What to do if you see a car for sale from a dealer that you know has been clocked?

[andymax]

I had a w220 2004 professionally inspected last November. It had done 43,000 miles back then and was being used daily.
Fast forward to now and it is being advertised by a dealer as having a genuine 32,000 miles and that HPI appears to corroborate.
The clocking has been cleverly done as prior to the owner I dealt with it was only doing a few thousand miles per year so at the start of 2021 the MOT history was showing 31,000 miles.
However, the new owner has done 15,000 miles since that MOT. I don't know if it is the dealer or the previous owner that clocked the car.
I feel very strongly about people that clock cars and feel as though I should do something about it.
If I don't say anything then the clocker will have gotten away with it and nobody will be any the wiser.
The dealer will be bit richer and the new owner a bit poorer but with all the documentation showing that he has a nice low mileage car corroborated by the MOT history.
What should I do?

 

[SL63Mark]

It’s fraud, but without evidence of who clocked it, the police can do nothing. You should still report it though.

 

[G7Wagen]

Trading standards

Trading Standards – Southend-on-Sea City Council

Information on trading standards, what we do and don't do.

www.southend.gov.uk

 

[andymax]

Trading standards

Trading Standards – Southend-on-Sea City Council

Information on trading standards, what we do and don't do.

www.southend.gov.uk

I believe a few years ago there was a drive to stamp out clocking but it fizzled out and TS are not particularly interested atm.
It isn't local to me any more , the dealer that bought it is Middlesbrough.

 

[geoffus]

Do you still have the engineers report showing the mileage, what is the registration number of the car ?

Just out of interest, why didn't you buy it, must have been a lovely example.

 

[andymax]

I had a w220 2004 professionally inspected last November. It had done 43,000 miles back then and was being used daily.
Fast forward to now and it is being advertised by a dealer as having a genuine 32,000 miles and that HPI appears to corroborate.
The clocking has been cleverly done as prior to the owner I dealt with it was only doing a few thousand miles per year so at the start of 2021 the MOT history was showing 31,000 miles.
However, the new owner has done 15,000 miles since that MOT. I don't know if it is the dealer or the previous owner that clocked the car.
I feel very strongly about people that clock cars and feel as though I should do something about it.
If I don't say anything then the clocker will have gotten away with it and nobody will be any the wiser.
The dealer will be bit richer and the new owner a bit poorer but with all the documentation showing that he has a nice low mileage car corroborated by the MOT history.
What should I do?

P.S. I did talk (and sent the proof) to the dealer last week. He thanked me for letting him know but he says that HPI and MOT history both confirm the mileage is accurate and he has done nothing to change the adverts.

 

[andymax]

Do you still have the engineers report showing the mileage, what is the registration number of the car ?

Just out of interest, why didn't you buy it, must have been a lovely example.

I still have the engineers report from which I sent relevant excepts to the dealer including a picture which clearly showed 43,000 miles.
I was going to buy the car but my daughter got very ill and it suddenly was not a priority and I had to keep the money in case we needed to pay for urgent medical treatment.

 

[G7Wagen]

I would contact HPI as they are the ones who verify mileage, send them a copy of your report, they will log a mileage discrepancy... as someone said earlier its fraud to deliberately misrepresent the mileage of a car, proving who actually did it may be impossible.

 

[geoffus]

Is this the car ?

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!

www.autotrader.co.uk

 

[andymax]

Is this the car ?

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!

www.autotrader.co.uk

Yes

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

If the mileage has been clocked intra-year (between MoT's), what could anyone do ?

 

[Will]

My thoughts are, why would anyone bother to clock an 18 year old W220 S500 (not some rare AMG/performance/specialist/classic etc) just to reduce the mileage by 10-15k miles?

I mean 30 or 40k does it really make that much difference to the value - it’s only advertised at £12,990 as it is?

Not saying the OP is wrong here, just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me

 

[geoffus]

My thoughts are, why would anyone bother to clock an 18 year old W220 S500 (not some rare AMG/performance/specialist/classic etc) just to reduce the mileage by 10-15k miles?

I mean 30 or 40k does it really make that much difference to the value - it’s only advertised at £12,990 as it is?

Not saying the OP is wrong here, just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me

I thought exactly the same, looking at the old MOT mileages its not worth it.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Yep....just what I thought......id understand the risk of doing it if it was clocked from 141,000 miles. But if its been clocked....why?......next to no financial gain in that....Id probably pay the same for a 43,000 mile as a 31,000 mile car.....if the condition was better on the leggier one. Makes not a lot of sense to me.

 

[andymax]

Whether it makes sense or not, I have the proof that it has been clocked.
If I were a betting man I'd say the owner clocked it and had it MOT with the adjusted mileage and subsequently sold it to the dealer who was duped.
He could easily have got away with it because the MOT history seems consistent. He may still get away with it which makes me a bit angry.

 

[G7Wagen]

inform HPi national mileage register.

National Mileage Register | NMR

If you have received a letter from us, please provide your mileage information here in just 3 minutes. The National Mileage Register (NMR) verifies and investigates the mileage record of vehicles in the UK.

www.mileage.org.uk

 

[andymax]

If you care to follow this up independently, the car was advertised from early summer through to November 2021 on all the online car auction sites.
In particular, the ebay listing item was 184983809231.
Ebay will get you the description of the item with that listing number if you ask.
That description is shown below. Note that even in early summer 2021 that car had done nearly 36,000 miles and was being used daily.

Mercedes Benz W220 S500LWB fully loaded. Under 36k genuine miles ( will go up as using daily).

 

[andymax]

inform HPi national mileage register.

National Mileage Register | NMR

If you have received a letter from us, please provide your mileage information here in just 3 minutes. The National Mileage Register (NMR) verifies and investigates the mileage record of vehicles in the UK.

www.mileage.org.uk

Yes I was thinking that might be the best idea.
Is that the database used by all the checking services?
What about DVSA?

 

[G7Wagen]

yes, discuss it with them.. give them your proof... they will follow up.

 

[KennyN]

I had a w220 2004 professionally inspected last November. It had done 43,000 miles back then and was being used daily.

What should I do?

Submit your inspection report to the NMR to back up your findings regarding the discrepancy.

However , what will this achieve ? If the previous owner clocked it before trading it he will deny it , if the dealer clocked it in their ownership then they will also deny it.

FWIW , its not your vehicle so not your problem.

K