A new sort of haircut

[st4]

Car dealer made over £100k from wiping millions of miles off clocks | Mail Online

Fancy that eh?

 

[trapperjohn]

A Horsebox manufacturer near us has just been done for the same thing. New bodies on old clunker trucks. Ill see if I can find a link.

Here it is.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/horse-box-boss-spared-prison-term-1-4490359

 

[st4]

In a way its a testimate to Mercedes that it wasn't blindingly obvious this was done. a 200k miles van should be a lot more tired looking than a 75k miles van, and rustier too.

In another way, its must be all to easy to correct the miles on a Mercedes van?

 

[trapperjohn]

In a way its a testimate to Mercedes that it wasn't blindingly obvious this was done. a 200k miles van should be a lot more tired looking than a 75k miles van, and rustier too.

In another way, its must be all to easy to correct the miles on a Mercedes van?

Anything with an electronic mile counter can be "corrected" quite easily.

 

[st4]

I wonder what happens to the victims of this? Stuck with a leggy van or will the court who sieze the profits made, seek to give that back? I'm quite curious.

Anyway, anyone thinking of buying a van, check the MOT history before you go if its 3yo plus.

John, do you remember chrisopherwrks car, used his E320cdi as a cab, shoved it on eBay with 1890k odd and it reappeared as a sub 100k miles car...

 

[trapperjohn]

Yep remember that.

If you check out my link you will see the trader had a lot of his money seized and some compo was given to victims.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

One of the comments told me something that I wasn't aware of before: you can check previous MoTs on DVLA's website (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/motoring/owningavehicle/mot/dg_10020539)

I tried it on my old CLK and it works, but only back to 2005, when presumably DVLA started to keep better MoT records. What it does tell you is the mileage at each MoT, as well as any failures and all advisories.

Looking back at mine did remind me of some of the advisories that I had over the years, did nothing about, and they didn't appear in following years. So Mercs may rust, but they're self-healing too! That must be what happened, because there's no way that garages would have reported things needing to be done when they were perfectly OK, just so that they could get some extra work!

 

[st4]

One of the comments told me something that I wasn't aware of before: you can check previous MoTs on DVLA's website (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/motoring/owningavehicle/mot/dg_10020539)

I tried it on my old CLK and it works, but only back to 2005, when presumably DVLA started to keep better MoT records. What it does tell you is the mileage at each MoT, as well as any failures and all advisories.

Looking back at mine did remind me of some of the advisories that I had over the years, did nothing about, and they didn't appear in following years. So Mercs may rust, but they're self-healing too! That must be what happened, because there's no way that garages would have reported things needing to be done when they were perfectly OK, just so that they could get some extra work!

Yep, its really good the MOT history check. I used it, and can rule out that my car was clocked.

 

[artyman]

The site would be more useful pre purchase if you could check using just the reg number, as unlikely to have seen either the V5 or mot certificate.

 

[neilrr]

Happens all the time & has been happening forever, even by some quite well known people!

Private Eye 1016

 

[Shude]

a 200k miles van should be a lot more tired looking than a 75k miles van, and rustier too.

Rust is more time-related than mileage, in fact a well-maintained high-miler will have seen much more mechanic-time and might be LESS rusty!

 

[st4]

Rust is more time-related than mileage, in fact a well-maintained high-miler will have seen much more mechanic-time and might be LESS rusty!

True, however, high miles will mean lots of winter use. Mercedes, salt and water, means decay and lots of it. I see 58 reg Merc vans with rust scabs.

 

[MOCAŠ]

shoved it on eBay with 1890k odd

 

[Mr. B]

Car dealer made over £100k from wiping millions of miles off clocks | Mail Online

Fancy that eh?

Scumbag !!

 

[markjay]

Higher mileage may not have a negative effect the car's reliability, but it reduces its resale value, so the buyer is being misled into paying more than the car's actual value.

You could argue the same about forged art - the forger may have outdone the original master, but this is really not the issue...

 

[Deleted member 37751]

The daft thing is that buyers of vans are generally less worried about mileage and more interested in condition/service history.

 

[christopherwk]

Lol. It was 217,000 miles to be precise. Surfaced on eBay a couple of weeks later with 95,000 miles with another £3,000 added to the price I sold it for.

I've seen it twice since I sold it, and it appeared to have been licensed again as a private hire vehice.

 

[Dieselman]

Lol. It was 217,000 miles to be precise. Surfaced on eBay a couple of weeks later with 95,000 miles with another £3,000 added to the price I sold it for.

I've seen it twice since I sold it, and it appeared to have been licensed again as a private hire vehice.

So the new owner thinks they have bought a 100k miler to rack another 200k onto, but really it was already at 220k or so.

Going to be one high mileage barge eventually...

 

[st4]

So the new owner thinks they have bought a 100k miler to rack another 200k onto, but really it was already at 220k or so.

Going to be one high mileage barge eventually...

Nice car with the boosters etc

 

[developer]

I read the title and expected to see a new you, ready for the spring Kebab hunt .