Incorrect mileage listed on dealer advert

sozbox

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advice here. Saw a dealer ad on CarZone, went to check it out, was very happy with the car and put down a few hundred deposit after agreeing a deal etc.

When I got home I realised that the mileage on the dash read at 86,000KM but the advert stated 80,000KM.

I mailed the dealer who has apologised and admitted the error but I'm wondering if this is grounds to ask for a further reduction? I would think a 9% deviation is pretty high.

Thanks

You saw the car in the flesh, saw the mileage on the dash, were happy and did a deal

I wouldn't see the justification for requesting a discount.

smash

Doesn't really matter as long as it has a service history to back up the mileage and it drives well.

gyppo

Its a fairly typical error imo.
Funny how the error is always rounded down in the sellers favour.:rolleyes:

sozbox

Agree with all of the above so far, and it does have a regular service history to back up the mileage and drives perfectly.

Is this a common error or as mentioned or is it something that's usually done in the dealers favour to get buyers in the door? Would I be maybe ask for a Cartell report just to verify?

questionquick

Ive seen a few cars where they used the miles/kilometers changeover to entice people to see a car.

I.E the car would be advertised with 60,000miles/100,000km, and when you get there its actually 100,000miles

"oh i put it down as kilometers instead of miles by mistake"

A Cartell report for mileage verification purposes is literally not worth the paper it's printed on.

A thorough pre purchase inspection including mileage verification steps should be par for the course when purchasing a 2nd hand car.

Gophur

Jason1984 wrote: »

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advice here. Saw a dealer ad on CarZone, went to check it out, was very happy with the car and put down a few hundred deposit after agreeing a deal etc.

When I got home I realised that the mileage on the dash read at 86,000KM but the advert stated 80,000KM.

I mailed the dealer who has apologised and admitted the error but I'm wondering if this is grounds to ask for a further reduction? I would think a 9% deviation is pretty high.

Thanks

So, you did the deal based on "...went to check it out, was very happy with the car..", not on what was in the advertisement, and now you want compensation ?

Jason1984 wrote: »

..... Would I be maybe ask for a Cartell report just to verify?

I don't, would you?

FFS, why agree a deal at all? Are you not a man of your word? You saw the car and were perfectly happy, and now you want compensation?

corktina

go ahead but make sure you tell the guy you arent happy with the error, he may throw in a sweetener if you handle it right, drop of petrol maybe?

sozbox

Gophur wrote: »

So, you did the deal based on "...went to check it out, was very happy with the car..", not on what was in the advertisement, and now you want compensation ?




I don't, would you?

FFS, why agree a deal at all? Are you not a man of your word? You saw the car and were perfectly happy, and now you want compensation?

I'm not running in the door with a printed car zone ad demanding recourse and looking for compensation
I spent an hour with a friend going over every aspect of the car and I am happy so I made a deal and intend on sticking to it, it is my responsibility to check the mileage on the dash before agreeing a price, I understand that.

I posted here as I am wondering if this is an honest mistake or something that dealers routinely do to get people in the door and how do would other people deal with it. It seems form the replies so far that it's not that big of a deal and that's cool!

Padraig Mor

Jason1984 wrote: »

I posted here as I am wondering if this is an honest mistake or something that dealers routinely do to get people in the door and how do would other people deal with it. It seems form the replies so far that it's not that big of a deal and that's cool!

Yes, dealers will often put a lower mileage on adverts - usually rounding down to the nearest 1000, i.e. 48998 km magically becomes 48000 km (this is VERY common). Rounding down to the nearest 10,000 is less common. And of course there is the ol' "I accidently mixed up the miles and km figures" routine.

While rounding down is hardly the biggest crime in the world, to me it indicates that the seller is dishonest to a certain extent - they are, after all, lying in the advert - as such, I would have pause for thought about dealing with them.

sozbox

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Yes, dealers will often put a lower mileage on adverts - usually rounding down to the nearest 1000, i.e. 48998 km magically becomes 48000 km (this is VERY common). Rounding down to the nearest 10,000 is less common. And of course there is the ol' "I accidently mixed up the miles and km figures" routine.

While rounding down is hardly the biggest crime in the world, to me it indicates that the seller is dishonest to a certain extent - they are, after all, lying in the advert - as such, I would have pause for thought about dealing with them.

Exactly my thinking if it was done on purpose.

