Car "clocking"

mfergus

Was looking at a few cars both on done deal and UK websites.

A lot of the cars have between 97k and 100k miles. I have always been suspicious / paranoid of buying an import and a lot of the time it's caused by the possibly of the car being clocked.

Is this very common?
Is it as easy as connecting the car to a computer to do?
What would be the tell tale signs that it has been done such as the timing belt being done early?

Is there anyway to check if it has been done? I know here the nct cert has the mileage on it. It would make a lot of sense if people had to declare the mileage when taxing the car!

It's something I have wondered and have dismissed the idea of importing a car in the past because of this!

colm_mcm

A verifiable service history is the best way to back up a claimed mileage.

ba_barabus

And don't forget to verify any history supplied with the car. I've viewed cars before, called the dealers who had a stamp on the service book and a few times have found they never worked on the car.

Henry Ford III

colm_mcm wrote: »

A verifiable service history is the best way to back up a claimed mileage.

That an a HPI check.

bazz26

Clocking is not unique to imports OP.

mfergus

bazz26 wrote: »

Clocking is not unique to imports OP.

Yes I'm aware of that. In my opinion it's just harder to check and can be a lot more hassle.

Just having a browse on the used car ni. App.
Most of the bmws and audis have very close to 100k!

lomb

Clocking is rife out there due to the very high depreciation of cars and the anger of the owners who paid out all that lost cash and wishing to get it back. A few get clocked in the trade when bought from consumers.
Virtually one in two used cars Ive went out to see Ive suspected of being clocked and walked away. Without a service history where the mileage patterns tally with the owner and evidence the car was pre loved rather than pre owned Id walk away personally.

bazz26

mfergus wrote: »

Yes I'm aware of that. In my opinion it's just harder to check and can be a lot more hassle.

Just having a browse on the used car ni. App.
Most of the bmws and audis have very close to 100k!

I'd be of the opposite opinion.

In the UK most cars have a recorded and documented service history, mileage at time of MOT is also recorded and available. It would be pretty unusual to find a UK car without some sort of service history whereas over here it is acceptable for a car not to have a service history.

Do proper due diligence and you can find out a lot about a particular car in the UK whereas over here you have a battle finding out the most basic of information.

Clocking is also big business over here because your average Joe puts too much value on what the odometer says as a measure of wear. Your average Joe wants a car with the lowest mileage possible because they assume that is the best example to get.

mfergus

Just had another look through done deal at BMW 320. Between 2010 and 2011. Again I noticed the vast majority seem to have between 96k miles and 104k miles.
And a lot seem to be imports.

Is it just coincidence or is there something Im missing?

pablo128

mfergus wrote: »

Just had another look through done deal at BMW 320. Between 2010 and 2011. Again I noticed the vast majority seem to have between 96k miles and 104k miles.
And a lot seem to be imports.

Is it just coincidence or is there something Im missing?

Probably fleet or company cars, and that's the mileage they are sold on at.
That's just a guess though.

lomb

The UK cars are the least suspicious though. Many are ex lease and you can ring the lease companies to enquire on mileage. There is also the Mots recording miles at the 3 year point and annually thereafter you can easily access this for free on the Uk MOT site if you have some information on the VIN number and date of reg from the V5 afaik. They could still be clocked by the user or the intermediary but it is unlikely as they come with history. If the service books gone run away.

BigEejit

Indeed, as Pablo says, some fleet car contracts have maximum mileage per year with penalties for going over. I remember looking at Ford Galaxys on CarGiant one time and there were 11 or 12 of them between 95k and 100k miles.

bazz26

mfergus wrote: »

Just had another look through done deal at BMW 320. Between 2010 and 2011. Again I noticed the vast majority seem to have between 96k miles and 104k miles.
And a lot seem to be imports.

Is it just coincidence or is there something Im missing?

These are the cars that dredge through the auctions regularly and end of being bought cheap by "part time" sellers that you see on dd looking to flip them over for a quick buck. They tend to be high milers or have some sort of colourful history which is why the tend to get bypassed by the local trade. Anything decent still sells for good money even at auctions meaning there is very little profit in them for these car park type sellers.