I think the law demands that you do not misrepresent the mileage, it's OK to sell a car stating 90k miles that's done 130k, but not to claim that the mileage is genuine.
What would you do.....
- Thread starter kwakdonut
- Start date
I think the law demands that you do not misrepresent the mileage, it's OK to sell a car stating 90k miles that's done 130k, but not to claim that the mileage is genuine.
Seamster15
MB Enthusiast
Only goes to show that these cars hide their mileage very well. Good luck with a resolution, I'd happily buy a 200k W211 with full SH, over one with 50k and sketchy history.
For me its all in the actual condition of the car.
For me its all in the actual condition of the car.
dokalj
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Tried that today, that's how I found out. Reputable Indie (recommended off here as it happens), were really good about and didn't even charge me for their time.
I will email Olly the details anyway just for his information as he has seen the car a few times.
Just not sure where to turn next - the odo still needs changing after I lost 10k when my battery died last year (apparently this is not uncommon on MB's) and with ASSYST having a higher reading, my only option is to go to one of these 'speedo' places that can change the mileage
What prompted you to put the car on STAR? Was it to find out if the recorded services match up?
JOB-BLACK-RAT
MB Enthusiast
I understand where your coming from fully.
You have brought the vehicle at a fair price in good faith and later find it is not as you had thought. To move the vehicle on with clarity and honesty to another person will cost you money.
In these tough finacial times there must, im sure, be the temptation to prehaps not be as open with the new private buyer as you would otherwise be.
Having followed your posts in the past I dont think you could do that.
However, to trade it in with a dealer? maybe Caveat Emptor??
You have brought the vehicle at a fair price in good faith and later find it is not as you had thought. To move the vehicle on with clarity and honesty to another person will cost you money.
In these tough finacial times there must, im sure, be the temptation to prehaps not be as open with the new private buyer as you would otherwise be.
Having followed your posts in the past I dont think you could do that.
However, to trade it in with a dealer? maybe Caveat Emptor??
OP
OP
kwakdonut
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I understand where your coming from fully.
You have brought the vehicle at a fair price in good faith and later find it is not as you had thought. To move the vehicle on with clarity and honesty to another person will cost you money.
In these tough finacial times there must, im sure, be the temptation to prehaps not be as open with the new private buyer as you would otherwise be.
Having followed your posts in the past I dont think you could do that.
However, to trade it in with a dealer? maybe Caveat Emptor??
I like that but prefer 'Carpe Jugulum' for all you Terry Pratchett fans! lol
As for your response, many thanks, I know you are one of the Met's finest and yes, I am struggling with how to resolve this while staying on the 'right side' of the law. Needless to say, I intend to resolve this!
OP
OP
kwakdonut
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Dead battery last year knocked 10k off the odometer. Went to an Indie today to try and get it adjusted back up and found out about the mileage!!
When I bought my 300TE-24 ( it was a 'spares or repairs' car out of a breakers , and I didn't pay a lot for it ) , it was showing , from memory , something like 165,000 miles with no service history or anything to either support or contradict it .
When I received the V5 document , I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it had been a one-owner car and proceeded to contact the previous owner who had bought the car new - alas , he had no history either but told me the car had been serviced from new by MB Glasgow . Since I knew some of the guys there , I went in and they kindly agreed to print out the history from their computer . In between , I had been into Merparts with the car and Steph told me the mileage was wrong , as he had worked on the car , during his time with MB Glasgow , seven years earlier , at which time it was 'well beyond 200K' ! When I finally got the history printout from MB Glasgow , there was everything from the original PDI , up to 380K , at which point it was shown that a new speedo head had been fitted , then mileage went back to (IIRC) 123K and continued from there . I kept the car for another year or so until it was written off in my driveway ,by which time it had done AT LEAST 430K !
Since the car drove extremely well and never missed a beat - I viewed the huge mileage as something to be proud of , rather than something to be annoyed about .
When I received the V5 document , I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it had been a one-owner car and proceeded to contact the previous owner who had bought the car new - alas , he had no history either but told me the car had been serviced from new by MB Glasgow . Since I knew some of the guys there , I went in and they kindly agreed to print out the history from their computer . In between , I had been into Merparts with the car and Steph told me the mileage was wrong , as he had worked on the car , during his time with MB Glasgow , seven years earlier , at which time it was 'well beyond 200K' ! When I finally got the history printout from MB Glasgow , there was everything from the original PDI , up to 380K , at which point it was shown that a new speedo head had been fitted , then mileage went back to (IIRC) 123K and continued from there . I kept the car for another year or so until it was written off in my driveway ,by which time it had done AT LEAST 430K !
