Bought a car that's been clocked

Hi all,

I feel like a bit of an eejit posting this but there you go..

I bought a car about 8 months ago from an independent trader and have just had in to a main dealer for a service this week. The dealer told me after running their diagnostics that the car has been clocked. I wouldn't have a major concern about this except for the fact that I was considering selling or trading it in for something else soon.

Has anyone ever had experience of this and can let me know what options I have in terms of the dealer I bought it from? Is the fact it's been clocked something that will significantly affect the resale value of the car if I was to trade it in? Can or should the main dealer reset the odometer to the true mileage?

Thanks very much.

Does the discrepancy show up with an HPI/Cartell/Motorcheck report ?

Either way, I'd be having a chat with the trader who sold it to you - if honest folks :rolleyes:, they may buy it back off you (if the mileage discrepancy can be traced back to prior to you buying it of course).

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Originally Posted by Big H

Does the discrepancy show up with an HPI/Cartell/Motorcheck report ?

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Not sure but I will check. I (foolishly) didn't do a check before buying the car.

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Originally Posted by Big H

Either way, I'd be having a chat with the trader who sold it to you - if honest folks :rolleyes:, they may buy it back off you (if the mileage discrepancy can be traced back to prior to you buying it of course).

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I have no reason to doubt they are honest folks... lol

I'm sure I can trace the clocking back to before I bought it. The main dealer told me they can't trace the clocking to a point in time, but you can trace it to mileage and therefore it should just be a matter of showing that the discrepancy arose before the mileage the car was at when I bought it? I believe that mileage will be on the bill of sale I got when I bought the car, but can't check that right now because it's in the glovebox of the car which is still in the dealer..

It might be worth running a vehicle check now to see if there is anything of note there. If it shows a mileage discrepancy, then, it probably strengthens your argument in discussing with the dealer. They may say that you should have done a check yourself, but as a consumer you should be able to make a case that they are professionals and have a higher duty of care, and should reasonably have known.

In reality, they’ll probably fob you off, and unless you’re prepared to go the small claims route then it may just have to be chalked up to experience, and take the hit. Sorry!

Thanks, you may well be right and I am expecting to be fobbed off. However I’d like to think I’d be in a slightly stronger position on this than the normal caveat emptor position that would apply if I was just complaining about the condition of the car or something. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to sell a clocked car and the CCPC seem to take it pretty seriously:

https://www.ccpc.ie/consumers/cars/clocked-and-crashed/

Perhaps the threat of a complaint to them would be enough to get the seller to play ball and take the car back?

I think realistically the way this is going to work out will base itself entirely on the dealer in question. If they have a strong reputation which could be damaged by poor reviews or even formal court case they should accommodate you, but if they are someone who doesn’t operate based on their reputation it’s more likely that they won’t help.

I think you’re right. Unfortunately my sense is the dealer in question falls into the latter category, but we’ll see..

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Originally Posted by CitizenKane

I think you’re right. Unfortunately my sense is the dealer in question falls into the latter category, but we’ll see..

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Portacabin & mobile phone number only ?

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Originally Posted by Big H

Portacabin & mobile phone number only ?

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Haha not quite that bad, but let's just say they didn't fill me with confidence when dealing with them.