Milomatter

I bought a Mercedes E-Class estate from an eBay trader that also advertised the car on its website with 44k miles on the clock. It is very clean inside and I got it for just over £7,000. I bought an HPI check and this said it was fine. However, I have now found, through it's MOT records (online at VOSA), that the car has been clocked twice: once at around 260k miles and then again at somewhere over 122k miles. The latest MOT shows 39k miles back in February this year. Is there anything I can do about it or is it a case of "buyer beware"? The value with approximately 300k miles is £700 or so. I don't think HPI will want to know as, although they give a "no mileage discrepancy on NMR" assurance, their small print says the HPI check does not cover mileage. I would appreciate any suggestions for recovering the lost value.

Asked on 14 November 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
No, the HPI 'Guarantee' does not cover mileage, and is only anyway available when you pay for a full HPI check, not an abbreviated one. But now you have the proof you can take legal action against the eBay trader. First, ask for your money back in exchange for return of the car, pointing out that if it is not forthcoming you will instigate both civil and criminal proceedings against the dealer, using the proof from VOSA.
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