Since the car drove extremely well and never missed a beat - I viewed the huge mileage as something to be proud of , rather than something to be annoyed about .
OP
OP
kwakdonut
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Yes they do. The car was how I expected a vehicle of this mileage to be and better. Even Olly said it was in good condition after he serviced it last year. It drives very well and gives me little in the way of problems so I had no idea until today.....
OP
OP
kwakdonut
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Unfortuantely for me, when I bought the car last year, I purchased a supposed 149k, VGC, full SH car and paid a fair price for it. Knowing the car is somewhat lower than it should be means, as such, I've been ripped off with no comeback, of course. I do enjoy my car but might just love it a little less now I know what it's real mileage is
dokalj
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Was the indy initially going to charge you for the STAR?
Has the mileage been corrected now?
Has the mileage been corrected now?
OP
OP
kwakdonut
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I was happy to pay for a job well done and no, not yet!
dokalj
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Do you think the trader who sold you the car changed the mileage? Who was this dealer?
OP
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kwakdonut
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I have my suspicions. Car was bought privately......
dokalj
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hmmm....Did you ever think your car was showing the right wear for its mileage?
STAR is the computer program that connects to the cars many computers and reads fault codes and much more.
steve333
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Or the latin equivalent that some dodgy dealers might use"stitchious uppious"I understand where your coming from fully.
You have brought the vehicle at a fair price in good faith and later find it is not as you had thought. To move the vehicle on with clarity and honesty to another person will cost you money.
In these tough finacial times there must, im sure, be the temptation to prehaps not be as open with the new private buyer as you would otherwise be.
Having followed your posts in the past I dont think you could do that.
However, to trade it in with a dealer? maybe Caveat Emptor??
steve333
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The only problem there would be when you come to get things such as atf/filter,brake fluid,spark plugs,fuel filters etc changed according to the history you have,they could infact be overdue/already done & upto date by the cars real mileage/history?
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A couple of questions:
If the second statement is true then it only becomes relevant when you come to sell the vehicle. Clearly you would commit an offence if you were to answer a direct question of "is the recorded mileage correct" in the affirmative as you know that not to be true. However, to answer the same question with "no, it has done more miles than are recorded but I don't know precisely how many more" is truthful.
FWIW, my view is that people get too hung up on recorded mileage and pay too little attention to the general condition of the vehicle. Once a car has done more than (say) 120k miles it all becomes a bit academic as the maintenance regime and vehicle condition has much greater influence on its value than what the odometer says. Personally, I wouldn't waste time and money getting the odo "corrected" to what, by definition, will be another incorrect recorded mileage. Personally, I'd be far more suspicious of someone who told me that they'd had the recorded mileage corrected unless they had some pretty good documentary evidence to support what it had been corrected to than someone who honestly said "it's done at least 10k more miles than recorded, but I don't know precisely how many".
If you're happy with the car then just drive it. If/when you want to sell it, advertise it at a price that its condition and maintenance record suggest is reasonable and don't make any statement you know to be false about the recorded mileage.
- Did the vendor knowingly mislead you as to the recorded mileage of the vehicle and did that materially influence your decision to purchase at the price you paid?
- Is the value of the vehicle materially different now that you know the "real" recorded mileage?
If the second statement is true then it only becomes relevant when you come to sell the vehicle. Clearly you would commit an offence if you were to answer a direct question of "is the recorded mileage correct" in the affirmative as you know that not to be true. However, to answer the same question with "no, it has done more miles than are recorded but I don't know precisely how many more" is truthful.
FWIW, my view is that people get too hung up on recorded mileage and pay too little attention to the general condition of the vehicle. Once a car has done more than (say) 120k miles it all becomes a bit academic as the maintenance regime and vehicle condition has much greater influence on its value than what the odometer says. Personally, I wouldn't waste time and money getting the odo "corrected" to what, by definition, will be another incorrect recorded mileage. Personally, I'd be far more suspicious of someone who told me that they'd had the recorded mileage corrected unless they had some pretty good documentary evidence to support what it had been corrected to than someone who honestly said "it's done at least 10k more miles than recorded, but I don't know precisely how many".
If you're happy with the car then just drive it. If/when you want to sell it, advertise it at a price that its condition and maintenance record suggest is reasonable and don't make any statement you know to be false about the recorded mileage.
nickcc101
Active Member
About twenty years ago I bought a five series BMW from a dodgy dealer, electronic speedo showed 57k miles but turned out real mileage was 157k. What the crafty sod had done was to remove the display and paint out the figure 1, I of course didn't realise that a 0 should have been displayed in front of the 57k. New MOT and service info showed 57k, should have asked for previous MOT's and service history but when you see something you really want (yes even a BMW) your heart can rule your head.
