Commercial Feature

A cars mileage directly affects its marketing value, the higher the mileage, the lower the value. For some people, clocking a car will put extra money in their pockets at the expense of the buyer. This practice is of course against regulations, unfortunately recent figures found by the BBC, show that there are more than 600,000 cars in the UK that have been clocked in order to make a bigger profit.

This is for cars alone, if you were to take into consideration motorbikes and vans, then this figure looks more like 716,291. The vast amount of clocked cars out there shows that consumers need to protect themselves from shady sellers. A clocked car won’t only cost more to buy than it should, but they would have undergone more wear and tear than advertised, potentially costing you more in repair and servicing costs during its lifetime, not to mention the lower resell value.

Customer service manager of  HPI, Nicola Johnson stated “Unscrupulous sellers see the clocking of a vehicle as an easy way to raise its price and make some extra cash by putting thousands of pounds onto the price tag”. HPI have joined with Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in an attempt to crack down on deceitful traders and to protect customers. HPI are a used car history, finance, write off and vehicle data company that are urging people to ensure that any car consumers are looking to buy are all what they are advertised to be.

The latest figures show that clocking is the biggest threat to consumers looking to buy a second hand car. And it’s becoming increasingly difficult to spot as the modern car makes use of the digital odometer, which don’t show any tamper damage. If the rising cost of car insurance wasn’t enough for drivers this year, the Office of Fair Trading have shown that the problem of clocking vehicles is costing UK motorists £580 million a year and rising. The OFT are urging people to check any potential purchase with a reliable and independent company.

A check with such a company will protect consumers from fraud, as on average 8 out of every 100 cars checked have shown a mileage inconsistency. Therefore when you’re considering to buy a used car, be sure to keep in mind the possibility of car clocking, the following can ensure that you don’t fall victim to such a common type of vehicle fraud:

•  Wear and tear: Check around the car for signs of wear and tear, and judge whether the wear and tear visible matches its mileage. For example a 10,000 mile car shouldn’t really have much wear on the pedals.
• Service history: Check the vehicles service history, and see if they are genuine stamps buy contacting the company and checking their record of the service against the details in the book.
• Previous keepers: If it’s possible, you can contact the previous keepers for the details of the mileage the car had before they sold it.
• HPI check: You can take out an HPI check on the vehicle to see if the current mileage is true to the National Mileage Register.
• The mileage: There have been some cases where the mileage has only been changed for when you came to view the car, so ensure the mileage is similar on the day you go to pick it up as it was when you viewed it.
• Judgement: Trust your own judgement about a car, and always walk away if things don’t seem to add up.

Many of the signs could end up being innocent or a simple mistake, so be sure to look at more than one before making a decision.