In the ad the mileage was listed as 49,720M and then the KM listing was converted so I am assuming it could be either to get the car to show up under 50,000M listings or it could be an honest mistake.
it has made me pause but then again it's a 5,000M difference which isn't the end of the world.

GavMan

6000km discrepancy?

Could simply be a typo. Best you could do is 100 quid off and a full tank as a gesture of goodwill to stop a deal collapsing...

Padraig Mor

Jason1984 wrote: »

Exactly my thinking if it was done on purpose.

In the ad the mileage was listed as 49,720M and then the KM listing was converted so I am assuming it could be either to get the car to show up under 50,000M listings or it could be an honest mistake.
it has made me pause but then again it's a 5,000M difference which isn't the end of the world.

Yeah, a few thousand km isn't going to make much, if any, difference to the value of the car. However, misrepresenting the mileage when other 'flags' are also present (e.g. no service history, minimum warranty, "will fly NCT") indicates that the car should be carefully examined as the seller is not trustworthy.

Henry Ford III

Jason1984 wrote: »

...I spent an hour with a friend going over every aspect of the car....

Except the mileage! It's your mistake. The ad could have been written ages ago and that extra mileage clocked up since.

sozbox

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Except the mileage! It's your mistake. The ad could have been written ages ago and that extra mileage clocked up since.

Absolutely agree with you. Never claimed it wasn't my mistake.
Just looking to get people's opinions on the situation as I haven't purchased from a dealer before.

sozbox

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Yeah, a few thousand km isn't going to make much, if any, difference to the value of the car. However, misrepresenting the mileage when other 'flags' are also present (e.g. no service history, minimum warranty, "will fly NCT") indicates that the car should be carefully examined as the seller is not trustworthy.

Very true. I didn't come across any other red flags though which is making me just agree that it isn't a big deal.

Nonoperational

I'd say it's common enough. At the end of the day the difference between 80k and 86k is nothing and if were happy with the car I'd chalk it down to experience. What car is it anyway?

sozbox

gpf101 wrote: »

I'd say it's common enough. At the end of the day the difference between 80k and 86k is nothing and if were happy with the car I'd chalk it down to experience. What car is it anyway?

It's a 2007 BMW 320i with an M sport kit.
I don't want to link to the advert given the discussion here.

EPM

It happens. I traded a car in last week and the mileage is listed 5k km under the actual reading although it's clearly visible in the photos online. Probably just a typo although I have noticed it a few times when cars are close on 100k km or miles.

As you looked over the car prior to buying it is say you can't expect anything.

sozbox

EPM wrote: »

It happens. I traded a car in last week and the mileage is listed 5k km under the actual reading although it's clearly visible in the photos online. Probably just a typo although I have noticed it a few times when cars are close on 100k km or miles.

As you looked over the car prior to buying it is say you can't expect anything.

Fair enough. It's not a deal breaker as everything else is in order so I'll just leave it. The dealer has offered to throw in a half tank of petrol anyway so I'm pretty happy with the deal.

EPM

Jason1984 wrote: »

Fair enough. It's not a deal breaker as everything else is in order so I'll just leave it. The dealer has offered to throw in a half tank of petrol anyway so I'm pretty happy with the deal.

They are trying to make the best of the situation to keep you happy, many wouldn't so take the petrol and be happy:)

gyppo

questionquick wrote: »

Ive seen a few cars where they used the miles/kilometers changeover to entice people to see a car.

I.E the car would be advertised with 60,000miles/100,000km, and when you get there its actually 100,000miles

"oh i put it down as kilometers instead of miles by mistake"

+1. This seems to be a very common mistake on advertising a car.
Theres a big difference between 80k kms and 80k miles - as I found out when looking at a 09 car recently.

Nonoperational

Nice car, well wear.

johnos1984

Happens all the time but rest assured if you are trading in they will round the mileage of your car up when valuing your car

Voodoomelon

Funny, when I was hunting for my car in the UK, all the dealers there had rounded their mileage UP to the nearest couple of hundred miles. When I finally got mine, it was some 500 miles less than shown online. Guess the Irish have a different view to mileage.

john reilly

6000km am i missing something it wouldnt make 10 cent difference to the price of the car

biko

I don't think you can get anything of much value but ask the dealer to throw in something "token", like a few free car washes (if they have one) or a car cleaning kit or something like that.