealer to check for that, prob charge you a diagnostic fee. But tell the supplying dealership you'll be doing that, or even suggest they do it (if you trust them)
Last thing you want is a problem when you come to sell.
Surely they must have changed the instrument cluster?
But you need to get to the bottom of it on a 22k car.
Many cars the mileage is stored in different places on the car, so if plugged into dealership diagnostics this can show up if one doesn't match the other.
So if they do resolve it I'd be then taking to the franchised dealer to check for that, prob charge you a diagnostic fee. But tell the supplying dealership you'll be doing that, or even suggest they do it (if you trust them)
Last thing you want is a problem when you come to sell.
Edited by Trevor555 on Friday 9th October 13:04
Trevor555 said:
Surely they must have changed the instrument cluster?
Exactly my thoughts, but they assure me they didn't touch anything guv 🤷Edited by Trevor555 on Friday 9th October 13:04
I'm aware milage data will be in other ECUs so unless fixed today, I think my next step is as you say taking to a franchise for them to check.
(Or even if they do fix it today I'll be doing that anyway to check it matches!)
If the selling garage repair or replace the odo, setting it to display the originally advertised mileage plus the 100-odd miles currently showing, I don't see that leaving any red flags that would put off future buyers - the displayed mileage would remain consistent with the MOT history as normal.
Whether the 'glitch' could be a symptom of the car having been clocked / mileage blocked in the past, I have no idea.
I did once go to see a car to find the dealer reconnecting the battery, and a mileage displayed of twice that advertised; which was only one of many reasons I didn't buy.
This is the story I was thinking of: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/537621-total...
While you're waiting for the dealer.
Make a check.
https://www.carvertical.com/gb
Second check on the Mot mileage.
Make a check.
https://www.carvertical.com/gb
Second check on the Mot mileage.
Ok quick update, they couldn't fix it (as expected)
However they have themselves booked it in with the manufacturer franchise dealer for further investigation.
Aside from them still having no idea how it happened (and it happened in the first place!) to be honest I'm pretty pleased with how they're handling it so far.
Taking it very seriously, no fobbing me off l, diverting blame or trying to get out of it at all.
I just hope it's able to be resolved, as I really don't want to have to hand the car back.
It's a Toyota Rav4
However they have themselves booked it in with the manufacturer franchise dealer for further investigation.
Aside from them still having no idea how it happened (and it happened in the first place!) to be honest I'm pretty pleased with how they're handling it so far.
Taking it very seriously, no fobbing me off l, diverting blame or trying to get out of it at all.
I just hope it's able to be resolved, as I really don't want to have to hand the car back.
It's a Toyota Rav4
Sheepshanks said:
This is the story I was thinking of: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/537621-total...
That's very interesting, thanks 👍 Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff