How difficult to buy a new car?!

[thefreak]

Spent the weekend looking for a replacement Avant after the last went up in smoke. How many dodgy ones are out there!!
Trawling Autotrader and found a couple up in Bradford. First at Keighley Auto Centre.
02 Avant 1.9 130se. 18" RS4 alloys, overall car looked very unloved, said 120k in the advert, said 129k on the clock. checked the v5 and MOT and all looked ok, put the V5 number and reg into the VOSA MOT check website and came back saying the MOT before last said 192k on the clock. cheeky gits! Walked away.
Called the seller of the other (another trader) and he met me in the middle of Bradford, looked over the car, an 03 Avant 1.9 130 Sport. looked nice and tidy, had 17" S-Line alloys on, all down to their limit markers, but he was adamant they had plenty, even when I was showing them to him! took it out for a spin and all felt nice. He tried to show me the "onboard computer" by pressing the mode button and changing the clock, then pressing the spanner and 0 buttons :)
Got back to where my car was and had another look round it, checked the V5 and recently done MOT certificate then checked the MOT database again. Guess what, last MOT before this had 148k on the clock, now it's got 110k on it... and no sign of cambelt change since 60k even though it had full service history (with probably a couple of pages removed)
So I mentioned this to him, he knew nothing of it of course, and said would he move on the price due to the above issues. Was up for £6k, I offered him £5k saying it would probably cost me nearly £700 to get everything done, he laughed and said no chance, I offered to meet half way as he said he could get all the bits done, cambelt and tyres for about £300 but he wasn't budging so I wished him luck on selling the car to whatever mug gets it and left.
Wasted afternoon and 150 miles later, but no lemon bought.
So if anyone knows of a 130 TDI Avant for sale that HASN'T been clocked, genuine mileage etc, let me know :)

[kurtas2006]

You thought about going to a VWFS auction ?

95% of the cars have a FSH.

British Car Autions do online biding for most VWFS auctions which means you can see the list of cars online a few days prior to the auction. If anything takes your fancy pop down to Measham. The mileage is warranted.

Looks like next one is on 24th June.

http://www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/Default.aspx?page=809

Too many wannabe dealers out there clocking cars out there.

[thefreak]

I've always fancied going to an auction. the BSA one at Measham is about 5 minutes up the road from the office.
Are you able to check the docs out before you bid/buy?

[kurtas2006]

Thats ideal then. Luck plays an important part in these things, sometimes you get lots of private buyers who bid cars up to stupid values, other times the dealers have bought most what they want by noon so you left with pick of the cars as they go to the cafe for lunch.

They will tell you it has FSH, warranted mileage and when it was serviced last. This will be detailed on the sales list and on the auction blurb they put on the windscreen. Sometimes if you stand close to the auctioneers desk/stage you can ask if it has had a cambelt change before he starts bidding but sometimes they in a rush and push things through fast.

[Marco34]

Spent the weekend looking for a replacement Avant after the last went up in smoke. How many dodgy ones are out there!!
Trawling Autotrader and found a couple up in Bradford. First at Keighley Auto Centre.
02 Avant 1.9 130se. 18" RS4 alloys, overall car looked very unloved, said 120k in the advert, said 129k on the clock. checked the v5 and MOT and all looked ok, put the V5 number and reg into the VOSA MOT check website and came back saying the MOT before last said 192k on the clock. cheeky gits! Walked away.
Called the seller of the other (another trader) and he met me in the middle of Bradford, looked over the car, an 03 Avant 1.9 130 Sport. looked nice and tidy, had 17" S-Line alloys on, all down to their limit markers, but he was adamant they had plenty, even when I was showing them to him! took it out for a spin and all felt nice. He tried to show me the "onboard computer" by pressing the mode button and changing the clock, then pressing the spanner and 0 buttons :)
Got back to where my car was and had another look round it, checked the V5 and recently done MOT certificate then checked the MOT database again. Guess what, last MOT before this had 148k on the clock, now it's got 110k on it... and no sign of cambelt change since 60k even though it had full service history (with probably a couple of pages removed)
So I mentioned this to him, he knew nothing of it of course, and said would he move on the price due to the above issues. Was up for £6k, I offered him £5k saying it would probably cost me nearly £700 to get everything done, he laughed and said no chance, I offered to meet half way as he said he could get all the bits done, cambelt and tyres for about £300 but he wasn't budging so I wished him luck on selling the car to whatever mug gets it and left.
Wasted afternoon and 150 miles later, but no lemon bought.
So if anyone knows of a 130 TDI Avant for sale that HASN'T been clocked, genuine mileage etc, let me know :)

Interesting thread. Have you informed anyone of the clocking that's going on? I would have contacted the Police with my suspicions!! My brother inlaw was stung with this and I was fuming that some scum can do this.

[thefreak]

Who would I contact? The traders will just say they bought it like that and have no knowledge, but with the MOT Check online available http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/ if you've got web on your phone its very easy to do, just stick the reg plate in and either the MOT reference number or the V5 reference number, it'll give you details of all the past computerised MOTs.

[VagPower]

Excellent for older cars that have had MOT's but for those carrs just entering their first MOT it doesnt work, or did I miss something :o Also good job on finding it out, PS. If you do purchase a clocked car from a dealer what can you do about it, or is it deemed your own fault for not carrying out the relevant CSI work?

[thefreak]

I suppose if you're buying a <3 year old car with no service history and low mileage, you're taking that risk and should be asking the question why no service history and why so low miles.
Most dealers get you to sign a part of the receipt saying the mileage is not confirmed and not checked in any way. Standard get out clause the same as "That's the miles that were on it when I bought it guv"

[Marco34]

I'm not sure who you would contact, but, my brother in-law was contacted by I think, the DVLA or a body of that, investigating and have said he is entitled to some money. He got £700 for the extra milage the car would have done. It said 70k but it had done 120k+.

The owner had fled before he could be prosecuted.

I'm sure when these traders by a car they must check them out for outstanding finance, service history, mileage?? If they are selling a vehicle then they should be responsible for ensuring the data they are advertising is correct. I thought they were. I'd pursue it, as I hate scum traders. :zx11: I'm sure the DVLA can help.